NELMA Archives - Page 11 of 15

Stratton Lumber Takes 1st Place at Dimension Graders Competition

Posted on June 20, 2014 by

NELMA’s 12th annual Dimension Graders Competition was held Saturday, June 14 at first-time host mill, Milan Lumber Company at Milan, New Hampshire. Twenty-six graders representing four of NELMA’s Dimension lumber mills participated in this year’s event. The competition featured the typical grading of 50 stationary boards by each individual participant with a 5-minute time limit. The choice of grades included No.1, No.2, No.3, and Economy. Cash awards for the top 5 finishers totaled $750.00, with an additional $100 for the winner from the top group in the bonus round.

Winning the individual top award was Dominique Plourde of Fontaine Lumber, who improved on his 10th place finish from a year ago. Coming in 2nd place was Donnie Beedy of Stratton Lumber; 3rd place was earned by Tom Wellington of Pleasant River Lumber; Greg Silver of Stratton Lumber finished in 4th place; Marvin Gilbert of Stratton Lumber rounded out the award winners in 5th place. In the Bonus Round that included the Top 5 finishers, Tom Wellington scored a perfect 10 to take the added award.

In the Team standings, Stratton Lumber retained the coveted Bronze Hammer Trophy with a narrow one-point win over Fontaine, 62-61. This was Stratton Lumber’s 5th Team Championship in the 12 years of the competition.

NELMA congratulates all participants in this unique, fun and educational annual event, and wishes to express their sincere thank you to Milan Lumber’s management and staff for their wonderful hospitality in hosting the 2014 Competition.

Photos from the Competition:

Top 5 Winners: Dominique Plourde (Fontaine), Greg Silver (Stratton Lumber), Marvin Gilbert (Stratton Lumber), Tom Wellington (Pleasant River Lumber), and Donnie Beedy (Stratton Lumber)

2014 Team Champions: Stratton Lumber

The Lumber Gauntlet!

Introducing NELMA’s Virtual Home Tour

Posted on May 23, 2014 by

NELMA has taken the Chinese proverb, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, to a whole new level when it comes to the marketing of northeastern softwood lumber products. With the new online Explore Eastern White Pine campaign series, viewers are invited to open a door from the launch page to visualize the wide range of interior use possibilities.

Using 360 degree, high-res photography technology (think HGTV’s Online Virtual Home Tours) and easy self-navigation in all directions, the explorer moves from room to room at their leisure. Specific product information icons are scattered about each room that informs the viewer of the actual grade, pattern, and finish used within a particular focus area. The NELMA Virtual Tour currently offers only the Seaside Cottage doorway, with promises of additional doorway entrances to be added over time.

“Thanks to the vision of NELMA’s members and Marketing Committee’s guidance, the Association has added this distinctive tool to its marketing arsenal of unique and forward-thinking ways to engage targeted customer groups in using northeastern softwood lumber products,” said Jeff Easterling (NELMA President). “The future option and ease of adding additional doorways that will showcase a variety of room types make this particular marketing tool cost-effective and almost timeless.”

NELMA Hosts Wood Product Importers from Pakistan

Posted on May 22, 2014 by

NELMA was the first stop in the U.S. for a group of 7 business owners or representatives of wood product importers from the country of Pakistan. Accompanied by the Agriculture Marketing Specialist with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, the two-day visit was made possible through the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service’s Cochran Fellowship Program. The primary objective of the program is to promote U.S. industry by bringing qualified importers from emerging global markets to the U.S. to establish business relationships with manufacturers and distributors of products of interest. In this case it was softwood lumber manufactured by NELMA mills in the Northeast.

Day One of the visit constituted a meeting of the importer group with NELMA member manufacturers and distributors at the Association’s HQ office in Cumberland, Maine. The relationship process began with an overview presentation of the Northeastern softwood lumber industry by NELMA staff, followed by an informative narrative from the importers regarding Pakistan’s growing need for softwood lumber and images of how the country’s moulding/millwork and window/door industry currently uses wood. It was noted that during the last 5 years, U.S. wood product exports to Pakistan increased 400% and 2014 trade in wood is expected to exceed $30 million.

