NELMA

NELMA launches comprehensive new website

ONCE UPON A TIME, in a land far, far away, the accepted business model was to maintain multiple websites with vanity URLs in order to broaden online informational reach. But times have changed—in so many ways.

Following years of maintaining strong websites for the overall association, as well as separate sites for Eastern White Pine, SPFs, and the Sustainable Versatility Award (the industry’s rst-ever student design competition), the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA) has launched a brand-new, completely redone website clearly and concisely encapsulating all interests for all NELMA audiences. The new NELMA.org launched in late summer 2021.

“The new NELMA.org zeroes in on each of our audiences – retailers, architects, builders, contractors, students, and consumers—with a one-stop shop approach,” commented Je Easterling, president of Maine-based NELMA. “This is what our audiences have been asking for, and this is what our members need.”

“We’re bucking the old trend of vanity websites for separate products and programs,” continued Easterling. “Our audiences don’t have time for that anymore. Retailers need to know how to sell more wood easily and clearly. Consumers want instant inspiration. Builders and contractors need help from one source. Architects don’t want to search and hop around the internet— their time is valuable. Now it’s all in one place in a better, clearer, cleaner format.”

Why One Site?

As the association brand and awareness has grown over the last few decades, the overall strategic marketing plan for the association has morphed and changed to meet the changing needs of audiences. Based on consumer research conducted by NELMA earlier in 2021, the decision was made to combine all existing pages into one superwebsite with extraordinary navigational capacity to properly administer the correct piece of information or inspiration to the needed group.

“In speaking with consumers and representatives of our other audiences, we realized that each target NELMA audience wanted to know what the other was doing,” said Easterling. “Consumers wanted to know what builders and architects were asking, as did retailers. This novel approach allows everyone interested in eastern white pine and SPFs to peek through the curtain and consumer information at all levels. The outcome for us? Continued and increased growth of the NELMA reputation and brand as a source of wood knowledge and information. No more siloed messaging; it’s all out there in one place!”

For You, the Retailer

Everything you’re used to nding and using on NELMA4Retailers.org has made the journey over to the new NELMA.org. And it’s just as easy to research and nd what you need to help sell more lumber! The NELMA Retailer section focuses on sales tools and tips speci cally for selling eastern white pine and SPFs; everything from tech info, span details, the much-beloved grade swatch—it’s all in one place.

If you haven’t registered to be part of the NELMA Retailer Directory, now is the time! One easy and free registration later and you’re out there for builders, contractors and consumers to nd you. Inspiration leads to purchase, and we want all eastern white pine and SPFs purchases to be from YOU!

Consumer Interface

Recent NELMA-funded consumer research painted a clear path of how to best get wood inspiration and information in front of homeowners, DIYers, and more. Using this information, the consumer interface of the new NELMA.org represents newly directed and informed content and delivery method.

Number one on the list: inspiration. How best to use eastern white pine and SPFs? Show, don’t tell. Beautiful images of timely, trendy possibilities for the home, and even commercial environments. Shareable links to show family and friends their dream, and how easily it can become a reality. Accurate, up-to-date information about the sustainability of the greenest building product on the market: real wood. Tutorials on how to handle and use lumber to achieve the desired e ect. Research material, in the form of the new “Pro les in Pine” book, which provides a new way of getting beautiful case study information directly into the hands of consumers.

When it’s time to purchase, consumers can click over to the NELMA Retailer Directory to nd the closest eastern white pine

and SPFs dealer near them.

All consumer outreach will be echoed with purpose-driven social media marketing in the months and years to come.

Calling All Architects

NELMA has long been a source of technical information and learning opportunities for architects nationwide, and that won’t change with the new NELMA.org.

Architects will continue to receive the same level of solid technical information on eastern white pine and SPFs they always have. From load details to span tables, proper usage, and even a little design inspiration, it’s all on the new site.

