Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1370374
6 PalletCentral • May-June 2021 palletcentral.com FROM THE PRESIDENT Board Officers Chairman Mike Hachtman, Relogistics Services Chairman-Elect Carolyn Beach, Westside Pallet Past Chair Frank Shean, PLA Holdings-Valley Pallet Secretary/Treasurer Nick Wenner, Pallet Service Corp. Director at Large Kathleen Dietrich, Commercial Lumber & Pallet President/CEO Brent J. McClendon, CAE Board of Directors Michelle Blizzard, Pallet Central Enterprises Henry Bowman, C&L Wood Products LeRoi Cochran, 48forty Solutions Dominick Davi, Greenway Products & Services David Grimes, Pallet Resources of NC Hinton Howell, Cottondale Wood Products Bernie Kamps, Kamps, Inc. Bryan Kesting, Madison County Wood Products Steve Mazza, S&B Pallet Joe O'Brien, Industrial Pallet Shane Thompson, WestWind Logistics Beatrice Vasquez, Oxnard Pallet Howe Wallace, PalletOne, Bartow, FL International Director Mike Vrugteveen, Niagara Pallet & Recyclers Associate's Representative Randy Panko, Wood-Mizer International Director Emeritus Jan Fredell, Fredells Travaru AB 2021 SEASON SPONSORS Kiln-Direct.com 910-259-9794 | kiln-direct.com Mid Continent Steel and Wire 800-867-6245 | magnumfasteners.com Pallet Machinery Group 540-644-9220 | palletmachinery.com Pendu Manufacturing 717-354-4348 | pendu.com Profile Technology 800-369-4242 | profiletech.com PRS Group 217-291-0009 | prsgroupinc.com Rotochopper 320-548-3586 | rotochopper.com Smart Products 800-401-0099 | smartproductsinc.com Smith Sawmill Service 800-598-6344 | smithsawmillservice.com Vecoplan 812-923-4992 | vecoplan.com Viking Engineering & Development 800-328-2403 | vikingeng.com O ne of the true pleasures I have had with NWPCA is interacting with members and feeding off of their passion for this industry. ere is a universal belief that what we do every day makes a difference. Not just for the supply chain, or the individuals and families that are supported by the 173,000 jobs our industry provides, but also for the environment. It's that element, the firm belief that what we do improves the planet, that struck me so clearly when I joined NWPCA eight years ago. We immediately looked at how we could better quantify our environmental footprint, celebrate our landfill avoidance and recycling leadership, and drive global change to achieve more sustainable supply chains. What we found on this journey is that the more research we conducted, and the more conversations we had within the wood packaging community, the more the industry came together. Fellowship, at its core, is about friendship and a community of shared interests. rough the Pallet Foundation-funded Environmental Product Declaration work, we now know that wood pallets have an environmental footprint that can't be matched by alternative materials. We also know that we are the most recycled packaging product on the planet, and once again, are head-and-shoulders ahead of alternative materials. Companies touting that their products are recyclable are now facing tough questions about whether they actually are recycled… and that's a test our industry passes with straight A's! What we knew at the beginning was a long-held truth: Lacking information, people make up stories. Well, now we have the information, third-party verified and certified. at is why NWPCA, the Pallet Foundation, Nature's Packaging®, our volunteer leaders, and many of you have taken up the torch of getting the message out. A clear example: Ten different in-person and virtual programs were presented on the essential nature of our industry and the strong environmental footprint of wood packaging in just the last six weeks. Increasingly our members are sharing with us their messaging on social media. Nature's Packaging, an initiative of the Pallet Foundation, is also significantly increasing its direct outreach. I encourage you to visit naturespackaging.org and connect with their social media platforms, like, share, and comment. Together we can amplify the impactful research conducted by the Pallet Foundation. Together we can inform the supply chain as they make packaging decisions. And together we can celebrate the fellowship of our community. I cannot wait to celebrate all of this with you face-to-face September 15-17, 2021 at our next Annual Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida. Sincerely, Brent J. McClendon, CAE NWPCA President/CEO Finding Your Voice. Amplifying Our Story.