Moving Metal

anybody to replace me.” Gimbel agreed to let Crider wear two hats: as Vice President of Reliance and Manager of the Vernon plant. Crider accepted. “I had one foot in the warehouse and one in corporate,” Crider said, “so I bounced back and forth depending on Bill Gimbel’s needs.” Over the next three years, Gimbel delegated an increas- ing amount of his management responsibility to the younger man, effectively making Crider his “hired gun.” They shared a personal chemistry and a keen business sense that made them a formidable team. “As we grew closer together,” Crider explained, “we never agreed on everything all the time, but in all cases when our opinion was split, one or the other would eventually give and say, ‘Okay, I’ll support you.’” “Of course,” Crider laughed, “I had to support him more than he supported me.” On one occasion in the early days, Crider and Gimbel went to a used equipment auction together. During the long drive to the site, Gimbel told him, “I don’t need you to bid on the equipment. I’ll do the bidding, and you just help me do the evaluating.” Waxing philosophic, Gimbel further confided, “Don’t be afraid to fail once in a while. If you’re right eighty percent of the time, you will succeed in life. You’re going to make mistakes. Believe me, I know.” During the auction, Crider did his job while Gimbel did his. Soon into the bidding, Crider said, “Bill, we’re there. That piece of equipment’s not worth any more than that.” Gimbel agreed and they returned home empty-handed. The same thing happened at another auction. This time though, after Crider halted his boss and the bidding went on, Gimbel absent-mindedly raised his hand to scratch his head. The auctioneer took it as a bid, slammed down his gavel, and barked, “Sold!” Reliance had accidentally won

the Bateman Eichler executive on the airplane, but once Reliance tapped into those funding sources, the company never looked back. While maneuvering to acquire new capital, Gimbel also had to make some key management changes. On June 30, 1971, Vice President Hank Thomas resigned from the company, leaving a large gap in senior management. This was problematic since Reliance’s outside lenders insisted on a broader top management structure before providing the company with funds. Gimbel’s two other Vice Presidents— Zurbach and Stringfellow—were not enough to satisfy them. The top management slot at the Vernon flagship operation had to be filled at once, and Gimbel thought that he had just the right man for the job—Joe Crider. Gimbel had kept a close eye on Crider ever since their two-day jaunt around Fresno and in 1966 had appointed him Manager of the slumping Santa Clara division. “I brought that division around,” Crider recalled, “and we were bringing in good money.” Gimbel agreed. He now called Crider and asked, “How about a job in L.A.? Would you be interested?” Crider said, “I’d love it,” andGimbel replied, “Well, let’s go right away.” Crider moved his family to Los Angeles in the summer of 1971 and went to work troubleshooting the Vernon plant just as he had already done in Fresno and Santa Clara. “They had about twenty outside salesmen at that one location,” Crider later remembered, and he spent time with each one of them. He found that “some were working hard and some weren’t.” Crider let the non-performers go, consolidated their territories, and soon had the outside sales force hopping. In 1972, Gimbel decided that it was time for another promotion. He called Crider and said, “I want you to come to corporate.” Crider replied, “Well, I’ve still got a job to do here yet, and I don’t have

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