From: Center for Rural Partnerships [ mailto:ruralinfo@plymouth.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 9:25 AM
To: 'Allan Ryder'; 'Anhil Waghe'; 'Anne Archie'; 'Barry Normandeau'; 'Beno Lamontagne'; 'Bill Andreas'; 'Bill Webb'; 'Brad Allen'; 'Bruce Jackson'; 'Cathy Conway'; 'Charlotte A. Sheltry'; 'Christine Walker'; 'Chuck Prausa'; 'Craig Zamzow'; 'Dudley Dudley'; 'Dwight Fischer'; 'Gail McWilliam Jellie'; 'Glenn G. Coppelman'; 'Heidi Pettigrew'; 'Jac Cuddy'; James Wagner; 'Jane Fink (jfink@northernforest.org)'; 'Jeffrey R. Hayes'; 'Jim Tibbets'; jim@nvda.net; 'John D. Aber'; 'John Hamilton'; 'Jolinda LaClair'; 'Karol LaCroix'; 'Kathleen Norris'; 'Kathy Eneguess'; 'Kerry Yurewicz'; 'Larry Rappaport'; 'Marilinne Cooper'; 'Mark Scarano'; 'Melissa Ogle'; 'Michele Pruyn'; 'Mike Vlacich'; 'Nancy Conklin'; 'Nory Parr'; 'Pamela Laflamme'; 'Pat McDermott (Patrick F. McDermott'; pbryce@dred.state.nh.us; 'Peter Riviere'; 'Rachael Stuart'; 'Ray Burton'; 'Rhonda Shippee'; 'Rick DeMark'; 'Rick Tillotson'; 'Rob Riley'; 'Roy Duddy'; 'Sarah Smith'; 'Stephen Lambert'; 'Steve Barba'; 'Steve Huntington'; 'Steve Knox (s_konx@adelphia.net)'; 'Steven Turaj'; 'Susan M. Amburg'; 'Thad Guldbrandsen'; 'Tim Maker'; 'Tom Deans (tomd@conwaylakedeans.com)'; com@its2.plymouth.edu; 'Tom Wagner (Tom Wagner (twagner02@fs.fed.us))'; 'Trent E. Boggess'; wren@wrencommunity.org; 'Zenagui Brahim'
Subject: NH Forest Technology Transfer Center
Dear Colleagues,
After Chris Risbrudt (director of the USFS Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin) visited in April 2007, many of us met at PSU to discuss the possibility of partnering with the Forest Products Lab in order to support commercialization of new forest products in New Hampshire. Since then, a smaller group of us (Bill Andreas, Rick DeMark, Jon Freeman, Thad Guldbrandsen, Jeff Hayes, Steve Knox, Melissa Ogle, Peter Riviere, Sarah Smith) met several times to develop a concept for a "NH Forest Technology Transfer Center." We made progress in developing a concept for an "incubator without walls" that would support NH businesses and entrepreneurs in their efforts to commercialize, manufacture, and sell new forest products. While this remains an exciting prospect, there are critical missing ingredients. Chief among those missing ingredients is clear industry leadership and participation. At this time, the next steps are not clear, and we have decided to stop meeting as a committee until we have stronger industry connections.
There are other activities in the region which offer a great deal of promise. There are valuable lessons to learn from Maine and Vermont in their industry-led efforts to establish business "clusters" in key industry areas (such as aerospace, specialty foods, eco-tourism, and wood products). There have been some discussions here at PSU and within other groups about finding ways to support business associations around specific economic clusters. Perhaps there is some promise for an industry-led cluster in NH around forest products.
The Northern Forest Center is engaging in discussions (in the four Northern Forest States) with wood products manufacturing companies throughout the region, brainstorming about ways to encourage and facilitate innovation within the industry and to help provide access to markets. A key objective is to enhance the economic competitiveness of the wood products industry in the face of foreign competition and other challenges. These discussions have provided encouragement that a new initiative can implement during 2008.
The North Country Council and the Coos Economic Development Council are leading an effort to create the Coos Economic Action Plan, focusing on four key industries: timber, tourism, energy, and creative economy. There is every indication that this effort will spark new creative thinking in Northern NH.
New Hampshire's forest-based industries have undergone dramatic changes in recent years, yet there remains great promise and a lot of opportunity for the development of new products and the revitalization of this critically-important sector of our economy.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Thad
Thaddeus C. Guldbrandsen, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Rural Partnerships
Plymouth State University
MSC 68, 17 High Street
Plymouth, NH 03264-1595
603/535-3276 (Voice)
603/535-3223 (Fax)
tcguldbrandsen@plymouth.edu
www.plymouth.edu/rural