Business Career
After his football career ended, Pregulman initially went into the furniture business.
In 1957, Pregulman moved with his wife Helen to her hometown, Chattanooga, Tennessee. His wife was the granddaughter of Robert Hyman Siskin, the founder of Siskin Steel & Supply Co. The company was started in 1900 by Siskin, a Lithuanian immigrant, as a small scrap metal business. His two sons, Mose and Garrison Siskin expanded the company into one of Chattanooga's leading businesses.
In 1978, when Mose Siskin died, Pregulman was named president and chief executive officer. In 1980, Siskin was generating about $50 million in annual revenues. Under Pregulman's management over the next 15 years the company's annual revenues tripled to $151 million, as the company expanded its operations throughout the Southeast. In 1985, Siskin bought Birmingham, Alabama-based Steel Supply Company, which subsequently took on the Siskin name. Next, Siskin built a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) steel service center in Nashville in 1989 to cut transportation costs and accommodate Nissan Motors and Saturn Corporation automobile plants in the area.
When Pregulman retired, his son John Pregulman took over as the company's president.
In 1996, Siskin Steel was sold to Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. for $71 million in cash. Under an agreement with Reliance Steel, the company remained under local management with Merv Pregulman continuing to serve as vice-chairman, and his son John Pregulman continuing as president. In 2002, John Pregulman left Siskin.
Read more about this topic: Merv Pregulman
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