Moving Metal

that he “had been around and experienced several differ- ent environments—Jorgensen, Ducommun, Lusk.” “Gregg came from the operational side, just like I did,” noted Crider. “He was very, very good in operations. Dave came from the financial side. He was very, very good at that. So the combi- nation made them a great team.” During this time of transition other talented individuals began emerging to complete the new management team, including Corporate Secretary and Office Manager Yvette Schiotis. Originally from Neuilly, France, Schiotis joined Reliance in October 1967 as an outside sales secretary. Her husband was in the U.S. Army and had been transferred from Europe to California. Schiotis initially thought that they would be in Los Angeles for only a short time before the family rotated out again. When her husband was deployed to Vietnam and Korea, places that she could not go, Schiotis decided, “Well, I have a career here. I might as well stay since I like the people, I like the company, and I like what I’m doing.” So she stayed on with Reliance—for forty-one years. Schiotis started out working in the Vernon office for Sales Manager Clyde Wellman and his boss, Vice President and Vernon Plant Manager Hank Thomas. After she was promoted to Corporate Office Manager, she worked directly with Gimbel, Controller Bob Zickerman, and Secretary-Trea- surer Bettie Littell. Littell became a mentor, and Schiotis later described how she worked: “She kept the books. She could tell you where we spent five dollars and where we spent ten dollars. She had everything in those books. They were huge, heavy ledgers, and she kept them as long as she could, because she was so used to them.” Widowed since age thirty-seven, Littell was unusually dedicated to her job, coming to the office most days at 5:00

lured him away to work as an outside salesman and then as General Sales Manager. After five years at Lusk, Mollins felt constrained and decided that he wanted to start his own company. There was one problem though—he did not have the money. He knew of Reliance’s reputation for providing a good entrepreneurial environment and especially for building up and spinning off divisions. In 1986, he asked Gimbel and Crider if they would back him in a new enterprise. Amused by Mollins’ audacity, Gimbel pointed out the obvious flaw in his plan: he was unable to contribute anything to the proposed venture except himself. Instead, Gimbel offered Mollins the opportunity to become Division Manager at Santa Clara. The operation was then losing money and Reliance needed a sharp, aggressive manager to come in and fix it. It took some negotiation, but Mollins accepted Gimbel’s offer and reported for duty in September 1986. “They basi- cally said, ‘Here’s the keys, turn it around, make money, and we’re there for you when you need us,’” Mollins recalled. “That suited me just fine.” A “hands-on” operator, Mollins had no trouble enlisting help at Santa Clara and he suc- cessfully turned it around. During the process he grew to appreciate how Reliance handled its divisions and treated its people, and he realized that he had finally found a perma- nent home with the company. Gimbel and Crider allowed Mollins to “season” in Santa Clara while they further developed their succession plans. Finally, in 1991, they invited him to move down to Los Angeles and to become Crider’s understudy with the promise that, if things worked out, he would soon become the Chief Operating Officer. Mollins later reflected on his qualifications. He knew that one of his chief advantages was

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