Meet Brutus, the Columbus, Ohio Branch’s Mascot

At our Columbus, Ohio branch, Simpson Strong-Tie Lean Innovation Technician Dan Dee — also referred to as our resident Mr. Wizard — created an Ohio State University Brutus Buckeye mascot statue using our Simpson Strong-Tie hardware. Learn more below about Dan’s career at Simpson Strong-Tie and the many creations he has helped build over the years at our Columbus branch.

I’ve had a long career at Simpson Strong-Tie, as I’ve been with the company for 30 years. Fun fact: I was actually the first temporary agent ever hired at the Columbus branch! I’m part of the Lean team and serve as a Lean Innovation technician. I look for better ways to run the stamping presses though fixtures, automations or robots. I also build our product displays. When we had a Bring Your Child To Work Day event at Columbus, I helped put on a robot demonstration.

What I like most about my job is the freedom to be creative. Some of my skills stem from experience in my personal life. I rehab cars and tackled larger projects such as remodeling homes — from the bathroom and kitchen tile to cabinets, plumbing and electric work. I’ve used those skills to tackle projects at work also — from tiling the main bathroom to building smoke shacks, a few offices and an outdoor bench using our Outdoor Accents^® Decorative Hardware.

Park Bench using Simpson Strong-Tie Outdoor Accents hardware

If you’ve gotten the chance to visit our various branches across the United States, you may have noticed they all have a statue or a mascot representative of the branch. I was tasked by Bryan Rychlik, the VP branch manager, to build one for the Columbus branch. Our local college, Ohio State University, has a popular mascot named Brutus Buckeye. We decided to adopt him as the Columbus branch’s mascot.

Conceptualizing Brutus Buckeye- Ohio State University's mascot — Conceptualizing Brutus Buckeye- Ohio State University’s mascot

As for building Brutus, I used over 30 different Simpson Strong-Tie hardware products, which I’ve listed below for reference. It was a bit of a challenge to make it life–sized and proportionate. I used myself for a lot of the measurements of arm lengths and angles.

Brutus Buckeye's arm with attached hand — Brutus Buckeye’s arm with attached hand

Beside the Brutus is the letter “O”- representing Ohio. It’s 48“ tall, which is the tallest “O” I’ve built so far. I’ve built at least three 2‘ O’s for retirement gifts along with a cutting board.

Simpson Strong-Tie Custom-made Cutting boards

For the “O” I installed the LED strips in semi–clear trash bags to give more of a glow. The center of the cutter board is epoxy with a stainless steel.

Ohio" O" with LED Lights — Ohio” O” with LED Lights

It took a few months to build, but I think it turned out great. Brutus is a great addition to our lobby and for all the Ohio State fans that come through our door.

Simpson Strong-Tie Dan Dee with Brutus Buckeye in the Columbus Branch Lobby

Simpson Strong-Tie hardware used in the construction of Brutus: TJC57, LS30, LS90, DTC, STC, ST, MSTC28, LTP5, TP311, TP15, TP49, HETA16, SPH6, DSP, L90, LSCZ, ABL10, ABL4, CS20, BTH, AS–20, ST292, TSF2-24, HDU2, LSSJ26LZ, VTCR, CSHP, SP1, BVLZ, CTS218, MP36