In the 1930s, the Timber Engineering Company (TECO) was created as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Lumber Manufacturing Association to help promote timber construction. To that end, they designed and developed shear plates and several other timber connectors that are still used today in heavy timber construction.

The Timber Engineering Company still exists today but has long since stopped manufacturing and selling timber connectors. In 1992, the Fastening and Connector Division was sold to Cleveland Steel and Specialty of Ohio. With Cleveland Steel ceasing business operations in 2020, Portland Bolt purchased their remaining stock of domestic shear plates and is now the premier supplier of split rings, shear plates, spike grids, and installation tools.