Steel Warehouse, a steel service center headquartered in South Bend, IN, was founded by Nate Lerman in 1947 after he had failed in business 10 previous times. “Instead of failing and getting down, he thought that he was becoming smarter and a better businessman each step of the way,” said Dave Lerman, Steel Warehouse chairman of the board, and one of Nate’s 10 children.Those failures did strengthen Nate’s business acumen as Steel Warehouse now celebrates 70 years of growth, innovation and industry leadership, while remaining a family-operated company.

What has led to this success? Relationships. Good relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, the local community, the steel industry as a whole and among the Lerman family have been the key to Steel Warehouse’s success over the years.“We look at our relationships with other people and companies as more of a long-term partnership,” said Ted Lerman, Steel Warehouse CEO. “A key to running a successful business is that we’ve always tried to do the difficult jobs and always focus on customers, employees and our suppliers, making sure that we are honorable and that we keep our word.”