Georgia-Pacific, along with partners The Georgia Forestry Foundation and Jamestown LP, met with state and local leadership to discuss how prioritizing and utilizing sustainable structural building materials such as mass timber not only has a positive effect on our environment but Georgia’s economy. The event was held at 619 Ponce, Atlanta’s first Georgia-grown and locally manufactured mass timber building utilizing a regional supply chain, located at Ponce City Market. CLT and glulam were both used in the 619 Ponce project.

Led by Georgia-Pacific Vice President of Stewardship John Mulcahy, and Jamestown Principal and CEO Matt M. Bronfman, attendees included U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, and various leaders from the state legislature, including state Sen. Russ Goodman, chair of the Senate Agriculture committee, 8th District, Rep. Robert Dickey, chair of the House Agriculture Committee and Community Affairs, 145th District, Rep. Lynn Smith, chairwoman for the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, 70th District , Rep. Marcus Wiedower, 121st District , and more than 40 CEOs from around the state.

During the event, Mulcahy shared how utilizing Georgia’s vast forest resources, and partnerships with organizations committed to sustainable building initiatives, such as Georgia Forestry Foundation’s Seedlings to Solutions, led to the soon to be completed 619 Ponce project. The attention 619 Ponce has garnered from the construction, commercial leasing, and timber industries proves that the approach—using locally-sourced Southern yellow pine to create mass timber product to build a project of this scope—opens new opportunities for the forestry and construction industries. Mulcahy also shared ideas on how the nation’s forests can deliver meaningful solutions for a more sustainable future.

From left to right: Andres Villegas, president and CEO of the Georgia Forestry Assn.; Matt Bronfman, principal and CEO, of Jamestown LP; U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock; Troy Harris, Jamestown managing director, Timberland and Innovative Wood Products; and John Mulcahy, Georgia-Pacific vice president of stewardship.

The group also discussed the challenges related to development, land use, and growing populations.

In addition to announced keynotes, PELICE continues to add speakers and presentations for the numerous technical sessions on tap.

Some of the new PELICE speakers include:

• Bo Johansson, V.P Sales Building Material, LIMAB AB, “Benefits with In-Process Non-Contact Dimensional Measurements”

• Torben Marhenke, R&D Team Leader, Fagus-Grecon, “Next Level of Panel Quality Measurement”

• Paul Gavin, Group Sales Manager, Biele North America, “Digital Solutions and Production Control in Press Lines”

• Marcius de Oliveira, manager, Industrial Sensor Technologies and Informatics, InnoTech, along with additional Innotech personnel and representatives from Tolko Industries, “OSB AI Vision—Real Time, Online Strand Geometry Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence”

• Karl Aicher, Director Project Engineering, Grenzebach, “Wood Fiber Insulation Batts—Properties, Use and Production Process

• Lorne Fardy, Director, Product Development, Kadant Carmanah Design, and Conor McElveen, Sales Director, Aftermarket, Kadant Carmanah Design, “Smart-Connected Technology to Improve Stranding and OSB Production”

The full PELICE agenda is expected to be announced later this month.

For exhibitor information, contact Fred Kurpiel: [email protected]

For presentation information, contact Rich Donnell: [email protected]

Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), scheduled for next March 14-15 in Atlanta, continues to add speakers to it lineup. The event, which is hosted by Panel World magazine and Georgia Research Institute, will be held for the ninth time at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta.

Additions to the list of keynoters include Greg Lewis (left), vice president, Wood Panels, Forest Economic Advisors LLC, and Hanoch Magid, CEO of SMARTECH.

Lewis’ talk will be entitled “Strong Demographic Tailwinds Will Support Wood Panel Demand Mid-Decade.” Following near-term market weakness in late 2023 and the first part of 2024, FEA expects healthy demand growth to resume in 2025. Construction markets will improve and absorb the growth in capacity. Lewis writes FEA’s monthly Panel Advisor and is the primary author of FEA’s quarterly Panel Forecasting Service publication. He has also co-authored studies on the international wood panel and lumber industries.

SMARTECH’s Magid will address his company’s implementation of AI technology, and how it can reduce the use of raw materials such as wax and resin, increase productivity, improve quality and stability, and reduce environmental impact, enabling producers to stay ahead of their competition. Magid boasts an impressive tenure of more than 30 years in leadership roles in global high-tech companies, focusing on innovative technology, customer support and operations.

Lewis and Magid join a keynoters lineup, as previously announced in the last issue of Panel World, that also includes

• Roy O. Martin III, chairman, CEO and CFO of RoyOMartin (Martco), who will speak on “Empowering Culture: Navigating Change while Preserving a Culture of Excellence”
• Christian Dieffenbacher, CEO of Dieffenbacher, with his talk entitled “Future-Oriented by Tradition”
• Stuart Gray, CEO, Roseburg, “Looking Back to Look Forward: the History and Future of Roseburg Forest Products”
• Matthew O’Malia, co-founder of TimberHP, speaking on “Prefabricating the Future with Wood”
  

The PELICE full agenda is expected to be announced in November.

For exhibitor information, contact Fred Kurpiel: [email protected]
For presentation information, contact Rich Donnell: [email protected]