Architects love reading and learning more about how wood has been used in the past from the White Pine Monographs; don’t worry, they’re still around! These unique case studies, highlighting multiple wood uses from Revolutionary-era homes and projects to current day, are a staple of architect-facing education.

Speaking of education, you can nd easy access to NELMA’s AEC Daily class, “Eastern White Pine: Sustainable Versatility,” at the click of a button on the new NELMA.org.

Architects wanting to know more about the sustainability of real wood won’t be disappointed: throughout the website, NELMA has included consistent, accurate, updated information on both the forestry industry in the U.S. and how well-managed and healthy our modern forests are. Thomas Je erson would be proud.

NELMA Members Only

With the combination of all NELMA information sources into one location, a giant library of marketing materials is at the disposal of all NELMA members. Access to sales tools and technical information for direct meetings with architects? Check. Clearinghouse listings of industry news, trends, and events? Check. Member directory so they can follow up with the guy they met at the NELMA Annual Meeting? Check.

If you’ve become a fan of the last two years of “Lumber 411” columns printed in this ne publication, we’ve gathered them into one place for you at the new NELMA.org. Check them out, and let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover!

Two years ago, NELMA members asked their association for help in recruiting talent for jobs in the lumber industry. The NELMA Jobs program was born, and it’s still going strong. Members list job openings within their mill and, with support from their association, these listings are shared far and wide to hopefully bring new and much-needed employees into member mills.

Architecture Students, This Contest Is for You!

Back in 2012 NELMA launched the industry’s rst-ever student design competition with the Sustainable Versatility Design Award. Over the years, the association has awarded both cash and publicity to budding architects who have accepted the annual challenge of specifying a unique project centered around eastern white pine or SPFs.

While the contest wasn’t held in 2020, it will come roaring back in the spring of 2022 with all-new challenges leading to allnew inspiration. And all contest information will be located on the new NELMA.org.

NELMA.Org in a Nutshell

The new website is easy-to-use, with a beautiful, easily navigated interface. It represents a visual branding evolution from the previous pages, with all open encouragement to all visitors to explore and learn from other audiences represented on the website.

The rst look at NELMA.org exposes the visitor to inspiring, beautiful pictures of current projects from around the country. A sort of visual “this is what’s possible with eastern white pine and SPFs” statement. Following this immediate hit of inspiration, users are invited to nd their home within the website.

More project photos, more information, easily cross-referenced data and knowledge—it’s all there, topped o with a touch of the simplicity needed when attacking complex challenges like bringing multiple audiences with multiple needs together under one virtual roof.

“The industry as a whole is a holistic ecosystem of education with tools that can translate from one audience to another,” concluded Easterling. “With the new NELMA.org, we’ve created that necessary central portal for all things Northeastern and Great Lakes softwood products.”

BFFs: The Maine Cabin Masters and eastern white pine

MAINE CABIN MASTERS, the most-watched show on DIY Network, use eastern white pine in every camp they renovate across the great state of Maine.

WHILE IT HAS MANY NAMES—white pine, northern white pine, Weymouth pine, New England pine, and its pretty Latin name of Pinus strobus—it’s a wellknown fact that eastern white pine is the granddaddy, the king, the big cheese of Northeastern lumber species. Which is why you can see it used in Maine camps every week on DIY Network’s hit show Maine Cabin Masters.

When Chase Morrill was a boy, his rst recollection of being around eastern white pine was when his grandparents built their own family camp in Clearwater, Me. They chose v-match for everything: the walls were sheathed with rough-cut pine, and they installed it on the diagonal to lock it all together.

“I very clearly remember a photo of all the grandkids, including me, in front of the camp, surrounded by the eastern white pine,” commented Morrill.

He remembers clearly the rst time he used eastern white pine. Working on a converted chicken barn with his father, the owner wanted the oor replaced. Morrill and his dad went to the lumberyard and reviewed all the options, eventually settling on 12” eastern white pine shiplap ooring, because that was the original product used. The barn owner’s reaction – he was very impressed with how the ooring looked and performed—stuck with him. He realized there was a di erence in building products, how they performed, and how people reacted to them.

