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Packer Fastener principal and CEO Terry Albrecht says the success of the company comes down to one thing, people. To ensure that, the company has created an environment the team wants to work in. Cover photo and story images by Valerie Smith Photography.

Forged in Frendship and Fasteners

Packer Fastener Builds Culture of Grit, Growth and Gratitude

On the surface, Packer Fastener is an industrial supply company, but spend an hour inside its Green Bay, Wisconsin headquarters, and it becomes clear that this company isn’t built on nuts and bolts, it’s built on people.

The company’s story reads more like a modern-day parable of grit, culture, and community than a corporate case study.

Packer Fastener, a thriving, multi-state distributor of threaded fasteners, industrial and construction supplies, began not with a blueprint, but with a few beers and an idea.

Founder Terry Albrecht, who grew up working in a local hardware store in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, was disillusioned by the corporate machinery of a billion-dollar industrial supplier he was working for in the late 1990s. He felt like a square peg in a round hole due to his small-town roots.

On May 4, 1994, Terry and two fellow salesmen shared a few drinks at a Green Bay bar and Packer Fastener, an alternative vision for what a distribution company could be, was born.

“We saw an opportunity where we could carve our niche in Green Bay,” Terry recalls. “We just wanted to build a great company.”

For him, a great company offers great culture, great service, and great value in its marketplace.

“I think our aspiration was just to build an awesome company, and the exponential growth has become a product of that commitment,” Terry says.

From its humble beginnings in a 3,000- square-foot space on South Broadway in Green Bay, Packer Fastener knocked down walls, literally and figuratively, as it outgrew each space faster than expected.

By 2015, the company moved to a 22,000- square-foot facility on Lombardi Avenue, marked by a giant nut Terry bought to celebrate his 40th birthday. Within a few years, it was again outgrowing its space and now resides at 500 Pilgrim Way, still marked by the giant nut.

Satellite branches are located around Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois and distribution centers can be found in Kansas, Ohio, and Georgia. Across all its facilities, Packer Fastener encompasses more than 300,000 square feet.

Combined with its growth, the company has expanded to include a supply chain logistics arm, Packer Freight. Like Packer Fastener, the origin of that arm of the company involves a few guys discussing a concept over drinks.

Two freight specialists working for another company asked a Packer Fastener employee if the company had considered starting a freight division. Terry originally said no, but like the entrepreneur he is, he took a meeting with the pair.

“I didn’t know freight, but I knew I’d bet on these guys all day,” he says, noting that the pair were an ideal fit into the Packer Fastener culture. Now, five years later, Packer Freight manages $40 million in freight annually.

In terms of the connection between the companies, Packer Freight manages the transportation of products from vendor to distribution center or distribution center to distribution center.

Terry says the final touch point is always Packer Fastener assets making that last mile delivery to the customer.

Despite the growth, he is committed to Green Bay serving as the company headquarters.

Through it all, Terry’s vision remains the same, the company’s purpose is to create value and opportunity, which extends to the team, the customers, vendors, and the community.

In general, his idea is simple, the company’s purpose is to create value and opportunity.

“To do that, we need to stay focused on growth, because as we grow, we can create more value and more opportunity,” Terry says.

“I just feel so passionate about delivering our purpose, that’s what keeps me coming in every day,” he says.

CULTURE AS A COMPASS

The difference from other companies that hype a concept of having a great culture is that at Packer Fastener, it was a bottom-up concept that prizes hustle, humility, and human connection.

Around 2015, with about 30 employees, Terry introduced the idea of “intentional culture.” The theory is that every company has a culture but to make it the culture you want, you must be intentional about it and document it.

A survey was sent to the team, asking two simple questions: Why do you like coming to work, and why do you think the company is successful?

The responses were strikingly consistent. From those answers came Packer Fastener’s 14 behavioral expectations, now referred to internally as their “swagger.”

The list serves as the company’s primary vetting tool for onboarding new team members.

“We are hyper disciplined in keeping that the number one priority above anything else in this organization,” Terry says. “It’s been that commitment that has led to our growth. We deliver it in the marketplace, but it starts internally, with the expectations of our behaviors.”

