Fall Virtual Conference

Good Morning Foresters: Coffee, Consultants & Conversation

Grab your coffee and start the Fall Virtual Conference with your fellow ACF members! Good Morning Foresters brings the networking, information sharing and connection building of an ACF gathering right to your home or office. There’s no agenda and no presentation, just an informal opportunity to catch up, compare notes, talk about what’s happening in your neck of the woods and connect with consulting foresters from across the country.

Flash Session - Innovative Wood Fiber Products Part 1: Single Widget

We hear plenty about the challenges facing traditional markets for low-value wood. But what about the innovators working to create new ones? Single Widget is developing a wood wool wall system made from thin strands of small-diameter wood that combines insulation and structural components into a natural building product. Join founder Emily Dawson for an introduction to Single Widget, the wood wool technology behind its wall system, how and where the product is being manufactured, and the company’s vision for putting an abundant forest resource to a new use.

Flash Session - Emerging Forest Markets Part 1: Living Carbon

Carbon markets continue to evolve, creating new opportunities for landowners and new questions for the foresters they rely on for trusted advice. Living Carbon is putting one approach into practice by using carbon revenue to fund reforestation of degraded and underutilized lands, including former agricultural and mine lands. Join Jonathan Shears, Living Carbon’s Land Partnerships Lead, for a look at how their model works, what makes a property a potential fit, and what consulting foresters should know when helping landowners evaluate opportunities that may extend beyond traditional timber markets.

TreeLearn - Growing Your Team: Finding, Hiring & Keeping the Right People

ACF members have told us they want more support with the people side of running a consulting forestry business. In our recent business needs assessment, HR and hiring emerged as a specific area where members want more information and resources, so we’re bringing the conversation to the Fall Virtual Conference.  During this session, the Steigerwaldt team will share their real-world experience finding, hiring, developing and retaining good employees, from building a talent pipeline and attracting candidates to creating a workplace where people want to stay and grow.  Whether you’re actively hiring, thinking about adding your first employee, or planning for future growth, this session will offer practical ideas you can put to use.  Even if adding to your team isn’t even on the radar yet, growth can happen unexpectedly, and understanding the hiring landscape before you need another person can put you in a much better position when that day comes.

Flash Session - Innovative Wood Fiber Products Part 2: Tanbark

Here’s another way innovators are putting wood fiber to use: molded fiber packaging. Tanbark Molded Fiber Products uses wood pulp to manufacture high-quality packaging designed as an alternative to rigid, single-use plastics. Join co-founder and CEO Melissa LaCasse for an introduction to Tanbark, how wood fiber becomes molded packaging, the products and markets the company is pursuing, and what goes into building a new forest-products business around a familiar raw material.

Flash Session - Emerging Forest Markets Part 2: ACF’s Emerging Markets Initiative

Opportunities for small-acreage landowners to earn revenue continue to emerge, but understanding which ones are real, where they exist, and how they fit into a consulting forester’s business is another matter entirely.  That’s exactly what ACF’s Emerging Markets Initiative, funded by a Forest Landowner Support Grant, from the USDA Forest Service is designed to tackle. Join the Cascade Advisory team, ACF's Emerging Markets Consultants, for an update on what we’re learning from consulting foresters across the country, the resources and being developed through the initiative, and where the project will go next.  Whether you’re already helping clients explore emerging markets or still trying to make sense of what may be relevant in your area, don't miss this important look at how ACF is working to give consulting foresters the knowledge and tools they need to confidently navigate a changing marketplace.

3:30pm - 4:00pm

ACF Updates: What’s Happening & What’s Ahead

There’s a lot happening at ACF, and across the consulting forestry profession. Close out the Fall Virtual Conference with ACF President Jerry Grossman and Executive Director Shannon McCabe for a look at what your association has been working on, the issues and opportunities on our radar, and what’s coming next. From partnerships to programs, member resources and opportunities to get involved, we’ll bring you up to speed on the work happening on behalf of ACF members and give you a look at what’s ahead.