Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/739842
2016 NWPCA Annual Repor t Released Y ou spoke and we listened. Look for the NWPCA Annual Report which was recently sent out to members, and is available at PalletCentral.com. The annual report shows the outstanding initial results from implementation of the NWPCA strategic plan. As you will see, we have significantly expanded our advocacy efforts on your behalf. Together we have conducted Congressional mill tours and visits to Members of Congress on Capitol Hill; achieved key wins on legislation and helped shape model fire codes to enhance safety and protect your ability to manage your business operations. Our web presence is growing and we are committed to continuously improve PalletCentral.com to ensure the website remains the single source for the wood packaging industry. You've also seen the beginnings of ground-breaking research for the Pallet Design System™ (PDS) and unit loads, and impressive collaboration with Virginia Tech. A new agreement with the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory has the association also working on Environmental Product Declarations for wood pallets. Let's also not forget about the collaborative effort on Nature's Packaging™ developed with the support of The Pallet Foundation, CWCPA, NWPCA and the WPA. Thanks to you we are off to a great start, but we know there is much more to do. Fire Code NWPCA continues to advocate for the implementation of best practices for fire prevention at wooden pallet and container manufacturing, and recycling facilities. In preparation for the next International Code Council (ICC) meeting in Kansas City, Missouri from October 19-25, 2016 and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 3-4, 2016, the Chair of the NWPCA Standards Committee, Jordan Piland of Atlas Pallets, convened a meeting in Washington, DC at NWPCA headquarters. We have laid a solid foundation over the past two years, and are coming into important meetings where standards for the ICC and NFPA will be voted on. The preparation for these meetings are critical to the outcome for the wooden pallet industry and the fire safety of your employees and first responders. Attending the industry meeting in Washington DC were Brent McClendon (NWPCA), Dr. Brad Gething (NWPCA), Patrick Atagi (NWPCA), Jordan Piland (Chair, NWPCA Standards Committee), Mike Mullin (Brambles/CHEP), Don Shandy (Crowe & Dunlevy), Ken Fields (Fleishmann Hillard) and fire code consultants Bob Davidson (Davidson Code Concepts LLC) and Bill Koffel (Koffel Associates). To date we have provided you updates as to what has occurred. In this PalletCentral article, we thought it would be helpful to know the detailed process we go through prior to these meetings. On August 18, 2016 the industry meeting participants covered the following: • Preparation for public comments that may be submitted and development of appropriate responses. • Preparation for discussion and information/background/ technical data needed to respond to formal statements. • Reviewed and prepared presentation materials for the ICC and NFPA committee meetings. Future Work Plan: 2017 NWPCA Safety Summit and potential regional meetings to focus on fire safety. There is a lot of thought, preparation, and strategy that goes into these meetings. NWPCA takes care of many of these details as your representative in Washington, DC and beyond. That being said, we could not do this without member support, resources, and input into the process. We appreciate those of you who have contributed to this process and members for their support of NWPCA through their membership. 8 PalletCentral • September-October 2016 palletcentral.com INSIDE NWPCA N W P C A A N N O U N C E M E N T S A N D U P C O M I N G E V E N T S