Infinite Menus Place Holder (Dreamweaver Design View)

What is it that is crucial to building a successful organization? It's the culture! And what is key to any culture? It is whether the people in the organization, at every level, get the degree of respect that they deserve.

At Simpson Manufacturing, we attract and keep the best people for a variety of reasons. The basis for all of them is respect for the individual:

It is unusual for us to go outside for managerial positions. When you join us, you know that, when the position above you becomes open, you have a shot at it.

No one has a special parking place. And anyone, at any level, using a commercial airline in this country flies tourist, unless he or she can upgrade personally.

The Company is not for sale. You come here for a career, not as a bus stop.

If the Company and your branch prospers, so do you. Quarterly Cash Profit Sharing is how our people can make a lot of money. And, of course, that is the reason that outside shareholders prosper also.

We have excellent employee benefits, including a pension plan funded entirely by the Company, and financial help for the further education of employees and their offspring.

Believing that the word is undeserved and greatly overworked, we have no "Executives," and everyone goes by his or her first name.

We are decentralized, and make sure that authority goes with responsibility. This system builds strong people, and enables us to promote from within at all levels.

2007 was a tough year in terms of sales and profits. Yes, it was a fair return on capital, but was our first down year since we went public in 1994. The reason is quite simple. We let ourselves get too dependent upon U.S. housing starts, and they were down substantially. And most pundits are projecting a further drop in housing starts, and perhaps a mild recession.

But, we remain a long range company that is not for sale, and we do not intend to wait for something over which we have no control, like U.S. housing starts, to improve.

Last year, we established sales offices in Hong Kong and Beijing, and bought 8 acres of land 50 miles from Shanghai. Our plan is to build a 175,000 sq.ft. manufacturing plant, to be completed in the first quarter of next year. In the meantime, our China sales force will be finding out what products we should manufacture for the Chinese, and other Asian markets.

Currently, we are looking at acquisitions in both Europe and America. We have learned not to count on any acquisition until the final papers are signed, but several look promising. Our strong cash position is there so that we can make acquisitions, without betting the store. Last year, Swan Secure was a small, but high class acquisition, and should contribute to our profits this year.

Last year, sales in Europe were up 14.6%, and we made money despite currency losses and substantial costs in restructuring our Danish and German operations. Current reports from Western European economies are not optimistic, but we expect sales to be up, with possibly some help in Eastern Europe from our Polish operations.

Our people and our stockholders can take pride in the Company's charitable projects, currently among which is a $1,000,000 commitment supporting a Habitat for Humanity housing development. And, as we do every year, we gave approximately thirty scholarships to structural engineering students throughout the country.

While our results in 2007 were not something in which we take pride, we are excited about future prospects, especially in Europe and Asia, as well as by new products developed internally and by acquisition.

Our quarterly dividend is $.10 per share.