A Friendship Stronger Than Steel… and a legacy to be proud of Lin Pryor (pictured on the right side of this page) and Oscar Moreno (pictured below) worked together at Ryerson Steel and Metal West in the late 80’s and through the 90’s. They both cut their teeth in the steel business, and they worked side by side to build a reputation for delivering results for their customers. Lin loves to tell the story about how Oscar was given the toughest sales territory in the market; a territory that no one else wanted. Oscar accepted the challenge and through hard work and dedication, turned it into a territory that generated over a million dollars per month in revenues. Oscar’s philosophy was to service the heck out of every account, not just the big ones. More importantly, he understood the value of relationships and people doing business with people. Big O Metals was founded on this philosophy and still embraces it today. L i n ’s a n d O s c a r ’ s friendship went beyond work; their families were very close, and they spent a lot of time together. You could say that two families essentially became one. Among all the things they had in common, Lin and Oscar shared a love of sports. Oscar was a fitness buff and he worked out on a regular basis. At one time, he held a record for bench pressing 410 pounds. He also loved playing organized sports, but his passion was playing hockey. His competitive nature and muscular build made him a formidable guy on the ice. One night, after finishing a match, he hit the showers where he died tragically 38
202022 • JUNE - JULY ‘22
A22ZZ MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING • A SW •WEST• COAST July / Aug
of a heart attack due to an undiagnosed heart condition. At 36 years old, Oscar was gone, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters. In the wake of his death, a common friend of both Lin and Oscar named Kent Grahl stepped in to make sure Oscar’s family was taken care of, even making sure that Oscar’s daughters would receive a college education at no cost to them or their family. Kent and Oscar had been friends since grade school, and it was Oscar who had first introduced Lin to Kent. The importance of this introduction wouldn’t be fully known for many years to come. Oscar and Lin had always talked about starting their own steel service center one day. A few years after Oscar had passed, Lin decided to make their dream a reality by starting his own company. To honor his friend, Lin named the company Big O Metals for Big Oscar. Ta k i n g o u t a home equity loan and with an additional financial investment from Kent Grahl, on January 23, 2006, Big O Metals was born. Needing a logo that matched the name, Lin’s son, Aaron Pryor, took it upon himself to draw one. The company’s original logo depicted an “O” with two muscular arms in honor of the company’s namesake. In the early years, Lin sold steel, sheared steel, packaged steel, drove a truck to deliver steel; if it had anything to do with steel, Lin did it. As the company gained momentum,
