Panel Industry Checks Into TP&EE

Panel Industry Checks Into TP&EE

While traditionally known as a sawmill show, the recent Timber Processing & Energy Expo experienced a healthy turnout from producer companies that also participate in the structural panel and engineered wood products sector, including the likes of ATCO Wood Products, Boise Cascade, Coastland Wood Industries, Columbia Forest Products, Freres Engineered Wood Products, Georgia-Pacific, Hood Industries, Hunt Forest Products, Murphy Company, Pacific Veneer, Pacific Wood Laminates, PotlatchDeltic, Rainier Veneer, Rosboro, Roseburg Forest Products, SmartLam North America, and Weyerhaeuser, to name a few.

The event, held September 28-30 at the Portland Expo Center in Portland, Ore., featured 170 exhibitors, 1,225 (non-exhibitor) registered attendees and another 900 exhibitor personnel. Produced by Hatton-Brown Expositions, an affiliate of Panel World magazine, the every-other-year event was last held in 2018, due to the pandemic canceling the show in 2020. It marked the fifth TP&EE since its inception in 2012.

“It has been the million-dollar question for the Portland show as long as I can remember: Should the structural panel industry receive equal billing as the sawmill industry?” comments Rich Donnell, Show Director and Editor-in-Chief of Panel World. “We have never promoted it that way, and certainly there was far more sawmill influence at this TP&EE, but given some of the comments we’ve received since the show, we’ll definitely need to look at it moving forward.”

More than 110 wood producer companies sent representatives to the event. Several TP&EE exhibitors, such Altec, Westmill, MDI, Samuel, Signode, Taihei Machinery and USNR, do considerable business in panel and EWP.

In addition to the exhibits on the show floor, one feature of the event that both panel and lumber segments enjoyed was the conference, From Forest to Frame: Mass Timber Developments, which featured 10 speakers, and which was followed the next day by a Mass Timber Tour of Freres Engineered Woods in Lyons, Ore. and TallWood Institute in Corvallis, Ore.

The conference included a panel discussion on Tracking and Transparency in the Forestry Supply Chain, moderated by Evan Schmidt, outreach and education manager, TallWood Design Institute. Also, Iain Macdonald, director of Tallwood, spoke on The Oregon Mass Timber Coalition—Connecting Oregon’s Forests to Mass Timber Manufacturing; Jeanelle Leafblad, senior director, WoodWorks, addressed Growing Market Demand for Wood Products; Allan Czinger senior account manager, USNR, spoke on Optimizing Sawmills for Mass Timber Production; Russ Vaagen, founder and CEO, Vaagen Timbers, talked about Mass Timber: From Early Adopter to Mainstream Buildings; and Derek Ratchford, CEO, SmartLam, addressed U.S. South Mass Timber Growth.

The next TP&EE is scheduled for September 25-27, 2024.

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APA Honors Tony Vuksich

APA Honors Tony Vuksich

APA Honors Tony Vuksich

APA—The Engineered Wood Assn. presented Tony Vuksich the 2022 Bronson J. Lewis award during the APA Annual Meeting held October 15-18 at the J.W. Marriott Turnberry Resort in Aventura, Fla. The award is named in honor of the late Bronson Lewis, who served for 24 years as secretary and then executive vice president of the association. The award recognizes individuals for their leadership and outstanding contributions to the engineered wood industry.

Tony Vuksich, center, flanked by his wife, Anita, receives the Bronson J. Lewis Award from APA Board Chairman Roy O. Martin III.

Vuksich recently announced his retirement after serving the engineered wood industry for 50 years. He began his life-long career with Willamette Valley Co. in 1972 in sales. He became a branch manager in 1976, a regional manager in 1980, vice president of the northwest in 1996 and global wood vice president in 2010. He also supported the establishment of Willamette Valley Co. facilities in Chile and the Netherlands.

In addition to his work with Willamette Valley Co., his contributions to the engineered wood industry include a 20-year term serving on the EWTA (Engineered Wood Technology Assn.) Advisory Committee where he worked on funding special projects for APA and promoting the EWTA Info Fair and membership. He has served as an active member of the Wood Based Composite Center for the last 12 years. He has organized APA’s Mike St. John Golf Tournament for the past 35 years. Vuksich will continue to contribute to the industry maintaining the golf tournament operations.

A standing ovation greeted the announcement by APA Board Chairman Roy O Martin III. Accepting the award, at times his voice breaking with emotion, Vuksich read the names of the previous recipients of the award and commented, “I don’t belong on this list, but here I am.” He thanked his wife, Anita, for her support during all his travels, and he thanked the engineered wood industry community for providing him lifelong friendships and experiences.

APA President Mark Tibbetts added, “On behalf of the members and APA staff, we wish Tony only the best in his retirement.”

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SmartLam Announces Alabama Glulam Facility

SmartLam Announces Alabama Glulam Facility

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SmartLam North America announced several major projects that will have a significant impact to the mass timber industry. SmartLam North America, which is the first U.S. manufacturer and is reportedly the largest manufacturer in North America of cross laminated timber (CLT), announced it will build a $50 million glulam manufacturing facility in Dothan, Ala.

The new SmartLam facility, to be built adjacent SmartLam’s existing CLT facility in a 144,000 sq. ft. structure, will manufacture annually 84MMBF of large glulam beams and columns that are required to properly serve the mass timber market. SmartLam has chosen to partner with Ledinek to build a turnkey, state-of-the-art glulam facility. The new glulam facility is expected to be 100% operational in October of 2024.

SmartLam North America CEO Derek Ratchford states, “We are pleased to announce the new state-of-the-art custom glulam manufacturing plant which will be the largest custom glulam plant in North America,” adding that Dothan is strategically located in Alabama to serve the Southeast, the fastest growing mass timber market in the United States, and that SmartLam North America has 1.5 billion BF of available southern pine lumber annually between its four Southern sawmill shareholders.

SmartLam North America will also spend an additional $24 million to fully automate the existing Dothan and Columbia Falls, Mont. CLT facilities. This additional investment will allow each facility to produce 2 million cubic feet annually.

Ratchford adds, “Most mass timber glulam beams and columns are manually produced. The new glulam plant will be automated allowing SmartLam to significantly increase production and simultaneously deliver multiple mass timber projects. With the CLT automation upgrades and the new glulam addition, SmartLam will become the largest mass timber (CLT/glulam) producer in North America.”

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The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.

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Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

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West Fraser To Curtail Shift At Two Sawmills; Plywood Plant

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Newsletter

The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.

Subscribe/Renew

Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

Advertise

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