When I think about JobLine turning 30, my first thought is: how did time go by so fast. Then again, with everything we have done over the years, it makes me smile. We’ve achieved a lot, from pioneering the Candidate Profile, which gives employers a “first interview” and...

I once had the sales representative for a software company looking to secure our business tell me that, in his view, being a truss designer (or panel designer) was like taking a never-ending math test in which any score less than 100% was failure. He was certainly of the “old school”...

Months of planning and preparation are about to pay off as our industry gathers for the #1 event of the year – the Building Component Manufacturers Conference (BCMC)! Being held the week of September 12 in Columbus, OH, the event is jam-packed with educational opportunities, social events,...

As you can tell from many of the articles in this issue, the BCMC show is a big deal for the structural building components industry. Every year, the trade show brings together exhibitors and manufacturers to hear about the latest and greatest developments. To contribute to the energy and...

Every year, Simpson Strong-Tie awards scholarships to students in the fields of engineering, architecture and construction management to help them on their educational journey. The company also flies all the scholarship winners out to Northern California to spend a whole week learning about the...

“We were pleased to welcome 77 individuals to the MSR Workshop in Salt Lake City this past April,” reports MSRLPC President George Hamilton of Canfor Southern Pine. “It was wonderful to be together again with a great group of industry members – from MSR producers, to...

June is National Safety Month, but at Simpson Strong-Tie, safety never takes a day off. We’re at it all year, day in and day out. The motto of the Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) department is “Keep Us Strong,” and that’s exactly what we strive to do. At Simpson...

Is your company having problems finding good employees to fill all the needed positions within your company? Are you thinking wage inflation is getting out of hand? Perhaps you should look at it from a different perspective. Multiple case studies have shown that companies with low employee...

Society is currently experiencing “The Great Resignation,” and it only continues to be exasperated by the pandemic. Yet, for many industries, building safety especially, this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, for the skilled trades like construction, the shortage of incoming talent...

Due to the nature of wood, lumber characteristics can vary in every piece. Even “in grade” lumber can have drastic variations in performance. How can we deal with and adjust for natural defects and variability? We have discussed roof trusses in previous articles, including...