PARAGON STEEL

We Will Survive I often times find myself saying, You never know what a day may bring. Never has this been more representative of what we are now going through. As someone who has endured a lifetime of the sky is falling moments, I feel most qualified to offer my thoughts pertaining to this current crisis we are now facing. For most of us, it is the projection of what might happen that creates the fear and uncertainty. As of yet, most of what we know has been communicated... to us from places afar by a media that relishes attention and delivers prospects of impending doom. As a result, we’ve seen the panic in the supermarkets, the brewing dread of what’s to come upon us. It makes you believe that people will be storming the hospitals seeking medical care. Coincidentally, just last week I was at a hospital in L.A. and it was literally business as usualno particular signs of the pandemic to come. Yet, if we listen to what we are told, it is coming to a medical facility near you, so we best be prepared. This reminds me of a story I was told years ago by a political science professor of mine when I was a freshman at UCLA. He told us that when the Cuban missile crisis was threatening the United States in the early 1960s, everyone thought the world would end. The grocery markets were stormed upon as they are today. This was when John F. Kennedy made his legendary quote, There is nothing to fear, but fear itself. Anyway, as the professor was viewed as an expert on international affairs, people came to him and asked what he thought would happen. This is like reporters asking Dr. Fauci about the Coronavirus today. The professor calmly predicted that it would ultimately be resolved without incidenteveryone would be safe. Not to worry. It turns out that the professor was dead right in his prediction. He was then asked, How did you know or better said, how could you be so confident in your prediction? His answer was a simple one. He said, If I was wrong, there would be no one alive to tell me so. Based on this story, I’m pretty confident we will survive this episode that we face today. You have to maintain hope and faith. It also helps to wash your hands and be smart. God bless us all.

Paragon is proud to be featured on the cover of The Blue Book's latest Orange County/Inland Empire edition. Read our story here! http://www.thebluebook.com//artic/f19-cs-on-a-mission.html

A Time for Thanks, a Time to Heal November for me has always been somewhat of a tweener month. It’s the time we reset our clocks. The weather changes from hot to cool. We pull in the lawn furniture and get out the holiday gear. The New Year approaches. It also represents the time for giving thanks. We take a few days and spend it with family and friends. We pull out old recipes and remember what we did during past Thanksgivings. This year, will be no different. Only this ye...ar, we’ve had a few setbacks that will make giving thanks all the more important. This year, in Southern California we recently had a mass shooting to remind us all of the challenging times we are living in. Then without missing a beat, we had one of the worst fires ever recorded in California. Over a quarter million people were displaced from their homes and tragically, many lost their homes. I was evacuated from my home for four days, but fortunately, I had a home to return to. Paragon Steel always takes this time to review the current year and prepare for the following year. This year, with all the steel and aluminum tariffs that were imposed, it presented many challenges for us and to our loyal customers. No one likes price increases and it presented many of our accounts with new challenges that were unforeseen at the beginning of 2018. The higher prices may have provided higher sales and profits for the domestic steel industry, but it caused many hardships down the line as we rely on import steel on the west coast. We hope that as 2019 unfolds, we will once again see competition in our marketplace with imports coming back to our markets. With adversity comes both an opportunity to rise above as well as a time to heal. This we need. It is critical to be able to offer thanks for the many blessings that we have been afforded. It is equally important for us to have perspective that it can all change in an instant. Whether it be the policies of our government, random acts of violence or Mother Nature, it is impossible to know and be prepared for what we cannot see. Please take some time during this holiday to say a little prayer and thanks to those who you love. If I have learned one thing in life, it is to never put off today for a thousand tomorrows. Wishing the best to you and your family! Jim

A great watch from MSCI for our steel distribution customers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmL4eh1NZeg&feature=youtu.be

In 1988, George HW Bush beat out Michael Dukakis in the presidential race, Rainman and Die Hard dominated the box office, George Michael's Faith topped the music charts, the Winter Olympics came to Calgary and the Redskins won the Super Bowl. This same year, Paragon Steel was founded: http://www.paragonsteel.com//30-years-steel-crazy-after-a/

We're "steel crazy" after all these years...30 to be exact! Read the new blog on our milestone anniversary: http://www.paragonsteel.com//30-years-steel-crazy-after-a/

Wishing all our employees, customers, partners and friends a safe and happy 4th!

The Acorn newspaper wrote this great story about our CEO Jim Stavis' journey of health and business adversity that you've read about in our Paragon Steel newsletter and about his new book, When Hope Is Your Only Option. Hope you'll take a moment to check it out! https://www.theacorn.com//3-new-organs-whole-new-lease-on/

Our CEO Jim Stavis just released his first book about overcoming adversitybe it personal or professional. Many of you have already followed his transplant story through our company newsletter. When Hope Is Your Only Option takes it to the next level, so be sure to check it out! Now available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. www.whenhopeisyouronlyoption.com #hope #adversity #diabetes #transplant

Look who's on the new cover of The Who's Who in Building and Construction. Check out the great article inside, too! https://www.qgdigitalpublishing.com/publication/?i=486586##

Canada, Mexico Will Not Face Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Imposed By United States On March 8, President Donald Trump signed orders to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imported in the United States. The tariffs, which will take effect in 15 days, are set at 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum. As the orders state: Covered steel articles are those defined in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 6-digit level as: 7206.10 through 7216.50, 7216.99 through 7301.10, 7...Continue reading

The Commerce Department is recommending heavy tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports: https://www.cnbc.com//commerce-department-suggests-trump-i

Our CEO's story of hope (which you've read about over the years in our Paragon Steel newsletter) and soon-to-be-released book, made the blog at Cedars-Sinai. This world-class medical center is where Jim was so fortunate to receive his life-saving triple organ transplant. Read the blog here: https://blog.cedars-sinai.edu/curing-diabetes-triple-trans/