Green innovation workshops scheduled in the Northeast

The Regional Wood Products Consortium, a collaboration between Sustainable Forest Futures and the wood products manufacturing industry in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and northern N.Y., will conduct a series of specialized one-day innovation workshops this fall called "Enhancing Economic Competitiveness through Going Green."

The consortium holds the position that the wood products industry has at times found itself in a defensive position on environmental issues. It stresses that wood has the advantage of being a renewable resource that can be a more sustainable option than competing materials. Workshops will focus on unique opportunities for wood products manufacturers to use and significantly reduce costs while also capitalizing on the green consciousness at work in the marketplace. All are geared to leaders of small- and medium-sized wood products companies and will be repeated in five locations throughout the four-state region on the following dates:

Sept. 27: Augusta, Maine

Sept. 28: Concord, N.H.

Oct. 4: Randolph Center, Vt.

Oct. 5: Glens Falls, N.Y.

Oct. 6: Utica, N.Y.

Leading national wood industry experts and local specialists will be on hand to address a range of subjects including green marketing, minimizing production materials waste, energy efficiency, opportunities and challenges of chain-of-custody certificationand other topics.

Workshop participants from the consortium’s region will be eligible to receive specialized follow-up assistance including, but not limited to, a pool of grant funds that Sustainable Forest Futures has to help cover a company’s cost, as may be applicable, in pursuing activities stemming from the workshop.

All workshops are co-sponsored by Sustainable Forest Futures’ trade association partners including the Wood Products Manufacturers Association, Maine Wood Products Association, New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association and the Empire State Forest Products Association.

Any wood products company in the region is eligible to participate in any of the workshop sites at a special subsidized registration fee of $25 per person.

For information, visit www.foresteconomy.org.