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The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund has launched a new initiative to assist the forest products industry in creating and retaining quality jobs and opening additional markets for locally produced wood products. A collaboration between the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, the Northern Forest Center, and the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Board, the new Forest Products Value Chain Investment Program will include business assistance to wood products manufacturers, market research and development, the creation of an industry-wide network, and a comprehensive communications strategy designed to raise the profile of the industry in Vermont and the region.

Christine McGowan of Stowe has been hired as program director. She will be responsible for building a forest industry network to expand the market of Vermont forest products, working with industry members to research and develop new products, and implementing a communications strategy that raises the profile of the people and products behind the Vermont forest products industry.

McGowan previously served in strategic communication roles for the National Wildlife Refuge Association, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Wildlife Federation, where her efforts around the 2010 Gulf oil spill disaster and the 2013 Green Inaugural Ball helped elevate the issue of climate change’s effect on wildlife through the media. She grew up working in her family’s business, Dorsey Millwork, Inc., a distributor for Andersen Corporation, a major manufacturer of wood window and door products. McGowan and her husband Dan own Lamoille Valley Painters in Stowe.

The Forest Products Value Chain Investment Program grew out of a year-long industry analysis funded and led by the Working Lands Enterprise Board Forestry Committee who worked with Yellow Wood Associates to identify how to strengthen the industry, access new markets outside the state, and develop new products that could be produced in a more collaborative manner among industry members.

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund’s work with the forest products industry dates back to the early 2000s with its Cornerstone Initiative which focused on sourcing more local wood in state and college campus buildings. VSJF also collaborated with the Vermont Wood Manufacturing Association to educate architects and design firms on how to source local wood through the use of ‘green specs’ in construction projects around the state.

“We are pleased to be able to bring our network development, business assistance and communications expertise to this next phase of forest products industry development – as we’ve demonstrated most recently through the Farm to Plate Network’s implementation of Vermont’s food system plan. The goal of the new Forest Products Value Chain Investment Program is to enhance the economic competitiveness of the forest products industry in the region by exploring ways to access new markets outside the state, developing new products that could be produced using Vermont wood and encouraging innovation and facilitating collaboration among industry members,” says Ellen Kahler, executive director at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund.

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) is a non-profit organization committed to nurturing the sustainable development of Vermont’s economy. VSJF provides business assistance, network development, research and financing in agriculture and food system, forest product, waste management, renewable energy, and environmental technology sectors. Located in Montpelier, Vermont, VSJF was created by the Vermont Legislature in 1995 to partner with state government, private sector businesses, and non-profits to build a thriving economic, social, and ecological future for Vermont.