O'Neal Industries, Inc. is a metals service center company headquartered in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. The company was founded in 1921 and operates 90 facilities across the

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, supplying

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...

, hot-rolled, cold-finished, and

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

products to job shops, OEM,

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

, and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

customers.

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

listed O'Neal Industries as the 171st largest private company in the

in its 2024 list of America's Top Private Companies.

History

O'Neal Industries traces back to 1921 when Kirkman O'Neal founded Southern Steel Works as a steel fabricating company in Birmingham, Alabama. The company was formed during the time when the steel industry dominated Birmingham's burgeoning economy. The company grew steadily over the next decade and in 1935 opened one of the South's first metal service center shops. Southern Steel Works changed its name to O'Neal Steel in 1956 and continued to expand over the following decades by opening or acquiring other service centers around the country in places like

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Although the metal service center business was intended to complement its steel fabrication business, the company eventually focused on growing the service center business and closed the fabrication business in 1969. The company significantly expanded in 1997 when it acquired Colorado-based Metalwest, which became its first stand-alone subsidiary. The company made a series of acquisitions in the early to mid-2000s, beginning with Aerodyne Alloys in 2004. Lecco Steel and TW Metals were acquired in 2005, followed by AIM International and Supply Dynamics in 2006. The acquisition of TW Metals was especially significant as it marked O'Neal's entry into the European and Asia markets. The company continued to expand over the next several years through smaller acquisitions, and in 2008, it reorganized by creating O'Neal Industries as the parent company to oversee its stand-alone companies. Many service centers already operating under the O'Neal name were merged into the legacy

O'Neal Steel O'Neal Steel is a metals service center headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. As an O'Neal Industries affiliate, it was founded in 1921 and is one of the nation's largest family-owned metal distributors. Today, O'Neal Steel operates 24 facilitie ...

business.

Philanthropy

In 2018, the company and its shareholders made a $30 million gift to the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

(UAB) to support cancer research. The gift was the single largest gift in the university's history. The O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB is named in the company's honor.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.onealind.com 1921 establishments in Alabama American companies established in 1921 Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama Privately held companies based in Alabama

History

Philanthropy

See Also

References

External links