The early days at LMS
This business began in 1987 with a couple of young rebar installers with a pickup truck, says Ron Mcneil, CEO and co-founder of LMS. “We grew our installation company to 80 employees and, in 1998, we took a gamble and decided to integrate rebar fabrication with site installation.
“We purchased a failing fabrication yard and kept the name Lower Mainland Steel for its marketplace recognition. That gamble paid off, in large part because of three titans in our industry—wally Mcneil, Stan Rutledge and Robert James.
Wally passed away in 2010, but not before leaving LMS on a strong foundation for success. After a lifetime in the rebar industry, Wally helped LMS secure a bank line with the Bank of Montreal (which was critical in our ability to source steel) and introduced us to our new salesman, Stan Rutledge.
“Ivan and I had concerns; in 1998 our new salesman was 66 years old! Twenty years later Stan continues to dig up projects and work his phone, always with a smile and occasionally a joke more suited for 1965. He's an old-time relentless salesman. He does not take no for an answer and he does not shy away from making numerous callbacks reminding the customer they are making a mistake if they don't choose LMS.
“We knew we had to learn the ins and outs of running a fabricating business and sourcing steel was going to be a key component of turning this business around. Upon joining the LMS team, Stan introduced us to Robert James, who at the time was a leading steel trader for Thyssen Canada Ltd.
“In 1998, Robert worked with Thyssen—a German multinational conglomerate with focus on industrial engineering and steel production. As the vice-president in the Vancouver office, he was LMS' primary point of contact for purchasing steel. Through our work with Robert, we learned very quickly that he had an intricate knowledge of steel procurement, including every step from the steel production at the international mills to the financing and logistics required to get it to Canada. In 2004, over a lunch meeting, Ivan and I were able to convince Robert to officially join the LMS team as our steel procurement manager.” ■