hm - June11 - cover.indd - National Hardwood Lumber Association

INSIDE NHLA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MARK BARFORD
TRAVELS TO AUSTRALIA AND ASIA
Mark Barford recently travelled to Australia and Southeast
Asia on behalf of NHLA and the American Hardwood Export
Council (AHEC) for the purpose of market promotion. He
began the trip by attending DesignEx in Melbourne, Australia.
DesignEx is aimed at interior designers and decorators and
held in one of the two largest cities in Australia. The biggest
attraction was the solid white oak floor on display. While on
the stand, Mark met with several local members of the press
and had an extensive interview with Tony Neilson, editor of the
Australian wood publication In-Wood.
After Melbourne, Mark traveled to Sydney where he made
a presentation to the Sydney “International Order of Hoo
Hoo,” or as its better known, the Sydney Timber Industry
Institute. The group had an interest in learning about American
hardwoods and Mark provided a general overview of the NHLA
grading system and a review of species. The group was especially
interested in learning how North American Forests cover such a
large portion of the landscape and are growing at over two times
the level of harvesting.
In SE Asia, Mark met with AHEC personnel in Singapore
and Hong Kong. Mark again made time for two separate
press interviews coordinated by Michael Buckley of Turnstone
Singapore who manages public relations for both AHEC and
NHLA in Southeast Asia. In Hong Kong, John Chan of the
AHEC Hong Kong office organized a welcome reception. In
attendance was Erich Kuss, the U.S. Director of the Agricultural
Trade office and several interior designers who use North
American hardwoods.
“The trip was a great success due to pre-planning that allowed
me to meet with many of the advocates who are on the ground
working for our industry,” Barford noted. “I have traveled
extensively to SE Asia over the past 20 years, and it was helpful
to get a first hand feel of how things have changed, and how this
market continues to grow.”
ELIMBS GIVES PRESENTATION TO THE 164TH CLASS
NHLA would like to thank Nicole Thompson from eLimbs for
taking time out of her busy schedule to visit the 164th class of
the Inspector Training School. Nicole offered a presentation
on industry technology that was well received and very much
appreciated by the Inspector Training School staff and its
students. The Inspector Training School would like to invite
all members to become part of the learning experience.
Interested students or presenters can contact Chris Churchill
at 901-399-7555 or c.churchill@nhla.com.
WWW.NHLA.COM JUNE 2011 HARDWOOD MATTERS 7