UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is partnering with the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association to host the association’s bi-annual trade exposition, May 29-30.
The Timber 2009 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition will be held at the Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs, on Pa. Route 45, nine miles southwest of State College. The event is supported in part with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Hardwoods Development Council.
Timber 2009 is an opportunity for forest-products companies to hone their business skills, learn about the latest production practices, and see new technology, all of which are important for a company’s survival during tough economic times, according to Paul Lyskava, PFPA executive director.
“During this economic downturn, companies need to be as efficient as possible,” he says. “At Timber 2009, we’ll offer educational workshops, machinery and technology demonstrations, and a variety of commercial exhibitors so attendees can shop for goods and services and learn to enhance their business practices, all in one convenient location.”
The leading hardwood-producing state in the nation, Pennsylvania is home to more than 2,700 forest-product companies and 500,000 forest landowners. The forest-products industry has $16 billion in annual sales and generates about $27 billion a year for the state’s economy.
Organizers expect as many as 60 commercial exhibitors at the event, which is aimed at loggers, sawmill operators, value-added processors and forest landowners in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
The Ag Progress Days site — at Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center — is centrally located for most of the state’s forest products industry. The site has both indoor and expansive outdoor space, allowing for exhibitor demonstrations. Parking and admission will be free for attendees.
Workshops will cover topics such as human resources best-management practices for wood companies and survival tips for forest-product businesses.
Demonstrations will feature a range of forest-product technologies. In-the-woods demonstrations will include feller-bunchers, log skidders, forwarders, slashers and whole-tree chippers. Sawmill equipment and horizontal grinders will be demonstrated on the show grounds, and a ride-and-drive area will allow attendees to test-drive log skidders and forwarders.
Faculty and extension specialists from Penn State’s School of Forest Resources also will offer workshops. “Penn State has one of the top forestry and wood-products programs in the country, and hosting this expo dovetails with our educational and outreach mission,” says Bob Oberheim, manager of Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, who will oversee Timber 2009.
For information on Timber 2009, including details on exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities, call (814) 863-2873 or visit the Web at http://patimbershow.cas.psu.edu.