Morrill went on to build a camp for his mother-in-law and chose to sheathe the entire structure in pine instead of the expected plywood. “People would drive by and stop to comment on how good it looked,” shared Morrill. “Using pine in this way is the traditional method, how it used to be done… I thought, we need to do more of this!”

Fast-forward several years and Maine Cabin Masters began lming. When the show started and the team began working on camps, Morrill’s in uence brought eastern white pine front and center: other team members were sold on the use of plywood and sheetrock, but Morrill stuck to what he knew was right: eastern white pine.

“I wanted to use as little Sheetrock and plywood as possible as we renovated these camps,” added Morrill. “It’s about authenticity and choosing the right product. People are super-conscious these days about choosing green materials, healthy and sustainable materials… it’s common to use wood on the inside of camps, but why not take it further? We want all of our camp owners to know their place was built with good, quality materials that are also good for the environment, and eastern white pine ts the bill perfectly.”

Watch Maine Cabin Masters on DIY Network! New season begins October 2021

Morrill goes on to point out the adaptability of the wood: “The versatility, ease of use, and accessibility of eastern white pine are so important; it’s all around us, and people are more about buying local and using local than ever before.”

Speaking of versatility: turn on Maine Cabin Masters and on any given episode, you’ll see eastern white pine used in a multitude of applications. Some of our favorites: trim, siding, roof decking, railings, nish trim, walls, oors, countertops, accent walls, furniture, bookshelves, custom-made cabinets, shelving, bed frames, window frames, doors, ladders, stair treads, beams (structural and exposed), and so much more.

And when the Cabin Masters are done with a project, waste is never an issue: scraps are used for craft projects or custom needs (often milled on-site).

“Chase and his team really get it,” said Je Easterling, president of NELMA. “Their deep knowledge of eastern white pine and how it can be used is like nothing we’ve ever seen on a TV show. They’re making a di erence and driving more people to choose natural, sustainable, strong wood over the alternatives.”

– For more information on eastern white pine, please visit www.NELMA.org.

NELMA recently launched A Video Guide to the 4 Grades of Spruce Pine Fir – South, an easily accessed video representation of what to expect when purchasing SPFs.

SPFs grades make their video debut

NEED TO SELL some SPFs lumber and your customer wants to see it with their own eyes? You could walk out into the yard and pull a few pieces; you might also pull out a brochure or show a few photos from your phone. But do these options truly represent the depth and breadth visually of SPFs lumber? No, they do not.

Now there’s a brand-new way of looking at SPFs lumber, brought to you by the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA): A Video Guide to Four Grades of SPFs. It’s lumber as you’ve never seen it before!

“The SPFs video, developed as a companion piece to the existing eastern should look like, the video o ers real-life representations within the major grades of SPFs.

Presented from a birds-eye lumber grader’s view, the video shows real pieces of nished lumber coming down a conveyor belt. As each board slowly passes by on screen, digital call-outs indicate what they’re seeing with each board. All de ning characteristics within SPFs grading are represented visually to share the entire story. Characteristics within each grade are explained and visually shown so the informational connection can be made. The video can be stopped and replayed at will, bringing the interaction to life at the speed and level of each viewer.

white pine grades video, means that NELMA now o ers a full visual catalog of a majority of lumber manufactured by our members,” said Je Easterling, president of NELMA. “This completes the informational package. We’ve visually represented most of the grades and species of lumber produced by our members in an easyto-understand and easy-to-consume format—and it’s the perfect tool for selling domestically and internationally.”

The nine-minute video o ers a video representation of SPFs 2x4 lumber, with full explanations of what customers can expect within each grade. Rather than one or two examples of what the lumber

Why Do We Need to See SFPs on Video?