The afternoon session on Day One was devoted to presentations by NELMA’s member participants regarding their business operations, followed by an interactive, open discussion forum to further add to the relationship building process between NELMA and the importer group.

Day Two incorporated a mill visit to Hancock Lumber Company’s Casco, Maine operation to experience the lumber manufacturing and grading process for Eastern White Pine. Various NELMA grades were available for hands-on viewing and follow-up discussion between the importers and industry representation on the tour. To round out the day, the group toured a forest harvesting site within the area to learn more about the general forest management practices of the industry and the bright future of sustainability for softwoods grown in the northeast.

“This interactive event that brings NELMA’s members in contact with interested importers from around the globe is a perfect example of the type of program the Association hopes to continue in the future”, according to Jeff Easterling, NELMA’s President. “While we are not as large as our Southern and Western forest industry counterparts, bringing more attention to the wide-variety of sustainable wood products produced in the Northeast can lead to additional marketing options for the membership.”

Forest Tour2

NELMA would like to thank Hancock Lumber Company and their gracious staff for hosting the mill and forest tour for the group during their visit.

2014 Sustainable Versatility Awards Announced

Posted on April 30, 2014 by

NELMA is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Sustainable Versatility Design Awards (SVDA), the annual competition for design and architects students sponsored by the Association. Renamed the Rich Quitadamo Sustainable Versatility Award in honor of a deceased NELMA member that played a huge role in the Competition’s development, this is the third year for this annual event. The announcement for the 2014 was expanded to reach every major architect and design school in the country. Final judging included 14 projects out of 42 total student registrations, using the design challenge criteria of “Incorporate the use of Eastern White Pine into a light commercial construction project set in an urban environment.” The winners are:

1st Place: Jun Guo of the Illinois Institute of Technology – “Shelter House in Grant Park, Chicago.”

Ms. Guo’s project suggested the construction of multiple shelter houses with the bustling Grant Park along Chicago’s Lake Michigan shore. The structures were designed not only as shelter for all seasons for the park’s visitors but incorporated food stands, public restrooms, and ample seating. Each house incorporated Eastern White Pine as construction beams, shading frames, flooring, and as seating. Ms. Guo also stated in her final report that Eastern White Pine was a natural choice given its lighter color, grain texture, and added elements of harmony with the park’s surrounding trees.

2nd Place: Sam Kuhn of the University of South Florida – “Tesla Showroom – Miami”

The remake of the Shopping District of Midtown Miami was the chosen setting for Mr. Kuhn’s project, specifically a showroom and regional offices to house Tesla Motors. Opting for a highly-visible, open design to attract the area’s high foot traffic, the project incorporated Eastern White Pine with polished white concrete, aluminum, and stainless steel. Mr. Kuhn explained that the light, soft, warm, and organic qualities of Eastern White Pine are contrasted nicely against the use of heavy, hard, and cool qualities of the other materials utilized. The project also included the design of an exterior wood “Waving Wall” to add interest to the commercial building.

3rd Place: Nicole Schwarz of the University of Kansas – “Community Center Building”

Ms. Schwarz developed the Competition’s design criteria into the creation of a community center building specifically for use by a student housing community, serving as a social gathering space, meetings, parties and other recreational activities. The structure featured three interconnected, transitional zones for specific purposes, where the relationship between function, spatial organization, and building materials were main considerations in the final design. Eastern White Pine is included throughout as flooring, interior louvers, and as exterior screens. Ms. Schwarz stated that her concept’s design intention was to allow an individual to experience the natural beauty of Eastern White Pine as they walk through the building.

“We are very pleased to see the steady increase in the interest level by both design students and professors of architecture in our SVDA program, stated Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. “While the winners of the past two competitions have been from colleges located in the northeast, the broad expansion of our announcement to other parts of the U.S. and resulting increase in registrations strengthen the recognition of Eastern White Pine. These students that may very well reside, work, or be employed by firms with design projects within our product marketing area at some point in their professional lives.”

