When your company is in the business of building safer, stronger structures, you’re sure to have more than a few employees who are handy with a hammer (and a screwdriver and drill). This winter, our Pleasanton engineering department decided to put those design and carpentry skills to the test for the greater good.
Our engineers split up into 11 teams. Those teams were given instructions from the Simpson Strong-Tie DIY website for building either a bench or a planter. The mission: Build your project in one day while adding as much individual flair as your team had time and inspiration for. One winner was chosen for each project, and all of the benches and planters were donated to Habitat for Humanity.
In the end, the engineering department built five beautiful benches and six perfect planters for the benefit of humanity.
The engineering build was part of Simpson Strong-Tie’s companywide Do What You Can Day 2019. The annual event takes its impetus (and name) from company founder Barclay Simpson’s eighth principle, “Give Back,” in his Nine Principles of Doing Business: “The company feels an obligation to the system and the country that spawned it, as well as to humanity in general.”
He said, “it is our responsibility to reach out, in whatever manner we can, to support others. … Look for small ways to give back every day. Help out your neighbor, make time for others, do what you can.”
Do What You Can Day gives employees the opportunity to further our founder’s philanthropic legacy by giving back to the community.
