A Simpson Strong-Tie Event: Construction Industry and Career Paths for Youths

This article was originally published on Building Talent Foundation’s website, which you can read here 

Simpson Strong-Tie Training Specialist/Outreach Coordinator Dan Scullion has given product demonstrations to engineers, architects, building officials and construction contractors, but a group of students from Jacksonville Job Corps Center kept him on his toes. 

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Combating the Labor Shortage Through Construction Trades Education 

In 2021, Simpson Strong-Tie partnered with Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley (Habitat EBSV) to create the Construction Trades Support program. The program aims to promote the trades as a viable career path for youth and for other individuals who are currently out of the workforce and to create a pipeline for talent to help alleviate the current labor shortage. 

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History of the Timber-Strong Design Build Competition 

In this article, Angel Leon, Simpson Strong-Tie Training Specialist/Outreach Coordinator and cofounder of Timber-Strong,  discusses the creation of this ASCE design build competition, what it teaches architecture and structural engineering students, and how the program will grow in the future. 

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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.  

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Builder Solutions Webinar Series: Anchors, Curved Framing, Coiled Straps, Fasteners and Prescriptive Framing

Do you want to learn how Simpson Strong-Tie is creating builder solutions to help get houses on the market faster?  

Since many of us are relying more on online solutions, we’ve developed a builder webinar series highlighting new innovative product solutions that reduce labor time and help decrease the opportunity for misinstallations, while meeting code requirements.  

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Engineering with Kids: Popsicle Sticks, Spaghetti and Marshmallows

Back in March, a few colleagues and I were discussing how to prepare kids for college. With that subject in mind, I wanted to do something fun and meaningful for the kids in our community. So I organized some workshops in my back yard focused on engineering with kids who might be interested in exploring structural engineering — and summer was the perfect time to do it! We had a group of 12 kids, aged 7–11, who signed up and were all set to explore some engineering concepts. It was a learning experience for me, as well!
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Girls Inc. Visits Simpson Strong-Tie Lab

On July 6, the Simpson Strong-Tie home office in Pleasanton, California, welcomed girls from Girls, Inc. of Alameda County. This visit provided an opportunity for the girls to hear from and interact with the many women leaders of Simpson Strong-Tie.

The construction and manufacturing industries continue to be male-dominated fields. The visit provided the girls the opportunity to meet several of our women leaders and also learn about other career paths that might not be automatically associated with the manufacturing industry. Our leaders — including Jacinta Pister, senior vice president, Worldwide Manufacturing; Jennifer Lutz, vice president, Human Resources; and Shelby Short, director, Global Quality Systems — shared stories of their personal success and professional growth at Simpson Strong-Tie.
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Timber Strong Provides Real-World Engineering Experience

For the last three years, Simpson Strong-Tie has sponsored events at the Pacific Southwest Conference, a three-day competition promoted by the  American Society of Civil Engineers for civil engineering students. This year, 18  universities from Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii sent teams to Tempe, Arizona, for the competition, which was co-hosted April 12–14 by Arizona State and Northern Arizona Universities.

The students compete in numerous events over the three days, with the two main events being Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge builds sponsored by American Concrete Institute and American Institute of Steel Construction respectively. In the previous two years, Simpson sponsored Simpson Jeopardy and Timber Towers / Giant Jenga, but this year we were excited to sponsor the inaugural Timber Strong Design Build competition.
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News from IBS & WOC — What You Missed at the 2018 Simpson Strong-Tie Exhibit Booths

It was a muggy Tuesday morning, and thousands of people from all over the world were heading toward the long bank of doors to the Orlando Convention Center. The broad stream of people was just one of the signs that the International Builders’ Show® was underway.

Inside Hall C The Simpson Strong-Tie booth was impressive with a festively lit Outdoor Accents® pergola and shelves of Simpson hats and tee-shirts to give to booth visitors.
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5 Ways Simpson Strong-Tie Collaborates with Construction Students

At Simpson Strong-Tie, we’re not only focused on building strong structures, we’re also focused on building strong relationships with the next generation of architects, engineers, builders and trade professionals who will help shape our communities. Given the shortage of skilled laborers and of school graduates joining the trades, we believe it’s important to support career opportunities for the young professionals who represent the future of our industry.

To do that, we’ve appointed a select group of Outreach Coordinators dedicated to creating relationships with young people interested in our industry. Here are five ways that Simpson Strong-Tie and this passionate team are helping the next generation of engineering and construction professionals plan their careers.

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