“Telling Your Forest Story” Enters Its Third Year

The Center welcomes its third cohort of wood products businesses looking to better tell their forest story.

During the fall of 2022, Center Business Innovation Advisor Amy Robinson launched an online series, free of charge to help participating wood products businesses develop a brand narrative that helps increase public awareness of the importance of our working forests. To date, 18 businesses have completed the series and seven more have recently joined the force in this year’s third cohort.

Telling Your Forest Story consists of six online sessions that include guest speakers, who are leaders within the forest industry. The series looks at the forest industry through four different perspectives: the big picture of the forest economy driven by data, stewardship and forest management and the complexity of articulating the working landscape, chain of custody and certifications and the impact on consumer perceptions, and how wood product businesses put their guiding principles into practice.

In addition to the online component, businesses receive up to 10 hours of marketing consultation with a consultant. This results in businesses being able to immediately employ their “forest story” into various elements of their marketing strategies.

This year’s cohort includes:

Copeland Furniture, Vermont – Hardwood Furniture
Trees ROI, Vermont – New Technology for Tree Health
Treeline, Inc., Maine – Dimensional Hemlock Lumber, Crane Mats, Wood Siding, Wood Slabs, Firewood, Split and Tree Length, Log Concentration Yard
JM Timber, LLC, New Hampshire – Specializing in Timber Beams up to 36 Feet
LeHay’s Shaker Boxes, Maine – Shaker Boxes, Carriers, and Trays along with Specialty Lumber Sales to Other Box Makers Across the U.S.
Zampini Log and Land, Vermont – Whole Log and Firewood
Maple Landmark Inc., Vermont – Wooden Toys, Games, Gifts, Custom Specialties
Gagnon Lumber, Vermont – Lumber, Timbers, Sawdust, Chips, Bark Mulch

Products from Past Participants

Treeline Terrains, Middlebury, Vermont. Caleb Kenna Photography

The Vermont Butcherblock Company, Burlington, Vermont.

2023 Cohort
- Sylvacurl, East Hardwick, Vermont, creates packaging material, which is a market for low-grade Aspen.
- Zero Energy Homes, Millinocket, Maine, which is a worker-owned cooperative that builds affordable, net zero energy homes.
- Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, Saco, Maine, which produces a molded fiber packaging material.
- Vermont Wildwoods, Marshfield, Vermont, which created a proprietary method for intentionally curing and conditioning wood into spalted, wood.
- Goodridge Lumber, Albany, Vermont, which is a sawmill, specializing in white cedar.
- Timberdoodle Farm and Sawmill, Stafford, New Hampshire, which is a sawmill processing all species because the markets rarely reflect the diversity of timber that is harvested from an ecologically responsible cut.
- Better Wheel Workshops, Newfane, Vermont, which produces the Woodzie, a solid wood hand-turned beverage coolie made from VT hardwood.
- Bourgeois Guitars, Lewiston, Maine, whose guitars are built with the same unwavering attention to detail, using the finest tone woods.
- Rockledge Farm Woodworks, Reading, Vermont, which makes handcrafted custom furniture.
- Finger Lakes Wood Products, Dolgeville, New York, which manufactures baseball bat billets, are a supplier of framing for brick companies, and does custom sawing for home projects.
2022 Cohort
- Vermont Butcher Block Company, Burlington, Vermont, which produces butcherblock countertops and cutting boards.
- Timber HP, Madison, Maine, which produces wood fiber insulation.
- Treeline Terrains, Middlebury, Vermont, which produces custom 3D wood maps.
- Jones Wood Products, Loudon, New Hampshire, which offers logging services and building materials.
- Kirby Mulch, Concord, Vermont, which produces bark mulch.
- Vermont Natural Forest Products, Richford, Vermont, which produces wood pellets, wood shavings, sawdust, and bark mulch.
- Lumbery, Cape Elizabeth, Maine which is a hardware / lumber store that sources locally milled wood.
- JK Adams, Dorset, Vermont, which produces cutting boards and kitchen products.

As a follow-up to the course, Amy Robinson from the Center convenes monthly sessions and sends quarterly Business Bulletin newsletters so the companies can continue sharing their challenges and learning from each other. “The purpose for this cohort is to give these businesses that span four states an opportunity to stay connected,” said Robinson. “Their stories are unique to their businesses and are extremely important to the heart of the forest economy.”

photo of Amy Robinson

Amy Robinson

Business Innovation Advisor

Email

Cell: 603-724-4979