For multiple reasons. First, customer product knowledge. The video mimics what can be found in layers from a unit of lumber. As it rolls by, the viewer gets a solid look at what each unit would look like when sold. After viewing the SPFs grade video, both you AND your customer will have seen and learned about all the various characteristics that make up certain grades.

Secondly, this level of knowledge just might reduce callbacks. Ever had someone purchase lumber from you, only to have them attempt to return it because it

“doesn’t look right” or it’s “not what they were expecting?” Teach them, show them what to expect with this video; as their understanding and knowledge rises, your callbacks will hopefully decrease.

And lastly, since this video will be translated into multiple languages (French, Chinese and Spanish, to start), you now have the perfect international selling tool.

For example, let’s say a customer orders a unit of SPFs lumber. Not understanding lumber grading terms and variations, they order #2. When it arrives, they see knots they weren’t expecting, so they call the mill or retailer and complain about the product received. Being able to accurately represent SPFs lumber in video format provides both the answer you need and the education they need. Information that was once shared on static printed sheets is now a dynamic and educational video solution. The gap between education and marketing is bridged, resulting in happier retailers and more educated customers.

“The multiple translations allow the end-user to increase their wood knowledge and better understand what products are produced by NELMA members,” continued Easterling. “This video has multiple audiences across the industry: retailers can refer to it to educate their customers, and our members can direct customers from around the world to watch it and get a complete understanding of what SPFs grades are and what they look like.”

“Members have been asking for this for years, and here it is,” concluded Easterling. “They love using the eastern white pine video as an educational tool, and this SPFs grade video will complete the knowledge cycle and ensure that customers know what to expect when their lumber delivery arrives.”

The free SPFs grade video may be found on the NELMAtv YouTube channel, right alongside the eastern white pine video.

ELEMENTS within each grade of lumber—wane, knots, etc.—are clearly identi ed with call-outs to enhance viewer education.

– For more information about selling SPFs or eastern white pine, please visit www.NELMA.org.

Call on Warren Trask for the most comprehensive Eastern Pine inventory and widest selection of Pattern Stock!

Since 1924, Warren Trask has been committed to being the number one source for Eastern White Pine. Call on Warren Trask for all your Eastern White Pine needs. 1-800-752-0121 ■ 63B Bedford Street, Lakeville, MA 02347 ■ www.wtrask.com

THE ROBUST state of forestry is in reality the opposite of what many would have you believe.

Wood Myths Busted

LET’S TALK ABOUT MYTHS. The earth is at. Lightning never strikes the same place twice. Bulls get angry when they see the color red. Bigfoot. Forestland is the U.S. is in danger of disappearing. Oops—that last one is completely wrong. (And we’re Bigfoot believers, too.)

As a lumber retailer, it’s important for you to understand and know pertinent information not just about the sticks you’re selling, but about the lumber and forest industry as a whole. Knowledge is power, and if a customer believes an untruth about the wood industry, who better than their lumber retailer to set them straight?

Here’s a quick primer on three commonly believed pieces of wood industry information that are indeed myths.

Myth: Cutting down trees is bad because trees live forever!

Fact: Every living thing has a natural life cycle.

The complete lifecycle of a tree is something we as humans aren’t likely to witness from beginning to end: the eastern white pine typically grows to be around 200 years old, while spruce/white spruce lives for about 250 years. One of the longest-living trees in the U.S. ever recorded—a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California—is estimated to be around 4,850 years old.

But. The fact is that older trees slow down their carbon sequestration rate as they age. We look to the younger forests to do a better job of sequestering carbon and being our lungs, as it were.

A recent article in the Paci c Standard said it well: “Younger plants are able to extract carbon from the air and incorporate it into their biomass more quickly than mature trees.”

This information is repeated in a 2019 CBC article entitled, “Canada’s Forests Actually Emit More Carbon Than They Absorb….” This article takes an in-depth look at how trees don’t just absorb carbon when they grow—they EMIT it as they mature, die and decompose, or even burn.

