On July 5, 1988 Paragon Steel was born in the Belmont Shores section of Long Beach, California. We had a small office upstairs in a building above Quinn’s Pub. There were four of us when we first started. I remember those days as if they were yesterday, as I wondered what the hell I was doing in the steel business in the first place. Doug Carpenter and I had a vision back then of how to build a better mousetrap in the steel business, which back then, was very much a commodity business. The notion of service was one that really hadn’t taken hold in certain industries—steel being one of them. We had tapped into a benefit that many customers never knew they needed, but once they had, it was something they wanted.

Thirty-two years later, we are still on the same mission—finding customers who require the levels of service that only we can provide. It’s a small niche, but one that has sustained us for three decades now. From those original four employees in Long Beach atop Quinn’s Pub, we have grown tremendously with a warehouse, trucks and drivers, inventory and all the trappings of a “real” steel company. We define ourselves as being “customer focused” when asked what we specialize in. Though this definition might sound evasive to some, it really is what we do and who we are. It has been the challenge of our sales reps to make our appeal based upon the needs of the customer, which is vastly different than most of our steel competitors. For them, it is a game of inventory and price—simple as that. Paragon has rewritten the rules of that game.

Through the years, we’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve seen many a customer and vendor come and go. We’ve seen periods when markets and prices have risen and fallen. Those competitors with huge inventories have made plenty of money betting on the markets in good times and bad. We’ve chosen a different path. We’ve bet on our customers and when they succeed, we have shared in their success. Unfortunately, there is a negative side to this, as some customers fail. We took a bet on the fabrication business and it nearly killed us.

What I learned through it all is that everything changes—nothing stays the same. You really need to build a company that is fluid enough to be able to withstand change, but is solid enough to be able to support the business and the customer base. Customers may come and go, but there will always be a need for steel in one variety of another. Even with the current tariff situation, it will obviously be uncomfortable for a while as we navigate our way through it, but we will—as we always do.

Thank you for your continued support.

Jim