Victor Paul Winkler

The fifth of six children, Victor Winkler was born in 1959 in Portland, Oregon. Both of his parents were Holocaust survivors who found refuge in the United States in 1951. “My parents arrived with no money, unable to speak English, and terrorized by war,” he says. “My parents were able to give me, my brother, and sisters a better life because the American people welcomed them and gave them ladders of opportunity that they climbed with their own bootstrapped feet to rise above the tragedy of their circumstances.”

In the beginning, Winkler’s father worked 16-hour days in a cannery. “He had been through hell in the war. He fought in the Polish army when he was just 14 years old. When the army failed, he fought in the resistance. Since the war put a stop to my father’s education, he made every sacrifice to ensure all six of us kids never knew this loss and could realize our full potential in the classroom.”

Winkler’s mother was 12 when non-Jewish neighbors took her into their home and hid her from the Nazis. “She lived in a space between the second and third floors, with a life similar to Anne Frank,” Winkler says. “Several times throughout the war, the Nazis searched the home, but never discovered my mother. She was a seamstress and made clothes for the family that took care of her. They risked their lives to protect her. But the war stole her education too.”

While Winkler’s parents embraced their new life in America and were grateful for the peace and opportunity they found here, they were haunted by the ghosts of war. “We were raised to ‘never forget’ and to recognize that the world can turn upside down and everything and everyone you love can be taken from you in an instant.”

This made Winkler want to become as independent as possible, as fast as possible. “I didn’t want to burden my parents. I wanted to contribute. To make their lives easier after all the pain and suffering they endured…to realize my ambitions without taking from them.”

Entrepreneurial even as a boy, Winkler found enterprising ways to earn money for his own needs. He sold greeting cards, cakes, and lemonade. “You name it, I sold it,” he says. When he wasn’t earning his spending money, he enjoyed playing sports. “I was the type of kid that would be away from the house for eight hours and then show up for dinner.”

When asked, young Winkler didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up. “I just knew I wanted to be successful,” he says. At the start, however, he didn’t take his education very seriously. That was until the last two years of high school when he met with a guidance counselor who asked him where he wanted to go to college.

“I told her I wanted to go to the University of Washington,” he says. “She said with my grades there was no way I would get in.” That was all Winkler needed to hear. “Whenever someone tells me I can’t do something, all I want to do is prove them wrong. That’s when I began applying myself at school and my grades skyrocketed.” His eventual acceptance to the University of Washington was a life lesson that hard work was the pathway to achievement.

While Winkler enjoyed university life, he could hardly wait to apply what he was learning in the classroom to the real world. He started out during summers selling shoes at Nordstroms. Then just as he graduated in 1981, he got his first real chance but under tragic circumstances. “My dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and as he lay dying, he asked me to take over his failing scrap metal business.” Winkler accepted, despite the bleak prospects.

Success came quicker than he imagined. “I came up with a system that I thought would turn things around for us. I presented the idea to my father and he said we would try it for two weeks. The next day, I landed our biggest account.” This early win gave his father confidence that his son could realize the company’s potential after he was gone and gave Victor the confidence to push on.

One year later, his father died and at age 22, Victor officially became the CEO of Winkler Metals. With just one part-time employee, one truck, and a willingness to simply outwork the competition, he grew Winkler Metals to impressive size. In 1991, he merged with Zusman Metals and later with two other businesses to form Metro Metals Northwest. In 1997, they formed a joint venture that launched the business to new heights. In 2002, Winkler bought out his partners to lead the company under his singular vision.

Metro Metals Northwest is now the largest industrial-based scrap metal company in the region with locations in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. The company’s more than 600 employees are dedicated to turning metals into a new resource as part of the circular economy instead of being sent to landfill.

Deeply proud of his Jewish heritage, Winkler served for many years on the board of Portland’s Jewish Community Center. His gift to the Portland Art Museum contributed to its recent expansion. He has also generously donated to Cedars Sinai, a Portland senior living facility for low-income residents, and the local chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

When meeting with Horatio Alger Scholars, he looks forward to sharing with them about his family story and the difference education can make in just one generation. “My parents understood that education is something that no one—especially no soldier—can ever take away from you. It’s yours to create, yours to own, and yours to use as the fuel for success in life.”

About his Horatio Alger Award, Winkler says, “To be selected for membership in an organization that uplifts such aspiring young people is a true honor. I’m looking forward to getting to know the Scholars and offering guidance to fuel their own journey to success in business and in life.”