World's largest nut coming to Green Bay

Terry Albrecht has plenty of nuts (and bolts) already, but he'll park the biggest nut in the world outside his business next week.

Packer Fastener will mount a 3.5-ton, 10-foot tall hex nut fabricated by Robinson Metals Inc. in front of its new headquarters on the northeast corner of South Ashland Avenue and Lombardi Avenue. Albrecht said it will give Green Bay claim to the world's largest hex nut.

"(The Guinness Book of World Records) confirmed there's currently not a category for the world's largest nut," Albrecht said. "But they're willing to open one up for us. It is indeed the world's largest, but we don't have the official Guinness stamp yet."

Albrecht has been nuts about nuts, bolts, threaded fasteners, anchors, screws, washers and fittings since he founded the company 17 years ago on South Broadway. Since then, he's grown from 10 employees to 40 and has locations in Green Bay, Appleton, Milwaukee and Wausau.

When Albrecht saw the gigantic replica of the Lombardi Trophy that De Pere's Robinson Metal produced, it gave him an idea.

"For many years, our slogan was 'We've got the biggest nuts in town,'" Albrecht said. "When we moved into this location, we thought it would be good to put our money where our mouths are. I approached one of the partners at Robinson with the idea and they found a way."

Neil VanLanen, the operations manager at Robinson, said the company has done business with Packer Fastener for awhile now, so Albrecht's idea didn't really surprise them.

"It came together really well," VanLanen said. "It's really what we do. And Terry, he's an outgoing, charismatic guy who has been great to work with as both a customer and vendor throughout this process."

VanLanen said it took the company's employees about five weeks to fabricate the 10-plus-foot, threaded hex nut from 3.5 tons of steel. It's hollow and mounted on a standard steel platform. That, in turn, will be mounted on a concrete pad in such a way that one can see Lambeau Field when standing in the center of it.

"We kicked the idea back and forth for about two months. Then away we went with it," VanLanen said. "With them moving into their new headquarters, you could not ask for a better place to put something that will stand out."

Albrecht said he hopes Greater Green Bay residents embrace and enjoy the company's contribution to the landscape.

"Our hope is to make it our own little landmark in the city," he said. "We think it'll be a good photo opportunity."

Jeff Bollier: jbollier@pressgazettemedia.com or on Twitter: @GBstreetwise.