The older trees get, the less they do their jobs. Young trees are better for the environment, and this translates into the need for well managed forests and forest land. As the new trees are planted, our breathing environment is refreshed and renewed. Which leads to the next myth.

Myth: The forestry industry is in danger because we’re cutting down so many trees!

Fact: This is quite literally the opposite of the truth.

Straight from the U.S. Forest Service: • More than 1 billion trees are planted each year in the U.S.; • The U.S. forest products industry accounts for approximately 4% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, which translates to manufacturing nearly $300 billion in products annually; and • The U.S. forest products industry employs approximately 950,000 men and women.

On the whole, across the U.S. forest industry, three to ve trees are planted for every one harvested.

AppalachianWood.org has that number even higher, with an estimate of 2.3 billion trees planted in the last year. That equals out to seven new trees for every man, woman, and child in this country. Of this staggering amount planted, 55% is planted by the forest industry.

Myth: We have less forestland now than we did a century ago!

Fact: Also not true. Keep reading.

For background: Right now, one-third of the U.S. is forested, totaling nearly 766 million acres.

From the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the U.S. Forest Service: “Since 1900, forest area in the U.S. has remained statistically within 745 acres (+/- 5%) despite signi cant urban growth since the lowest point in 1920 of 735 million acres.”

And from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): “Forest growth nationally has exceeded harvest since the 1940s.”

Let’s zoom in on Maine, the mostforested state in the U.S. With 17.6 million acres of forest land, it’s worth noting that this total overall acreage hasn’t grown or shrunk much at all since 2011.

The most-forested states in the U.S., from the USDA Forest Service (3 of top 5 are in New England!): • Maine ranks #1 in the U.S. in percentage of forest cover, with 89.5% of the state covered in trees (17.7 million acres). • New Hampshire is #2 • Vermont is #4

What’s very interesting here? Between 2012-2016, lumber mills in Maine produced a whopping total of 3.41 billion board feet of lumber. Bottom line: the overall percentage of forested land hasn’t changed, and the forest and lumber industries are growing. (The not-so-secret answer here is because we plant more than we harvest, every day, every year.)

Halfway across the country in Minnesota, the state’s 17.7 million acres of forest land (covering approximately 35% of the state) increased by 1.7% — that’s 755,000 acres—from 2012 to 2017. The forest in Minnesota is growing, while during the same time lumber mills across the state cranked out 702 million board feet of lumber.

Heading down south deep into the nation’s wood basket, Georgia—the third largest softwood lumber producing state in the U.S.—has seen its forest land remain relatively constant (as of 2016 USDA data). Georgia’s forest area totaled 24.6 million acres, with areas of large-diameter forest stands increasing. During the 2015–2016time frame, mills in Georgia produced 5.01 billion board feet total.

What’s the takeaway? Forested land in the U.S. is increasing or maintaining, while the lumber industry is still going strong. What’s the secret? Strong replanting programs and well-managed forests. Up in Maine, the state’s Healthy Forest Program works to nd ways to increase active forest management in partnership with family forest owners. Georgia’s Conservation Reserve Program (combined with other e orts) is responsible for the growth of large diameter stands, which now make up 41.2% of the forestry land in the state. And following a decline, Minnesota’s healthy forest land has been increasing steadily since the 1970s.

– For more information on forestry and wood products in general, please visit www.NELMA.org.

THE HISTORIC Quinby Building, which last housed a Newell Brand Rubbermaid store, will become the new headquarters and experimental store for E&H Ace Hardware.

E&H Ace HQ on the Move

E&H Ace Hardware announced plans to take over the recently shuttered Everything Rubbermaid location in Wooster, Oh., turning the iconic Quinby Building into a new retail concept space with its headquarters on the fourth floor. The chain separately has purchased Tignor’s Hometown Hardware of Wooster.

