PalletCentral • May-June 2022
9
NWPCA Staff
President/CEO
Brent J. McClendon, CAE, brent@palletcentral.com
Senior Director, Business Partnerships
Mark A. Barford, CAE, mbarford@palletcentral.com
PDS and Membership Services Manager
Susan Cheney, scheney@palletcentral.com
PDS Structural Engineer
Kristen DeLack PE, kdelack@palletcentral.com
Vice President, Communications
Annette Ferri, aferri@palletcentral.com
Manager, Public Affairs
Hallie Fuchs, hfuchs@palletcentral.com
Vice President, Science & Technology
Brad Gething, PhD, bgething@palletcentral.com
Vice President, Public Affairs
Jason Ortega, jortega@palletcentral.com
PDS Software Engineer
Kevin Richey, krichey@palletcentral.com
PDS Associate Software Engineer
George Scharps, gscharps@palletcentral.com
Vice President, Operations and Events
Isabel ("Mimi") Sullivan, msullivan@palletcentral.com
PalletCentral Editorial, Design & Production
Caryn Smith, Driven By Design LLC
palletdesign@comcast.net
PALLETCENTRAL, Volume 22, Number 3.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NATIONAL WOODEN PALLET
& CONTAINER ASSOCIATION
Advertising:
To advertise in PalletCentral, contact Mark Barford
at 703-519-0186 or mbarford@palletcentral.com.
Address changes and subscriptions:
To update your mailing address or to subscribe
to PalletCentral, call 703-519-6104 or email
info@palletcentral.com.
©2022 NWPCA. All rights reserved.
The views expressed in all articles, editorials and
advertisements appearing in PalletCentral are solely
those of the author and advertiser, respectively, and
do not necessarily represent the views of NWPCA.
On the Road: NWPCA Member
& Staff Collaboration
Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association
N
WPCA Member Jimmy Wilson,
PalletOne, and NWPCA staff Mark
Barford, senior director of business
partnerships, made a joint presentation
during the Southeastern Lumber
Manufacturers Association (SLMA)
March meeting. Jimmy Wilson spoke about
the momentous shift to using softwood
lumber that his company is experiencing
and the Pallet Design System™ (PDS)
software program that helps the company
design and specify softwood lumber for
manufacturing pallets. Barford provided a
general industry overview and summarized
the work of the Pallet Foundation and its
ongoing research and development for the
wooden pallet industry, including PDS,
landfill avoidance study, environmental
product declaration and life-cycle
assessment, and Natures Packaging®.
Barford reports the SLMA was
surprised at the magnitude of the softwood
lumber industry to pallet manufacturing
and the breadth of the Foundation.
Wilson's first-hand knowledge and
relationships with several attendees
brought immediate recognition. He
made it clear our intent is for ongoing
collaboration with SLMA, and future
meetings are already in development.
Where's the Pallet?
B
e one of the first 10 to respond with
the correct answer and we'll send
you a $10 Starbucks card. All you have
to do is find the pallet image inside
this edition. Drop an email to aferri@
palletcentral.com with the number on
the image, and which story inside this
edition was your favorite. at's it! We'll
share our winners in the next edition.
Virginia Tech Dean Advisory Council
S
ince its formation in 2017, the Dean's Advisory Council of the College of Natural
Resources and Environment (CNRE) has included a prestigious group of accomplished
individuals to help position the college for the future. NWPCA President & CEO Brent
McClendon is proud to serve on the Council with Pallet Foundation Chair Steve Yelland,
JFR Holdings, who recently attended its annual meeting in Blacksburg.
Together, NWPCA is increasing its working relationship with Virginia Tech by providing
industry insights for CNRE program development. Dean Paul Winistorfer said, "Looking
outward, not inward, is how the council functions."
"Volunteering on the Council allows me to give back by bringing real-life experiences to
the CNRE leadership," said Yelland. "ese insights can help the students be better prepared
to enter the workforce, and ultimately, help our industry in a positive way."