Value-Added Wood Products Marketing Guide for Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs Timothy Holmes Carl Golas Duane Gould Terry Martino Ed Cesa
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United States Department of Value-Added Wood Products Agriculture Forest Service Marketing Guide Northeastern Area for Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs State and Private Timothy Holmes Forestry Carl Golas NA-UP-01-10 Duane Gould January 2010 Terry Martino Ed Cesa Timothy Holmes Carl Golas Duane Gould Terry Martino Ed Cesa The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service. Photo and Illustration Credits Cover (from left to right, starting at the top): Benesch Creative Enterprise; Specialty Wood Products; YesterYear’s Vintage Doors; Thomas W. Brady Furniture; Old Adirondack; Northern Hardwoods; Gillis Cabinetry; Essex Box and Pallet Introduction: Chair—Simple Fly Introduction: Worker—Essex Box & Pallet Chapter 1, page 6: “Tornado” CD holder—Olde Saratoga Millwork Chapter 3, page 33: Stools—Fey Manufacturing Chapter 4, page 46: Benches—Bench Mench Chapter 4, page 47: Furniture on a lawn—Simple Fly Chapter 7, page 78: Chain-of-custody diagram—Mark Comolli, Rainforest Alliance, and Tom Hammett, Virginia Tech All cartoons: Corey Pandolph To submit corrections or updates to hyperlinks in this document, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Value-Added Wood Products Marketing Guide for Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs Timothy Holmes Carl Golas Duane Gould Terry Martino Ed Cesa Published by: Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture 11 Campus Blvd., Suite 200 Newtown Square, PA 19073 NA-UP-01-10 January 2010 www.na.fs.fed.us The Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC) is administered by the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. WERC’s mission is to facilitate networking and information exchange with the forest products industry, in order to enhance opportunities that sustain forest products production. WERC’s programs support managerial and technical innovation that keep businesses competitive, and provide state-of-the-art training, technology transfer, and applied research. The center consists of offices, training facilities, and a rough mill in Princeton, WV, and serves the 35 States in the eastern hardwood region of the United States. www.na.fs.fed.us/werc/ Northeastern Area Adirondack North State and Private Forestry Country Association Value-Added Marketing Guide for Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs Acknowledgments Special thanks go to the staff at the Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC), Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, located in Princeton, WV, for their work on this Value- Added Wood Products Marketing Guide. Ed Cesa, deputy director of WERC, had authored a regional guide titled, A Marketing Guide for Manufacturers & Entrepreneurs of Secondary-Processed Wood Products in the Northeastern United States, and generously shared his insight into the marketing assistance needs of the wood products industry. Steve Milauskas, director of WERC, provided administrative assistance to the project, as did Rob Clark and Joanne Fuss of the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry. John R. (Rusty) Dramm and John I. Zerbe at the Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory Technology Marketing Unit, were especially helpful in providing access to the listings in the National Forest Products Utilization and Marketing Personnel Directory. It provides a comprehensive, easily accessible listing of Federal and State personnel who are actively assisting the wood products industry. Reviewers of early drafts of the marketing guide who provided valuable suggestions include Matthew Bumgardner of the Forest Service’s Northern Research Station; Steve Bratkovich, now retired from the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry; Keith Jacobson with the Forest Products Utilization and Marketing (U&M) Program at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Scott Leavengood of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center at Oregon State University; and Sarah Smith at the University of New Hampshire. Bob Smith of the Center for Forest Products Marketing and Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) shared insights gained from years of experience on both the industrial and academic side of wood products. Tom Hammett with the Center for Forest Products Marketing and Management at Virginia Tech provided the forest products chain-of-custody illustration used in this guide and offered lessons learned from his hands-on experience with wood products marketing. Kate Fernholz of Dovetail Partners, Inc., provided insight and direction on certification and certification systems. Larry Osborn, Appalachian Hardwood Center, West Virginia University, provided valuable technical and editorial reviews. Paul Frederick, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, and Sloane Crawford, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, provided the authors the opportunity to participate in the Annual Northeast Utilization and Marketing Council Meeting in June 2006, and to discuss an early draft of the marketing guide with the forest products utilization and marketing representatives from approximately 20 States. Value-Added Marketing Guide for Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs Also, 20 private companies offered detailed information on their marketing programs for consideration as case studies; their time and effort are greatly appreciated. At the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), Judith Tonks and Carolyn Hathaway provided administrative assistance in compiling and organizing the data, resources, and other information presented in this marketing guide. The project was supported by the Wood Education and Resource Center, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, award number: 05-DG-11244225-360. Roberta Burzynski on the Creative Services Staff of the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry edited the final document. We also thank the following Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry Creative Services staff members: Debbie Muccio for desktop publishing; Sandy Fosbroke for her efforts toward the end of the project; and Victoria Evans, Creative Services Group Leader, for her oversight and guidance throughout the publication process. Abstract The premise for this national marketing guide for value-added wood products came from A Marketing Guide for Manufacturers & Entrepreneurs of Secondary- Processed Wood Products in the Northeastern United States—a regional guide written by Ed Cesa and published by the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1992. As with the regional publication, the focus of this latest guide is on providing “how to” advice to small wood products businesses throughout the United States for the necessary activity of marketing. Manufacturers and entrepreneurs can refer to this guide when the need arises. Nine chapters cover general marketing concepts and promotional techniques, as well as the more specialized topics of online marketing and sales, regional branding of wood products, forest product certification, and exporting. Seven appendixes list resources and agencies that provide assistance to wood products companies. Contact information is included for Federal and State agencies, wood products trade associations, wood products manufacturing directories, and for numerous not-for-profit organizations that can provide support to wood products companies. Most of the contact listings also include Web site links. The appendixes also include a list of marketing and regional branding Web sites that represent best practices in terms of using the Internet to promote wood products. Value-Added Marketing Guide for Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs About the Organizations Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA). Incorporated in 1954, ANCA is a 501(c)3 economic development association serving 14 counties in Upstate New York. ANCA has directed a number of research projects on the region’s wood products industry and has offered one-on-one technical assistance services to forest products companies throughout the region. Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC), Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. WERC is administered by the Forest Service’s Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry. The center’s mission is to facilitate interaction and information exchange with the forest products industry in order to enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production. WERC provides