E&H will adopt a similar floor plan to what Everything Rubbermaid boasted. Three floors that offer something different. Nearly 15,000 sq. ft. will be devoted to sales. With each floor comes a different theme and type of product.

“It will be a bit of a testing ground for our company’s growth and a training location for our managers,” said VP Rich Fishburn. “We don’t want it to be a conventional Ace Hardware store. We want it to be a top-of-the-line store.”

Christopher Buehler, vice president of marketing and strategy, hopes to use the store as a testing site for future products. “We plan on using the store to test new concepts, evaluate layout designs, and try out new products,” he said.

Buehler and Fishburn hope to establish the headquarters by early 2022 and open the retail store by March.

The company’s headquarters would move from the Buehler’s Towne Market Store in downtown Wooster, which lacks the necessary space to house all of its employees. Once completed, they hope to hire 20-25 workers, and will relocate some of the 35 employees now at the Buehler’s headquarters.

The purchase of the Tignor’s store also included its plumbing and handyman services.

Yard Worker Crushed to Death

A forklift operator was killed in the lumberyard of Menards, Golden Valley, Mn., when a stack of lumber tumbled onto his vehicle.

James Stanback, 19, was declared dead of medical asphyxia July 22.

Huber Buys Consulting Firm

Huber Resources Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has purchased certain assets of Sewall Forestry & Natural Resource Consulting LL, which will expand its capabilities globally in key service areas including timberland appraisals, forest inventory management, and forest modeling.

The SFNR business was formerly owned by James W. Sewall Co., a 140-year-old Maine-based consulting firm providing renewable energy site design, environmental permitting, transportation engineering, geospatial data analysis, and natural resource economic analysis across industry sectors which include clean energy, utility and property development clients.

Orgill welcomed hundreds of customers, vendors and local dignitaries to Rome, N.Y., in early August to celebrate, tour and take part in the official ribbon cutting ceremony marking the grand opening of its newest distribution center.

“We enjoyed the opportunity to have so many of our customers and vendor partners on hand so they could get a first-hand look at the Rome DC, see the investments we are making in our distribution network and have the opportunity to meet our team,” said Boyden Moore, president and CEO. “This milestone in our growth is only possible because of our customers’ continued growth and our vendor partners’ continued support.”

During the two-day event, Orgill offered guests tours of the new 780,000-sq. ft., state-of-the-art facility, hosted a vendor meeting, and invited guests to a reception and dinner to thank them for their support.

“It was very impressive,” said Jacob Buckingham of Bucks & Bolts Hardware in Blossvale, N.Y., after getting a sneak peek at the new location. “You could see a lot of the thought that was put into everything and the way it was designed and put together to create efficiencies. Just looking at features like the way they used the narrow aisles between the racking to get even more product in the space shows how they thought through every detail.”

The Rome site is Orgill’s eighth distribution center, joining existing facilities in Tifton, Ga.; Inwood, W.V.; Sikeston, Mo.; Kilgore, Tx.; Post Falls, Id.; Hurricane, Ut.; and London, Ontario.

The new facility effectively doubles Orgill’s distribution capacity within the region and will serve customers throughout New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and northeastern Pennsylvania.

Of the employees working out of the Rome facility, there will be at least one “first” for Orgill, with the distributor creating a new role for tech support at the facility, according to Randy Williams, Orgill’s executive VP of distribution.

“This role is new to our company but so important in our overall operations,” Williams said. “They will ensure that the facility finds ways to use technology to enhance the overall operations and interactions with customers. The creation of this position is an important step for us as we continue to look for ways we can harness technology through all aspects of our operation to create efficiencies, improve customer service and better fulfill our mission.”

Other innovations in distribution technology and design that Orgill showcased during the grand opening ceremony included the latest in voice picking systems, a spacemaximizing very-narrow-aisle (VNA) layout and a new, multi-tiered conveyor system.

All of these features are designed to create efficiencies for the distribution team and ultimately reduce friction in receiving, picking and fulfilling customer orders, according to Williams.

