Can Vermont Become a Regional Hub for Forest Innovation?
By Christine McGowan, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
One of Vermont’s legacy industries, the first sawmill was built in Westminster in 1739–more than 280 years ago. As paper mills around New England closed and overseas competition grew over the past few decades, what was once a thriving source of jobs and income, has become an industry struggling to define its role in today’s economy.
Where some see decline, however, others see opportunity. Vermont, along with other states around New England have the infrastructure–and the natural resources–to evolve and lead the country in sustainable forest practices that support a new kind of forest economy.
That evolution, says Reynolds, is important for both supporting existing industry and developing new markets. “It’s a complicated supply chain where foresters, loggers, and truckers depend on markets for the work they are doing. There needs to be some value or we will lose forestland to development.”
Innovation in the Kingdom
Enter Do North Coworking and the Forestry Accelerator in Lyndonville. Opened in 2018 as an initiative of Northern Vermont University, Do North was established to provide a shared work space for entrepreneurs in Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom. The Forestry Accelerator was launched in 2022 after market research conducted with the help of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund found that the closest business accelerator dedicated exclusively to start ups in the forest products industry was in Europe. Now in its second year, the Accelerator taps into the region’s deep connections to the forest economy to provide support, connections, and funding for innovative new companies from around the country.
“It’s a unique program nationally that has generated a lot of attention in our rural corner of Vermont from national players,” said Reynolds. “Large corporations are seeing Vermont as a place where innovation is happening in the forest industry. That doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country.”
That’s important as Vermont explores emerging opportunities such as fiber textiles, mass timber, and advanced wood heat that have the potential to create important new markets for Vermont’s forest economy.
The Forestry Accelerator focuses on three areas: 1) products that use chips, resins, dust, and other byproducts of low grade wood; 2) technology that improves forest management, sales, operations, and safety; and 3) products and services that develop and improve advanced wood heat, fuels, and energy.
Can Vermont Become a Regional Hub for Forest Innovation?
March 04, 2024
in Forestry, Staff Articles by Christine McGowan
JARED REYNOLDS AT THE VERMONT FORESTRY ACCELERATOR THINKS SO, AND HE HAS A PLAN.
By Christine McGowan, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
One of our country’s great legacy industries, the forest products industry hasn’t changed much in the past century. But that’s something Jared Reynolds, manager of the Do North Coworking and the Vermont Forestry Accelerator wants to change.
“We have this great opportunity to rethink innovation in a historic industry,” said Reynolds. “This region can be a hub for forest innovation.”
Jared Reynolds, manager of the Do North Coworking and the Vermont Forestry Accelerator in Lyndonville. Photo by Erica Houskeeper
One of Vermont’s legacy industries, the first sawmill was built in Westminster in 1739–more than 280 years ago. As paper mills around New England closed and overseas competition grew over the past few decades, what was once a thriving source of jobs and income, has become an industry struggling to define its role in today’s economy.
Where some see decline, however, others see opportunity. Vermont, along with other states around New England have the infrastructure–and the natural resources–to evolve and lead the country in sustainable forest practices that support a new kind of forest economy.
That evolution, says Reynolds, is important for both supporting existing industry and developing new markets. “It’s a complicated supply chain where foresters, loggers, and truckers depend on markets for the work they are doing. There needs to be some value or we will lose forestland to development.”
Innovation in the Kingdom
Enter Do North Coworking and the Forestry Accelerator in Lyndonville. Opened in 2018 as an initiative of Northern Vermont University, Do North was established to provide a shared work space for entrepreneurs in Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom. The Forestry Accelerator was launched in 2022 after market research conducted with the help of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund found that the closest business accelerator dedicated exclusively to start ups in the forest products industry was in Europe. Now in its second year, the Accelerator taps into the region’s deep connections to the forest economy to provide support, connections, and funding for innovative new companies from around the country.
“It’s a unique program nationally that has generated a lot of attention in our rural corner of Vermont from national players,” said Reynolds. “Large corporations are seeing Vermont as a place where innovation is happening in the forest industry. That doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country.”
That’s important as Vermont explores emerging opportunities such as fiber textiles, mass timber, and advanced wood heat that have the potential to create important new markets for Vermont’s forest economy.
The Forestry Accelerator focuses on three areas: 1) products that use chips, resins, dust, and other byproducts of low grade wood; 2) technology that improves forest management, sales, operations, and safety; and 3) products and services that develop and improve advanced wood heat, fuels, and energy.
MontyChong-Walden, CEO of Calmura Natural Walls, presents his product at the 2023 Forest Accelerator in East Burke. Photo by Erica Houskeeper
In 2022, the first year of the accelerator, the program attracted mostly regional startups with products ranging from packaging materials made from wood shavings to a software platform that allows loggers to more easily connect with sawmills. This year’s cohort attracted entrepreneurs from the west coast and British Columbia–as well as Vermont–with more focus on green building materials.
“We have several companies that are developing modular solutions to housing challenges,” said Reynolds. “Another company is expanding markets for people selling firewood by helping them leverage e-commerce platforms. So, the innovation is all over the place–everything from a hard tech company that may end up needing $100 million to launch, to one that is developing software for everyday people in Vermont trying to sell firewood.”
See the full article here