For details regarding each of the winning projects for 2014, along with previous winning designs, we invite you to take a look at the Sustainable Versatility Design Award website, www.sustainableversatility.org

NELMA’s Grader Academy is Officially Open!

Posted on April 28, 2014 by

The Association is pleased to announce its new online program, the NELMA Grader Academy. We are excited about the overall lumber grading outreach that this multi-faceted, online program offers to the Association membership. For NELMA’s Inspection staff, the Academy supplements their ongoing training services provided at member mills. For NELMA’s members, this program will be a 24/7/365 instrument available to all company employees as an educational conduit to better understand lumber grades. And for customers and individuals beyond the Association’s membership, the easy accessibility to learn more about northeastern softwoods is a web link and fingertips away.

The program parallels the two most important softwood lumber species and species grouping in the Northeastern and Great Lakes regions, namely Eastern White Pine and the Spruce-Pine-Fir grouping. Knowing that the typical process of understanding lumber grading rules can be a daunting and boring task, the Academy was developed to incorporate two learning modules to help overcome this challenge:

Grader Training: The courseware follows a natural learning approach that uses visual imagery to reinforce the important elements of grading. A total of 4 series of courses is planned for this module:

Level 100: Lumber Characteristics

101: Knots and Wane

102: Fiber Failures

103: Discoloration Defects

104: Voids and Distortions

105 Manufacturing Defects

Level 200: Applying Characteristics to Lumber Grades (Late Spring 2014)

Level 300: Grading Rule Exceptions and Applying Interpretations (Fall 2014)

Level 400: Advanced Learning: Making the Grade (Early 2015)

At this time, only Eastern White Pine 100 series is available within the program.

Above Board: The use of games is a well-known vehicle to speed up the learning process, and lumber grading is no exception. The Academy incorporates an interactive game that simulates real-time lumber grading at a mill setting and includes variable lug speeds from beginner level to more advanced settings.

This program is available for use by anyone interesting in lumber grading. An individual will need to create a login account (a quick process) to access the Grader Training module, however the Above Board game may be played without a login (but your score will not be counted in the High Score list). Creating a login will also provide an individual with a complete record of their grader training progress and a game score history, under the “User Profile” tab.

And as a value-added feature to the Game, companies may set-up an Above Board grader tournament for their personnel at any time by notifying NELMA via email (info@www.nelma.org) or call 207-829-6901. All we need is the start and finish dates and we’ll do the rest!

We encourage everyone to go to http://www.graderacademy.org and enjoy a new way to learn about lumber grading!

What Happened in Boston Doesn’t Stay in Boston

Posted on April 21, 2014 by

The Seaport Hotel in Boston played host to the 81st Annual Convention of the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA) on April 10 and 11 with the theme of “Above Board and Online: Where Integrity Meets Technology”. A total of 163 attendees representing 76 companies participated in this largest yearly gathering of the northeastern lumber industry. The meeting began with an Opening Session & General Membership Meeting where a “State of the Association” presentation was given by Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. The membership also held elections for Association Directors and Officers at this session, with Jeff Desjardins of Moose River Lumber – Jackman, Maine elected to a 3-year first term on the Board of Directors. The current officers were re-nominated and elected to fulfill a second year of their term, which included Chairman Terry Walters, Pleasant River Pine – Sanford, Maine; 1st Vice-Chairman Jethro Poulin, Milan Lumber – Milan, New Hampshire; 2nd Vice-Chairman Scott Brown, DiPrizio Pine Sales – Middleton, New Hampshire; and Treasurer Randy Caron, Caron Consulting – Garfield Plantation, Maine.