“Technology, innovation and capacity are all factors that drive our distribution efficiencies at a facility like Rome, but ultimately, all of these investments are designed to help us better serve our customers and help them make their businesses more successful,” Williams said.

The opening of the Rome distribution center is just the latest step in Orgill’s commitment to expand and enhance its distribution capabilities to stay ahead of customer demand. Already in the works is nearly doubling the size of its distribution center in Utah.

to as Zoomers, or Generation Z, the oldest of whom are now in their mid to later 20’s. “They’re the generation who are following millennials into the market,” added Kirkbride, “but what makes them diff erent is they’re the fi rst, true ‘digital natives’; they’ve grown up not knowing a world before the internet, and they have very strong attitudes on subjects like sustainability and corporate citizenship that align with the values of Real Cedar. When we talk about why substrate matters, this is defi nitely one of the groups we’re talking to.”

The substrate matters messaging the WRCLA employs includes information on natural wood products’ role in carbon capture and climate change mitigation, and highlights the fact the Real Cedar brand means it comes only from responsibly managed sources, among other points. This is of noted interest for Generation Z, as two 2020 studies by Fresco Capital and Bloomberg showed climate change was the leading concern for this group, and that they were willing to pay more for sustainable products.

“Composite products are growing in popularity, but there’s a big misconception that they’re maintenance free and environmentally friendly because they use recycled materials,” added Kirkbride. “The opposite is true when you look at what’s emitted to manufacture them, and that they’ll end up in a landfi ll.”

While promoting wood’s green aspects are important, the association is quick to point out that the most popular reason for choosing WRC is its looks. “You can’t beat the beauty of a natural product like WRC,” continued Kirkbride, “And WRC’s even more appealing when homeowners discover the wealth of options they have to customize the look they want. There are lots of profi les and grades, but the range of fi nishes from shou sugi ban (charred WRC) to bleaching stains and everything in between creates almost limitless possibilities.”

To complement the versatility message, the WRCLA is also promoting an emerging product that’s seeing growth in the market: engineered WRC siding. WRCLA members produce, distribute and sell three main product categories of engineered WRC: engineered clear solid western red cedar, engineered T&G WRC with a clear veneer overlay, and engineered knotty western red cedar, all of which are creating new opportunities for architects, builders and designers.

Kirkbride pointed out that “the importance of a product like engineered WRC can’t be understated. Man-made siding products don’t have to deal with the harvest and supply restrictions that natural wood products do. Engineered WRC uses surplus fi ber and is readily available in longer lengths like 16’ and 20’. They fi ll a need in the market, and we’re getting the word out on the quality and how good looking these products really are. They defi nitely underscore the sustainable and versatile message and are demonstrating to consumers why substrate does matter.”

ALSO POPULAR: Engineered knotty shiplap western red cedar siding.

– Established in 1954, the WRCLA is the voice of the cedar industry and has members in 132 locations throughout North America (www.realcedar.com).

Film Promotes Hardwood Industry

Banks Hardwoods, White Pigeon, Mi., has released a new educational short fi lm for training, outreach, and promotion.

The nine-minute documentary recounts how hardwood lumber is manufactured in a modern sawmill. Initially produced for its internal Banks School, which educates new employees and Banks’ visiting customers, the fi lm was recently released on YouTube to help educate the public and promote the industry.

Footage for the fi lm was shot at three diff erent sawmills throughout Michigan and Indiana, including Maple Rapids Sawmill, Devereaux Sawmill, and Loggers, Inc. The fi lm production studio, Ruef Design, also visited several working forests to capture footage of the selection and harvesting process.

“This fi lm was made to help the industry,” said Jim Clarke, president of Banks Hardwoods. “We wanted to provide a better understanding and appreciation for what goes into manufacturing high quality hardwood lumber and that the sawmill industry can provide a fun, safe and rewarding career.”