Softwood Forest Products Buyer - January/February 2024

The Race Is On NAWLA

The Race Is On NAWLA Welcomes Students to 2023 Traders Market By The NAWLA Editor, Photos By Chris Fehr By Allison DeFord Executive Director North American Forest Foundation Collierville, TN 901-860-4131 adeford@northamericanforestfoundation.org Doesn't everyone enjoy the thrill of a great race–what’s your favorite–Formula 1, the Kentucky Derby, or the America's Cup? While some provide entertainment for spectators, these events also may present life and death challenges for competitors. Outside the world of sports, as individuals and as industries, we’re engaged in other races. The kind that affect our wellbeing and that of the generations that follow ours. Who’s competing? The forest products industry is racing to establish a sustainable future, which will protect valuable resources and promote the benefits of wood. Using the Kentucky Derby, as an example, we’re in a race against False Messaging, Plastics Better, and Lady Laminate. And, they’re all coming up the back stretch fast and hard. What’s at stake? Every race has a prize, and in this race the stakes are high because the “prize” is the overall health of our forests, people, industry, and planet. What’s the goal? Specifically the wood products industry needs to reach current and future generations with factual information and a compelling story to help guide their decisions as consumers and as workers making career choices. Actions we take as consumers and as members of the forest products industry have repercussions that affect us all. When consumers choose wood, and demand for real wood products is maintained, forested land remains more valuable as a working forest than as land to be co-opted for other purposes that don’t offer the same carbon-reducing benefits that trees provide. Where are we now? The race is underway, and right now, the cheerleaders for using manmade materials are LOUD and extremely effective in getting their message out. Composites and products that blend synthetic substances with wood are popular for many goods, such as decking materials, flooring, and furniture. In place of wood, many of these products depend on other limited resources such as petroleum products. With the addition of these substances, the biodegradability of the finished item is reduced, as well as the amount of carbon stored. A detailed discussion of the pros and cons for these products is a topic for another day. What we need to understand is how effective is the message about sustainable forestry and why choosing wood products is best that people of all ages are seeing, hearing and acting upon. What’s the strategy? Cheerleaders play an important role; if two teams show up at an event and only one brings a cheer squad, the imbalance is easy to see. That’s why it's so important now for the forest products industry to turn up the volume and become more effective at communicating the important roles that trees and wood products play in our world. The tactics for accomplishing this task include getting an accurate message about trees out to people of Continued on page 67 NAWLA First Vice Chair Clark Spitzer (standing, black shirt) provided an overview of NAWLA, career progression, sustainability within lumber and what those outside of the industry may not know. The North American Wholesale Lumber Association (NAWLA) invited Columbus, Ohio, area high school students to the Greater Columbus Convention Center to be part of the recent 2023 Traders Market. With Traders Market being the intersection of industry veterans and emerging professionals in the forest products industry, this was the perfect opportunity for the students to connect with leading buyers and suppliers and learn about careers in lumber. The one-day event kicked off with a welcome breakfast and presentation from NAWLA First Vice Chair Clark Spitzer, who provided an overview of NAWLA, career progression, sustainability within lumber and what those outside of the industry may not know. At the conclusion of breakfast, the students were split into small groups and toured around the tradeshow floor by NAWLA ambassadors. To better understand the lumber industry and career opportunities, the tradeshow floor tour was broken up into three rotations with each rotation narrowing in on a different NAWLA membership type: wholesalers, manufacturers and service affiliates. Each rotation lasted for 30 minutes and the students were able to interact with representatives from nine different NAWLA member companies. At the conclusion of the tradeshow floor tours, the students had a debrief on their experience and heard a closing presentation from Allison DeFord of the North American Forest Foundation on the sustainability of the industry. NAWLA is excited to see what the future holds and is thrilled to continue to provide career opportunities like this for students looking to dip their toes into the industry. Continued on page 68 ARCHITECT: MARTIN FENLON | PHOTO: ZACH LIPP A family-run operation. An international reputation. Highest quality, select knotty, fascia & trim, siding and specialty products. Students visited the booths of Restoration Forest Products, Lumber Blue Book Services and Pacific Western Wood Works, among others, for presentations at 2023 NAWLA Traders Market. Wide range of superior, clear, vertical grain decking, siding and specialty products. Paneling | Siding | Fascia & Trim | Dimension | Engineered pwww.ca | 604.946.2910 | Delta, BC, Canada Page 10 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • January/February 2024 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • January/February 2024 Page 11