Category: Building Strong

Expanding Our Outdoor Accents® Decorative Hardware

It started with a simple question: How can we bring our commitment to building safe, strong structures to the our customers’ outdoor spaces? From that idea our Outdoor Accents® decorative hardware solution was born.

Outdoor Accents brings both elegance and structural strength to any project you might dream up for your backyard. We offer two distinct decorative hardware lines to fit the aesthetic of your outdoor living structure. Our Mission Collection® features connectors that add a hint of Southwestern flair, while our Avant Collection™ features connectors with straight edges and chamfered corners for a clean and timeless contemporary design.   Continue reading “Expanding Our Outdoor Accents® Decorative Hardware”

Pergola Planner Helps a Boy Scout Support His Community

Boy Scout Porter Shively shares a pergola he built for his community to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. He built this project using Simpson Strong-Tie® Pergola Planner Software™. 

I’m a junior at William Harrison High School in West Lafayette, Indiana. I’m a wrestler at the school, very active with my Boy Scout Troop, and volunteer in our children’s program at church. In my free time, I enjoy watching movies, playing Minecraft, and hanging out with my friends. After high school, I plan on getting a degree that will allow me to work toward becoming a zoologist.  

Continue reading “Pergola Planner Helps a Boy Scout Support His Community”

Create Your DIY Dream Walk-In Closet with Palo Woodcraft

Jenny Palo of Palo Woodcraft built her very own walk-in dream closet with the help of our Simpson Strong-Tie Finish Trim screws and Wafer-Head Construction screws.  

A few years ago, my husband got us an online woodworking course for beginners. I picked up the power tools and never looked back! We bought a new house and I’ve been slowly working my way through, building new furniture and giving all the rooms more character. I did some built-ins in my daughter’s room, but I used store-bought shelves, so for this closet project I wanted to challenge myself to build it all from scratch! And it was fun to do a project for a room that I knew could just be 100% for me.   Continue reading “Create Your DIY Dream Walk-In Closet with Palo Woodcraft”

Strong-Wall® Shearwalls Featured in An Art Exhibit 

Back in August 2019, Los Angeles– and Berlin-based artist Tekena Koko staged an exhibition at his Los Angeles studio showcasing an installation of Simpson Strong-Tie Strong –Wall shearwalls.  

The art exhibition was called Highly Value Engineered (HVE) and included several of our Steel Strong-Wall Shearwalls®, along with a stack of connectors.  

Continue reading “Strong-Wall® Shearwalls Featured in An Art Exhibit “

Outdoor Accents® Decorative Post Base Covers Create Indoor Flair

Outdoor Accents is a line of decorative hardware featuring ornamental wood connectors and fasteners. These products bring both beauty and strength to outdoor living structures such as pergolas, pavilions, arbors, gazebos and patio covers. Learn how a New England custom home builder was introduced to Outdoor Accents by our Associate Territory Sales Manager Emily Holtshouser during a presentation about our decorative hardware solutions. This builder gave his personal home a unique twist by showcasing the Outdoor Accents products indoors rather than outdoors. He used our decorative hardware to add style and flair to the beam posts throughout his new house.  

Continue reading “Outdoor Accents® Decorative Post Base Covers Create Indoor Flair”

Women at Simpson Strong-Tie — Building Equality in Sales

Last week concluded Simpson Strong-Tie’s 2022 International Sales Meeting. HR Coordinator Kayla Wells attended ISM and shared her experience connecting with others, as well as her surprise at the growing number of women on our sales team. 

I started with Simpson in March 2020 as the Human Resources Coordinator, and I’m still in that position. Eventually, I look to expand my HR career here as I develop myself and those around me. Last week, I was honored to attend the annual Simpson Strong-Tie International Sales Meeting (ISM) in San Antonio, Texas. Although I’m not in Sales, I received the ECSS (Excellence in Customer Service Support) award for the first half of 2021 at my branch here in Columbus, so I was invited to attend.

Continue reading “Women at Simpson Strong-Tie — Building Equality in Sales”

A Woman In Engineering: How I Break the Bias  

March 8, 2022 is International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Break the Bias” which asks participants to imagine a gender equal world. Simpson Strong-Tie Engineering Supervisor for the Southwest United States, Rachel Holland, shares her story of being a woman in engineering and how she works to create change in her field by mentoring young women interested in STEM.

When I was young, no one mentioned how rare female engineers were. Perhaps I didn’t do my research to figure that out on my own. In fairness, though, there tended to be an equal number of female and male students in the classes I took in high school. However, by day one as an architectural engineering freshman at Cal Poly SLO, I could already tell the vast majority of my classmates for the next five years were going to be boys. Therefore, that was a big change — and a telling clue about my future career path.  

Continue reading “A Woman In Engineering: How I Break the Bias  “

Meet Annie Kao, Our VP of Engineering

Every February, the National Society of Professional Engineers honors the profession of engineering during Engineers Week. The goal of Engineers Week is to “celebrate how engineers make a difference in our world.” Engineers are the foundation of Simpson Strong-Tie, and we appreciate our engineering team daily. However, this year we’re using Engineers Week as an opportunity to tell the story of individuals who help make up our Engineering Department.  

Continue reading “Meet Annie Kao, Our VP of Engineering”

A Boy Scout Kiosk Build with Simpson Strong-Tie Outdoor Accents® Hardware

Literature Specialist Amy Mayne’s son, Trent, was quite busy last winter with his Boy Scout group building an outdoor kiosk with Simpson Strong-Tie products. 

Last winter, as part of his membership with Boy Scouts of America, my son Trent chose a project to give back to his school district, as well as help him earn his Boy Scouts Eagle Award. Trent rebuilt the kiosk at the Bloom Carroll High School Arboretum.  

Continue reading “A Boy Scout Kiosk Build with Simpson Strong-Tie Outdoor Accents® Hardware”

Simpson Strong-Tie Viet Nam Branch Celebrates Lunar New Year

Simpson Strong-Tie’s Vietnam Branch was established in 2012 to provide No-Equal® engineering services not only in structural engineering, mechanical engineering and graphic design but also in software solutions. We work as a team, grow together inspired by our commitment to product quality and a customer-focused mindset, and bring collaborative spirit to achieving our organizational goals. 

Continue reading “Simpson Strong-Tie Viet Nam Branch Celebrates Lunar New Year”