Moving Metal

An operator at work at Haskins Steel in Spokane, Washington, Reliance’s fifty-sixth post-IPO acquisition.

ration, acquired Haskins, providing Reliance with its fifty-sixth acquisition since the 1994 IPO. In typical Reliance fashion, Haskins retained its name, its brand, and its leadership. As Reliance prepared to enter its 75 th year as a company in 2014, it could indeed be proud of just how far it had come since its humble beginnings in February 1939, when Tom Neilan sub-leased the corner of a Vernon warehouse to sell a few tons of rebar and recover a debt. Neilan did not at first intend his enterprise to be permanent, but seventy-five years later Reliance had become the largest metals service center company in North America, with 14,000 employees and a mighty network of more than 290 locations in thirty-nine states and eleven countries. Reliance’s leaders each considered the company’s legacy and its future from complementary perspectives. Karla Lewis reflected, “Just being able to maintain the values of Reliance while growing into a big public company is probably its biggest accomplishment.” Gregg Mollins added, “Our job is to not become the 800-pound gorilla but to keep it small, because when you’re small, you’re nimble, and when you’re

nimble, you’re efficient, and when you’re efficient, you’re sat- isfying customers and employees.” He also insisted that there was a personal element to Reliance’s continuing success. “We have a tremendous amount of loyalty and compassion for our people and they know it,” he observed. “We’re there for them when they need us, and they’re there for us. That’s a special environment to have when you know somebody’s got your back.” Dave Hannah was just a bit wistful. “You just hope that Bill Gimbel and the folks upstairs are smiling down on us,” he said. “Bill took a gamble by bringing in us youngsters who didn’t know anything about the business,” but, he added, “I think we’ve been doing it the right way.” However, Hannah conceded that “we can always learn. We can always do better. We’re not just the biggest in our industry. We’re the best, I believe, and we need to stay the best.” As Reliance sits at the top of its industry, there is plenty of potential below and plenty of room to grow. From Neilan to Gimbel, from Crider to Hannah, four generations of man- agement has guided Reliance, each leaving it stronger and

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