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PalletCentral • January-February 2023 15 created and spearheaded by the NWPCA Industry Marketing Committee to help communicate what the EPD is, what it means for the wood packaging sector, and the importance of the EPD in your business. e video has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube and other social media channels. As our global community grows, so do our communication efforts with translations (Spanish & French) and accessibility on PalletFoundation.org, NaturesPackaging.org, and GlobalWoodPackaging. org. For 2023, the staff is refreshing PalletCentral. com and PalletDesignSystem.com websites. Expanding Our Mexico Membership Base e Capítulo Mexicano de la NWPCA was launched in March 2022 during the NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference. e Capítulo (Chapter) was a member-driven initiative with support from our Board and members in Mexico, where we're seeing membership grow by 70% and social media channels increasing nearly 400% in 2022. Staff published 12 editions of the Boletín, and readership grew by 42% in 2022. e NWPCA hosted its first event in Mexico. e Conferencia de la Industria Mexicana del Embalaje de Madera in Monterrey was a rounding success and sold out in advance. Plans for the September 5-6, 2023, event in Guadalajara have begun. NWPCA signed an agreement with the University of Monterrey (UDEM) to teach Mexican packaging and sustainability engineering students how to use PDS. Training modules and videos to support our Mexico Chapter are ongoing. On January 1, 2023, Hilary Carr, PhD, joined NWPCA staff as Senior Director, México & LATAM, to strengthen communications and further grow the sector in Mexico. Advocating For Your Business NWPCA, empowered and aided by the PalletPAC, hosted Members of Congress at NWPCA-member facilities for plant tours. Each tour provides an opportunity for these Representatives to see firsthand what a facility looks like and the industry's critical role within the supply chain. In conjunction with the NWPCA Fall Plant Tours, Heart Wood Products hosted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Congressman Rick Allen. donating high-quality material necessary for testing. Kristen DeLack noted that "the preliminary results are exciting because they indicate that we may be able to generalize them to cover proprietary self- drilling screws. is will greatly expand the options for designing heavy skids using PDS." Staff commitment to training and education in packaging design is unwavering. NWPCA's partnership with the Packaging School has allowed us to expand our online (on-demand) learning platform. Access to these courses is a free benefit for PDS license holders. Two new training courses (English & Spanish) were released: "PDS 101: A Journey Begins" and "Unit Load Design & Analysis for Sheet Goods." e "Unit Load Design & Analysis" course was introduced last year. Short courses at Virginia Tech continue. For Kristen, a highlight of the year was delivering an advanced PDS training course along with Brad Gething, PhD and Laszlo Horvath (CPULD Director) at Virginia Tech. Nearly four dozen industry professionals participated in the training in person and online. Look for more courses in the spring and fall of 2023. e PDS v6.5 release earlier in 2022 includes flush deck stringer pallets. PDS can create a smooth or flush surface on the top or bottom decks of stringer pallets. ere were also minor improvements, such as extended deckboard overhang limit, mat fastener length verification, and more deckboards for stringer pallets. e most significant achievement of 2022 was the completion and release of Unit Load for Drums and Pails. PDS v6.6 wraps up the trilogy of unit load analysis tools, including corrugated boxes and sheet goods. As the PDS team continues to deliver the best possible experience for our users, they listen to PDS users' feedback and conduct their research and analysis. Improving How We Communicate Communications are a critical part of NWPCA and your business. As you share your brand story and marketing messages, NWPCA works to create content that complements your efforts. Last year saw much critical messaging on how wood wins, how wooden pallets are better for the environment, and how wooden pallets are the preferred shipping platform in the supply chain. On Earth Day 2022, NWPCA created a social media campaign around the environmental product declaration (EPD). An "EPD Explainer" video was Mike Hachtman, 48forty Solutions, NWPCA past chair; Carolyn Beach, Westside Pallet, NWPCA board chair; Brent McClendon, NWPCA president/ CEO; Fernando López Bello, Losifra, president of the Capítulo; Hilary Carr, NWPCA senior director, Mexico & Latin America; María José Martínez, El Martillo, vice president of the Capítulo.

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