Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1370374
8 PalletCentral • May-June 2021 palletcentral.com Virginia Tech Offers Course on Wood Identification A re you having difficulty in determining which wood species you received? Is it hard maple or soft maple, cypress, or a substitute? is full-day course hosted by Virginia Tech will be held on ursday, May 20, at the Hilton Garden Inn Richmond International Airport. e course will focus on the tools and methods for identifying North American wood species. e training takes place just before Expo Richmond, May 21-22, at the Richmond Raceway. Registration: $100 includes materials and coffee breaks. Lunch will be on your own: email bbond@vt.edu for more information. INSIDENWPCA Communications Update N WPCA continues to spread the message on the essential nature of our industry and the strong environmental credentials of wood packaging. Most recently, Brent McClendon, NWPCA's President and CEO, presented 'virtually' to the Association for Supply Chain Management, FEFPEB (European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers), Global Wood Packaging Forum, TIMCON (UK timber packaging federation), the Color Pigments Association, and an association CEO Forum consisting of 30 manufacturing association leaders. Brent McClendon delivered a presentation on Nature's Packaging® and the resources available to members during NWPCA's Membership Week in March. Pallet Foundation Chair Bob Wenner also spoke on Nature's Packaging to the Western Pallet Association at their annual conference. Brad Gething, PhD, NWPCA's Director of Science and Technology Integration, presented sustainability webinars to a large 'virtual' crowd of NWPCA members, wood pallet users, and other environmentally interested organizations. NWPCA Sustainability Webinar Series a Success N WPCA's Director of Science and Technology, Brad Gething, PhD, led two webinars focusing on sustainability and the importance of sharing the positive message of using wood pallet materials. On Earth Day, Dr. Gething addressed major issues with sustainability and provided tools proving why wood is the preferable material for sustainability. He discussed topics such as forests and the question of using wood, carbon facts, the environmental product declaration (EPD), landfilling and pallet end of life, and Nature's Packaging. In the second webinar, Dr. Gething shared the EPD and broke it down into different sections. e presentation highlighted how NWPCA members could use various aspects of the EPD to promote wood pallets' environmental attributes. He also showed how the EPD could be used for companies as a benchmark for improving their environmental performance. Recordings of these and past sessions are at palletcentral.com/webinar. NWPCA Announcements and Upcoming Events 2021 ALC Filling Quickly, Registration Limited R egistration is open for NWPCA's Annual Leadership Conference (ALC), September 15-17, 2021, at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, Florida. e conference will surely be a highlight of the year, allowing for the industry to reconnect in-person and come together to celebrate our role as an essential industry. Registration is currently limited to 300 due to COVID mass-gatherings guidance. Attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis. At press time, we were nearly a half sold out. Staff is monitoring safety protocols very closely and will adjust registration numbers as guidelines change. NWPCA Welcomed Congressman Delgado to a Special 'Meet and Greet' R epresentative Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from New York's 19th District, joined the NWPCA Government Affairs Committee meeting in early April. It was a special event for committee members and PalletPAC donors who learned more about how the Congressman is working with our industry to elevate the critical role that wood packaging plays in a sustainable future. Delgado serves on the House Agriculture Committee, Committee on Small Business, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Working Forests Caucus. Congressman Delgado also shares the same District as the Cary Institute, an environmental research organization, which has a Tree-SMART Trade campaign focusing on invasive species and working towards trade in pest-free packaging. New Government Affairs Chair, Reed Esarove of PalletOne, moderated the dialogue. If you are interested in participating in these Government Affairs monthly conference calls, please make sure you are on the committee. Contact Grace Johnson, Manager, Policy & Public Affairs, gjohnson@palletcentral.com to add your name.