The wood products industry across northcentral Pennsylvania –
ranging from large companies to small artisans – needs to band
together and diversify in order to carve a niche in the U.S. and
international trade markets, according to a recently completed
study on the aging trade.

The final report for the 15-county Lumber Heritage Region was
revealed on Monday during a Power Point presentation attended by
wood products, tourism, municipal and retail officials at the
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. The study, started in 2003,
was completed by Regional Technology Strategies Inc. of North
Carolina after 14 public meetings were held throughout the
region.

Officials said the study focused on strengthening the industry’s
workforce through educational opportunities, finding a niche that
will allow the region to compete on an international scale,
collaborating with local tourism organizations and creating a
strategy for managing the region’s forest resources – including the
spacious Allegheny National Forest.

“Don’t neglect or push aside the very real strengths you have in
traditional industries,” Sarah Butzen of Regional Technology
Strategies said. “Traditional industries are not dead. Though some
may be ailing, others can become the high-value niche industries of
the future.”

In order to arrive at that point, however, both Butzen and
associate Wayne Fawbush said those involved in the industry must
take a regional approach to its problems, a notion which has been
pushed for several years by U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., among
others.

“There must be a regional focus on local economies and markets,”
Fawbush said, noting that method helps lead to increased
information between all the sectors involved, a spike in innovation
and a sharing of services. “This is a big region and spread out.
Some companies don’t know what the other is doing, or in some
cases, that they exist.”

A combined effort by the industry’s segments can also lead to
more muscle on the international market, particularly as U.S.
companies increasingly compete more head-to-head with China, which
is further moving into the hardwood and cabinet production
sphere.

“It’s a question of our high-quality goods competing with
China’s high-quality goods,” Fawbush said. “You need aesthetic
distinctiveness. One thing they can’t make in China is something
that’s made in Pennsylvania. The only way to get people to care is
to imbed distinctiveness in the product.

“The primary beneficiaries of that will be those who live and
work in the Lumber Heritage Region.”

Fawbush did indicate a stigma has been attached to the region’s
forest products industries. On the flipside, Fawbush said increased
innovation is occurring in the manufacturing sector. The average
size of a wood products industry in this region is 20 people.

“Children are being taught that loggers and the wood products
industries are harmful to the environment,” Fawbush said. “It’s
very difficult to counteract that when a person is at a point to
choose a career.”

There is also a fear about long-term access to the region’s
forest resources, which was identified as the most pressing issue
among those in the private sector.

“There is a diverse ownership in the forest, including the feds,
state and private landowners,” Fawbush said, noting half of the
forest resource is at risk of regeneration failure. Fawbush added
the average age of a private landowner is 65; “it’s hard to do
forest management with an aging population of owners. They must,
however, be part of any discussion.”

Fawbush said a way to keep those resources flowing could be by
reaching out to landowners through public policy and incentives.
“By banding together, it could help ease regulatory issues.”

The report also listed six recommendations designed to spur the
industry forward.

At the heart of the recommendations is the creation of centers
of excellence which would promote regional cohesion and focus on
resources, while at the same time, helping to overcome the distance
between many of the industries in the region.

“This region needs targeted workforce education and training,”
Butzen said, noting those taking part need to select their highest
priority needs and pool resources.

“Workforce education will legitimize the wood-based technical
professions,” Fawbush said, and “prepare workers for the constant
changes ahead.”

The industry also needs to collaborate with tourism outlets,
including partnering with the PA Wilds initiative backed by Gov. Ed
Rendell. “You can package local wood artisan products into other
tourist experiences” by creating artisan tours or trails.

Officials said biomass production has also come into the
forefront recently, especially if the price for fuel continues to
rise.

“We need to make it sexy again to be involved in the wood
products industry,” Mike Wennin, executive director of the Lumber
Heritage Region.