Moving Metal

struction in Los Angeles ground to a halt and the demand for rebar dwindled. This was a turning point for the young company. Neilan could have closed up shop, but instead did the opposite— he began pushing the Board to invest so that Reliance would be able to command a sizeable share of the market once business rebounded after the economy transitioned away from war-driven production. He noted that up to that point, Reliance had been among the “short-line-jobbers,” overly dependent on selling only rebar and a few other goods. He believed that Reliance should begin offering a larger line of products such as plates, sheets, and cold drawn bars, and that it should greatly expand its fabrication abilities—to bend, cut, and mold the products to meet a wider range of customer demand. As a first step, in January 1946 he suggested to the Board that Reliance consider buying its own land and building a new warehouse. Directors Roe and Haney agreed that Neilan’s proposal was “sound and practical” and told Neilan to look into it. Neilan reported back to the Board on February 19. His talks with real estate agents and construction contractors indicated that it would cost between $125,000 and $150,000 to buy and build on a new site. The Board members were startled by the numbers, perhaps mostly because the figures did not include the costs of additional machinery that would certainly be required. They instructed Neilan to find an alter- native. Three weeks later, Neilan reported back with a new plan: extend the lease for an additional seven years on the Vernon property and build a new 20,000-square-foot building at a cost of $32,600. Neilan had even gone ahead and hired an architect to design the new space. The Board gave its approval.

Preparing to cut an I-beam with a Peerless heavy-duty power hacksaw.

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