Forests are big business in Pennsylvania. Home to more than 2,100 forest-product companies and 500,000 forest landowners, Pennsylvania is the leading hardwood-producing state in the nation. According to Penn State University, the forest-products industry has $11.5 billion in annual sales and generates about $19 billion per year for the state's economy.
The school's College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association will showcase the forest-products industry at Timber 2015, known more formally as the 2015 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition, June 5 – 6 at Penn State's Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs.
Organizers expect 100-plus commercial exhibitors at the event, which is aimed at loggers, sawmill operators, value-added processors and forest landowners. It will offer opportunities for professional development and help participants stay current with the latest business trends, production practices, regulations and technology.
“Technology, regulations and best practices are constantly evolving,” explains Paul Lyskava, Pennsylvania Forest Products Association executive director. “The kinds of continuing-education and business-networking opportunities available at Timber 2015 are critical for success in today's competitive marketplace.”
“Visitors can attend educational sessions, talk with business specialists and interact with commercial exhibitors,” adds Penn State's Bob Oberheim, Timber 2015 manager. “Live demonstrations will allow attendees to evaluate new harvesting and sawmill equipment, and a ride-and-drive area will provide an opportunity to test-drive selected equipment. The show gives exhibitors and vendors serving the forest-products industry and emerging biomass markets an opportunity to reach forest-products companies in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.”
On-site and in-the-woods demonstrations will feature a range of forest-product technologies and machinery, including feller bunchers with processing heads, forwarders, log skidders, horizontal grinders and chippers.
A new attraction at this year's event will be the Game of Logging national finals, a competition based on a world-recognized chainsaw skills curriculum. The contest, with landowner and professional logger divisions, combines Scandinavian logging techniques with the latest systems for working safely around trees.
Source: Penn State
Writer: Elise Vider
