From Our CEO: Simpson Strong-Tie — A Strong Culture

Mike Olosky is the Chief Executive Officer at Simpson Strong-Tie as of January 1, 2023. Before that, Mike served for two years as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. In what follows, he discusses some of the characteristics that define the  Simpson Strong-Tie culture and make it stand out.

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Building It Forward with Simpson Strong-Tie

Giving back is one of our company core values at Simpson Strong-Tie, and for many years, we’ve donated time, money and products to Habitat for Humanity. We’d like your help continuing to bring awareness to the need for safe, strong and affordable housing.  

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How to Build a DIY Wood Workbench in Under Two Hours

The first step to creating a serious home workshop — whether it’s in your shed, basement, or garage — is obtaining an affordable but sturdy workbench. Simpson Strong-Tie has more than 65 years of expertise developing connectors to build safe, strong homes, so imagine the result if you applied our connector solutions to your new workbench.

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Perfect Pergola Planned: Elements of an Achievable Pergola Plan

Lumber prices are continuing to return to Earth, making it possible to start dreaming once again about backyard projects. It’s the perfect time to take our new, easy-to-use Pergola Planner Software™ for a spin. Pergola Planner Software enables contractors or homeowners to design the perfect pergola in just a few minutes. Earlier this year we asked homeowners who might be considering a new backyard pergola to try out the software and send in their pergola designs.

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How Jackson Lumber & Millwork Used Pipeline LBM Software from Simpson Strong-Tie to Boost Takeoff Speed and Efficiency by 50 Percent

Can running takeoff software and generating materials lists for new construction projects be as fun as playing a video game? The inside sales team at Jackson Lumber & Millwork sure seems to think so. Founded in 1946, Jackson is a third-generation, family-owned lumber and building materials dealer serving custom homebuilders, contractors, remodelers, and homeowners across Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

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DIY: How to Spray-Paint Metal Connectors

While many people like the look of galvanized metal connectors on their DIY projects as we have shown with the Simpson Strong-Tie® Rigid Tie® RTC connectors on our DIY standing desk and heavy-duty workbench others prefer a painted look. 

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DIY: Nominal Lumber Size Versus Actual Lumber Size

Every so often a homeowner tackling a new project will reach out to ask why their lumber doesn’t fit the connector. We sympathize. Lumber size can be confusing, especially when someone is first getting started with DIY woodworking. Nearly every single time this question comes up, it comes down to “nominal” dimensions of the purchased lumber. 

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2020: The Year You Did It Yourselves 

It’s no surprise that with so many of us stuck at home for most of 2020, there’s been an increased interest in DIY projects. Homeowners have been using the time to build everything from desks to alternative dwelling units. That interest is reflected in where we see visitors going on our websiteWe’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people downloading free project plans and an especially high interest in free pergola plans 

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Builder Solutions Webinar Series: Pipeline Estimating Software

This summer we hosted a successful Builder Solutions Webinar series dedicated to highlighting innovative new product solutions to help get houses on the market faster. The thirdwebinar in the series lightly touched on our web-based material management and estimation logic software solution  Pipeline. Due to the popularity of the topic, we’re launching the Pipeline Webinar Series.   

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Great ShakeOut 2020: Reddit Asks Us Anything About Earthquakes

Each year, Simpson Strong-Tie teams up with the West Coast’s top earthquake scientists and preparedness experts to take questions from Redditors about earthquakes and tsunamis. The Reddit AMA is part of the GreaShakeOut, the world’s largest earthquake drill, where 55 million people drop, cover and hold on. The next Great ShakeOut is scheduled to take place at 10:17 a.m. on October 15, 2020. 

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