Unlike many companies, that swagger isn’t corporate jargon. It’s the living DNA of the company, reinforced from day one.

“We have a little bit of bravado in what we do, and so we all pride ourselves in the level of swagger that exists in this organization,” Terry says. “That’s how we end up with our goal. That is, in my opinion, the number one differentiator, most impactful growth driver that resulted in where we’re at today.”

He loves the “flywheel,” a concept from business author Jim Collins. It is a metaphor for sustainable growth through disciplined consistency. At Packer Fastener, it starts with hiring culturally aligned or high-swagger team members.

“When you’re hiring for swagger and you’re showing that flywheel, and everybody’s aligned on the value and opportunity we create, we’re able to promote from within,” Terry says.

As team members witness the success of others, they are motivated to follow in their teammates’ footsteps, even if it means transferring to another location. As those people aggressively chase opportunities, Packer Fastener wins customers and delivers incredible service, which leads to growth, reinvestment, and even more high-swagger hires.

“That’s how $6 million becomes $120 million in 10 years,” Terry says. “It’s all about culture, behavior, and hustle. It’s the kind of environment we’re trying to create.”

While there is a focus on price and service, he says they are also trying to create a brand that people enjoy working with.

“I think it’s our outside-of-the-box approach to how we interact with our customers, how we handle our marketing material that makes us stand out a little bit and make people enjoy working with our organization,” Terry says.

From 30 employees, the company has grown to more than 200. Nearly all those original team members who helped form the swagger list are still with the company today and serve as its highest cultural ambassadors.

“People, people, people,” Terry says when asked what drives Packer’s success. “And not just people, but the right people.” For Packer Fastener, the right people are those who strive to exhibit the shared behavioral expectations on a regular basis.

HEART IN THE COMMUNITY

Beyond the flywheel and the corporate swagger, Packer Fastener’s internal talent development program plays a significant role in the company’s success. Structured like a football development program, the system is designed not just to grow leaders but to build better people in work and in life.

New team members are introduced to the fundamental business concepts of the organization such as swagger, 80/20 thinking, the flywheel, and general entrepreneurial operating systems through the “Combine.”

“We make sure everybody has as much understanding of why we do those things as possible,” Terry says.

Even with ongoing growth, he reviews all new hires to help align them with roles that speak to their natural strengths.

“I want them to know that we’re focused on growing to create value and opportunity, and that means opportunity for them,” Terry says.

“If we have someone who has a skill set or is naturally wired in any area of the company, we’re already very early on trying to pinpoint that and put them on a pathway to success.”

From that point, emerging leaders are encouraged to participate in the “Starting Lineup”, a leadership immersion cohort with local technical colleges designed to empower leaders with the skills to lead their teams.

The next level is defined as the Hall of Fame, a year-long program intended to assist those ready to reach the pinnacle of their potential with a final round of executive leadership training.

“Our goal is to push as many people through that talent development program as possible so they can go out there and be business unit leaders,” Terry says.

“Strong leaders inside these walls become strong leaders outside these walls, in families, churches, and communities.”

That ripple effect is the true legacy of Packer Fastener. More than just bolts and freight, the company has built a movement, one defined by values, hustle, and an unapologetic swagger.

“It’s great for our team, but it’s also great for the marketplace because we’re delivering top-level service expectations to our customers,” Terry says. “It goes back to purpose and creating value and opportunity.”

As much as Packer Fastener focuses on growth, it also focuses on giving back. Every employee gets 8 to 16 hours of volunteer time off, with the company supporting both national and hyperlocal causes.

“It’s a combination of financial contributions and time, but I think time is the more critical of the two, because you can always make more money, we can’t make more time,” Terry says.

Not every community-based decision at Packer Fastener comes from the boardroom. Sometimes, they’re smoked to perfection.

One Milwaukee-based team member who competes in barbecue competitions, pitched an idea: what if the company bought a commercial-grade smoker to bring to jobsites? Terry was all in. Now, that trailer-mounted smoker travels across the Midwest, serving up ribs and gratitude at jobsites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois.

“It’s a great way to say thank you to our customers,” Terry says. “Professional-grade barbecue on your jobsite, with the sides to go with it.”