First day meetings included the Marketing Committee and the Pine Subcommittee. Jeff Easterling, John Rooks (NELMA’s Marketing Agency, The SOAP Group), and Kim Drew (NELMA’s PR Agency, Drew Public Relations) provided updates on the Association’s marketing projects and activities. Highlights of newly-completed projects included the mobile-version of nelma.org for smartphones, the revised print advertisement “See the Stamp, Trust the Quality”, recent issues of the White Pine Monographs and accompanying trailer videos, the revised websites nelma.org and easternwhitepine.org, and the second in a series of “EWP vs.” animated videos, this one comparing Eastern White Pine to PVC Trim.

John Rooks introduced NELMA’s new online marketing promotion, “The Virtual Home Tour”, which showcases homes that have used a variety of Eastern White Pine and SPFs products in their construction. The Tour allows a viewer to navigate a room 360 degrees and includes “pop-ups” that describe the actual pattern, grade, and finish used in each wall, ceiling, or floor application. John also introduced NELMA’s Grader Academy, a comprehensive grader training program and grader game that has been in development for more than a year. Each aspect of the Academy, from the first educational module “Characteristics 101” to the courseware quizzes, to the playing of the Above Board grader game was covered in the presentation. A special introductory competition for all Convention attendees was announced, with participation available at gaming kiosks hosted by NELMA’s Director of Inspection Services, Matt Pomeroy, and NELMA’s Lumber Inspection Program Coordinator, Don Pendergast.

Kim Drew provided information on PR activities completed or underway on behalf of the Association which included editor contacts with major industry-related media such as This Old House and the Boston Society of Architects. Kim introduced the latest online PR promotion “Wood Geeks”, an ongoing intriguing, question-answering series by important editors and celebrities that may be viewed on the easternwhitepine.org website.

The first day of the Convention ended with the opening of NELMA’s Product and Display Exhibits with 14 forest industry related exhibits available for review by attendees just before and during the evening’s Welcome Reception.

Day Two included meetings of the NELMA Dimension Subcommittee and the Grading Committee. In between these important Association business gatherings, the Sustainable Versatility Design Award Program was held. The naming of the award for this 3rd year annual competition to The Rich Quitadamo Sustainable Versatility Award was introduced by Jim Robbins of Robbins Lumber, a close business and personal friend of the late Rich Quitadamo. This year’s special guest speaker for the program, Jesse Thompson of the award-winning firm Kaplan Thompson Architect, provided insight into competing products with his presentation “Plastic Wood, Maintenance-Free, and the Search for True Sustainability”. Via Skype, Jesse presented the First Place award for this year’s student design competition to Jun Guo, a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Ms. Guo described her winning project, “Shelter House in Chicago’s Grant Park” and outlined the importance of using wood products within the structure.

Following the Design Award presentation and in keeping with the Convention’s overall theme of using today’s technology, a Social Media 101 seminar was conducted. Guest speaker and leading social media expert Rich Brooks of Flyte new media titled his talk, “How Social Media Can Generate Leads and Move More Lumber”. Rich covered the gamut of social media that included Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging, and YouTube.

The final guest presentations of the Convention were given during the NELMA Board of Directors Meeting. This included Paul Jannke’s Economic Forecast titled, “Are We Out of the Woods Yet: What Are The Main Issues Facing Our Industry and Economy in 2014 and Beyond?”, and an update and important timeline provided by Zoltan van Heyningen, Executive Director of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, regarding the Softwood Lumber Agreement and its fast-approaching 2015 expiration.

A selection of entertainment options was available to attendees during the Convention. The Industry Luncheon featured Humorist, Jeanne Robertson, who utilized her positively funny style to illustrate that a sense of humor is much more than a laughing matter. Also, a theatre trip via trolley to the Boston Opera House to see the award-winning play, “The Book of Mormon” capped off the 81st Annual NELMA Convention.

Full presentations by guest speakers at the Convention will be available for viewing and printing on the NELMA website, www.nelma.org. Just login to the “Member’s Area” for access.

Watch for details later this spring regarding the 2014 Fall NELMA Board of Directors Meeting and Golf Outing, set for September 18 & 19 at the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort located in North Conway, New Hampshire.