May 10, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Ray Ladd
Cal Poly, (805) 756-7432
Richard Chapman
Simpson Strong-Tie, (925) 560-9088

Company Donates $500,000 for Construction Management Lab

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Simpson Strong-Tie, one of the largest suppliers of
structural building connectors in the world, is donating $500,000 to help
fund a laboratory in a new building that will house Cal Poly's
Construction Management Department.

The Simpson Strong-Tie Materials Demonstration Laboratory will be the
largest element in the building's Center for Construction Excellence.
Students in several disciplines will be able to use the 5,000 square
foot lab to design, build and test a variety of structural components.
The Materials Demonstration Lab will provide vital support for
activities of four adjoining labs in the center, where students will
gain hands-on experience with fundamentals of construction management
and with residential, commercial and heavy/civil construction.

The donation is part of the Cal Poly College of Architecture and
Environmental Design’s campaign to raise $7.5 million in private gifts
to help fund the new building. The college will receive $17 million in
state funds for the project. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2005, with
completion in the fall of 2007.

“Simpson Strong-Tie is committed to education and advancing the
construction of safe, cost-effective structures for our communities,”
said Dave Bastian, branch manager of Simpson Strong-Tie’s Brea, Calif.,
facilities. “Cal Poly’s new construction management labs will enhance
hands-on learning, which will continue to improve building practices and
bring bright, skilled design and construction professionals into the
work force.”

Cal Poly Construction Management Department Head Allan Hauck said, “Cal
Poly and Simpson Strong-Tie share similar goals of construction
excellence and improving the safety of structures. We are very pleased
to have had Simpson Strong-Tie as a partner for the past two decades.
The new demonstration laboratory is designed to provide an interactive
learning environment for students that can simulate ‘real-world’
projects, from the construction of roads to structural seismic
mitigation that will protect homes and buildings from the forces of
nature, including earthquakes and high winds.”

Simpson’s Brea manufacturing and sales facility is involved with course
instruction and training sessions for students and alumni.

“Simpson Strong-Tie’s involvement has been interdisciplinary," Dean of
Architecture and Environmental Design R. Thomas Jones said. "For nearly
20 years they’ve donated teaching tools to the Architectural Engineering
Department, for the last eight years have helped to sponsor the annual
student-run Structural Engineers Association of California Structural
Forum, and since 1998 have supported student senior projects with
supplies, equipment and crucial technical expertise.

“Students from our Construction Management, Architectural Engineering
and Architecture departments have gained from scholarships and the
Simpson Strong-Tie Symposium, where they learn to incorporate and
specify the structural detailing of fasteners and other equipment
necessary to overcome engineering challenges," Jones said. "The firm
also employs several of our graduates.”

This year's Simpson Strong-Tie Symposium, on Friday-Saturday, May 14-15,
is open to students and the public. Call (805) 756-1314 for more
information on the symposium.

For information on a ceremony Friday, May 14, to formalize the Simpson
gift, call the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at (805)
756-1323. For more about Simpson Strong-Tie, go to www.strongtie.com.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: A signing ceremony for the gift will take place at 2
p.m. Friday, May 14, in the Gallery of the Architecture and
Environmental Design Building (Room 105). A photograph of the ceremony
will be available after the event via e-mail by contacting Ray Ladd at
(805) 756-7432 or rladd@calpoly.edu.