Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/801657
palletcentral.com PalletCentral • January-February 2017 13 President & CEO of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities – a $200 million entity created out of the Canada/US Softwood Lumber Agreement 2006 – with a mission to support sustainable forestry and forest-reliant communities in the United States. He is a former Executive Director of the Sustainable Forestry Board, Inc. and Vice President of Forest Policy, Champion International Corporation. Among his achievements is "Acres for America" – a first-of-its-kind program to off-set development acre- for-acre with conservation. The program linked the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation with Wal-Mart in a $35-million, ten-year commitment that has already helped conserve nearly 1 million acres in the United States. Michael Ritter is the Assistant Director for Wood Products Research at the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. In this position, Mike provides program leadership and oversight for several units conducting research in the areas of wood anatomy, wood engineering and properties, biodeterioration of wood, protection from decay, fire engineering, building sciences, statistics and the evaluation of life cycle assessments and the economics of wood utilization. Insurance: Industry Trends, Managing Risk, and FAQ Three insurance industry experts join us on a panel to share and guide NWPCA members as they tackle new challenges in their insurance coverages and address the most common FAQ facing the wood packaging industry. Panelists: Dennis P. Bilancia, Vice President/Account Director, Property & Casualty, Marsh & McLennan Agency; Bradley Van Swol, Hays Companies Insurance/Risk Management; Benefits and Rob Gaylord, Connor & Gallagher Entering the Trump Era: Opportunities and Risks for the Economy and Key Markets Back by popular demand, economist Lynn Michaelis joins us to identify and then provide insights in areas that will impact industrial production and your business. Some specific topics of interest include the outlook for labor availability (the impact of automation and immigration), and also finance and trade policy issues under a Trump administration. A few key takeaways include: • The U.S. economy should continue to do well over the next few years, given the starting point. Policy actions have helped heal the financial system and the consumer situation looks solid. Issues like employment and labor force growth will be addressed. • The tax cuts and regulatory reform discussed during the Presidential campaign will be a boost for the business sector. A rebound in business capital expenditures have some very positive long-term benefits as well. • Several international factors, such as exchange rates and trade policy that will be crucial to the likely growth in industrial production, will be highlighted. Lynn Michaelis has nearly 40 years' experience in the forest products industry. Most of the experience was with Weyerhaeuser Co., where Lynn was the Chief Economist and Vice President, Marketing and Economic Research for over 20 years. In this capacity, Lynn led a team of economists and market research analysts covering every aspect of the industry that was important to Weyerhaeuser. This included timber, wood products, containerboard, pulp and paper, plus housing issues which were crucial to their real estate companies. Lynn has managed several special strategic review teams, including the Oregon Lumber Optimization Review (after the Willamette acquisition) and several international investment projects related to Uruguay and New Zealand. Lynn believes that helping business executives deepen their understanding of the markets and helping them develop strategic responses to changing industry conditions is the primary goal for his work. Global Insights: Business Trends and Trade Policy Impacts Uncertainty on trade policy is rising with Brexit and changes in the U.S. administration. Panelists to cover the global developments that are going to affect international trade, your customers, and this industry. The session will be moderated by economist Lynn Michaelis and includes the following panelists: Fons Ceelaert, FEFPEB; Dean Roderick, Rodpak Pty Ltd; John Dye, Scotts Pallets; Cliff Johnson, National Journal. The tax cuts and regulator y reform discussed during the Presidential campaign will be a boost for the business sector. A rebound in business capital expenditures have some ver y positive long-term benefits as well. —Lynn Michaelis, Strategic Economic Analysis