One of the key successes in keeping the pipeline of employees strong cultural fits, is a robust referral system.

Although no referral bonuses are offered, nearly 90% of Packer Fastener’s hires are referrals. Team members are so enthused by their own experience that they want their friends and family members to enjoy the same thing.

“When you get like-minded people together, it becomes quite a fun place and a good environment to work,” Terry says. “Great people go do great things in the marketplace and take care of customers. That’s how it all works. From my perspective, being the founder, we take care of our team, our team does a great job of taking care of our customers, and our customers take care of that business, and we just never lose sight of that.”

GROWTH BY THE NUMBERS

Team-driven growth is reflected in the company’s overall expansion strategy. Packer Fastener’s target market is split 60-40 between commercial construction and manufacturing, with a significant percentage of their sales being in threaded fasteners.

“I cut my teeth at a billion-dollar company and that was their go-to market, so I followed a similar playbook in the early days, which holds today,” Terry says.

Having a balance between the industrial and construction sectors is critical because there are always ebbs and flows. Currently, construction is the fastest-growing sector, highly focused on the technology space such as data centers and power generation.

From Green Bay to Kansas City, Columbus, and Atlanta, Packer Fastener has expanded strategically to meet customer demand, particularly in high-tech construction sectors, such as data centers and renewable energy. In 2025 alone, the company is up approximately 47% year-over-year.

Each distribution center is placed within a four-hour or 150-mile radius of target customers. Each new market is entered only when there’s a committed customer asking them to expand and if there is feasibility of continued growth.

“We’re strategically looking at what major markets make sense for us,” Terry says, noting that they consistently look at where there are opportunities in the commercial construction space and where it makes sense to invest in placing a distribution center.

“We have a fairly significant investment in our localized inventories, but then also great vendor relationships, so we can get those inventory needs to our customers when they need it,” he says. “Speed, accuracy, and availability will never go out of favor. In my opinion, we’ve had that for 15 years. We’ve hung our hat on that.”

IT’S ALL ZEROS TOMORROW

Despite all the success, Terry isn’t ready to coast. At 50, he feels like he’s just getting started. Yet, he also acknowledges that someday, someone else will carry the torch. That’s why Packer Fastener is so focused on developing future leaders.

After 27 years, Terry remains proud of what the team members have all built together, the partnerships with customers and the value Packer Fastener brings to the marketplace.

Proud of what they’ve accomplished, he remains cautious about getting complacent. “We don’t want to start drinking our own Kool-Aid,” he says.

Packer Fastener is the sweet spot of being able to reinvest in its people, its culture, and its customers. As it expands, the Green Bay-based distributor finds itself competing against larger private equity-based or publicly traded companies.

“We’re so much faster and so much nimbler, but we have all the horsepower of the big guys to offer to our customers, and we’ve been able to leverage that to our advantage,” he says. “Are there peaks and valleys, of course, but that’s part of the story. I look back, and I think we’re all incredibly blessed to have been part of this journey, and we have a long way to go yet.”

Speed is part of the company’s core, and team members at Packer Fastener will strive to out-hustle anyone for customers.

“I think that shines through in the marketplace, and that’s what’s propelling our growth,” Terry says. “That comes from the culture that we’ve developed internally and those behaviors that result in that over servicing of our customers.”

Looking ahead, he sees the opportunity for coast-to-coast expansion, driven by customer needs and anchored by community. However, he’s not interested in growth for growth’s sake. Each step must reflect the same values that have led to the company’s status.

In an industry built on precision and strength, Packer Fastener has proven that culture is the most powerful tool of all. And from Green Bay to the next great jobsite, that swagger shows no signs of slowing down.

A favorite mantra within the company is: “It’s all zeros tomorrow.” It serves as a humble reminder that yesterday’s success means nothing if the hustle stops.

“Foot on the gas,” Terry says. “But it’s all zeros tomorrow. We earn it every day because it just means we’re going to keep tension on our flywheel and move forward.”

 This article originally appeared in the August/September 2025 issue of Contractor Supply magazine. Copyright, 2025 Direct Business Media.