September 2020
North American Road Show Open House – Responses Requested
WMIA and WMMA, in partnership with IWF, are exploring the possibility of staging a North American Road Show Open House program in the fall of 2021. An important step in this exploration involves gaining your input on how the event could work for your business. Your answers to this brief survey will help guide next steps in developing the program—currently envisioned as follows:
- During a designated week, Association members and non-members would open their facilities to customers and prospects for product demonstrations, promotions and sales. Participating members and nonmembers would be charged a fee. The week-long timing would allow for the scheduling of multiple open house events in a single community.
- Companies with the larger space capacity would have the opportunity to offer smaller, non-competing companies—or companies without facilities—a “sublet” space option.
- A national marketing campaign promoting the North American Road Show Open House would build industry exposure and drive traffic to local events. Designed and executed by IWF, the campaign would target attendees nationally and locally. Registrants would select and be directed to local events with IWF assistance.
We would appreciate your response to this brief survey. Please respond no later than October 5, 2020.
IWF announces 5-day virtual trade show
IWF has announced a new online event, IWF Connect, which will be Monday, October 26 to Friday, October 30. IWF Connect is a new way for the woodworking industry to do business. This online tradeshow event will bring our industry together for 5 streamlined days of buying, selling, and experiencing new products and trends. Find exactly what you need to advance your business, and interact with exhibitors at your convenience.
For attendees, complimentary IWF Connect registration affords: Direct exhibitor access through live chat and meetings; Live product demonstrations; Webinars; Exclusive show-only pricing, and a custom show experience organized through the My IWF Connect Show Planner.
For exhibitors, the IWF Connect online exhibit hall delivers: Direct access to one of the woodworking industry’s largest audiences; A virtual booth brand showcase featuring images, videos, brochures, white papers, news releases and links; and a virtual New Product Gallery. Exhibitors will also have direct engagement with attendees via virtual business cards and email, qualified leads from booth visitors, a platform to stage live demonstrations, live Q&A sessions and to offer show specials, and social media and webinar options.
Registration for attendees is open now. Exhibitor invitations have been sent out by IWF. For more information, click here.
Virginia Tech Housing Report – July 2020
Virginia Tech – U.S. Forest Service has published its housing market commentaries for July 2020. These commentaries contain in-depth data and comments on the U.S. housing market.
The housing report is a free service of Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and the U.S. Forest Service. The reports are intended to help you gauge future business activity. All past housing reports are archived here.
To read past housing reports, click here.
That’s neat: World’s tallest wood building rising in Milwaukee
Construction of Ascent, a 25-story mass timber building, is underway in downtown Milwaukee. When completed the 284-foot residential complex will be the tallest wood tower in the world, rising 4 feet higher than a mix-used structure built in Brumunddal, Norway last year.
The $125 million building will feature a hybrid timber and concrete frame is being developed by New Land Enterpirses and Wiechman Enterprises. Laminated timber panels for the project are being manufactured in Austria and procured and managed by Swinerton Mass Timber of Portland, Ore. The building, designed by Korb + Associates Architects, will have 259 luxury apartments. Its interior will display the wooden columns and floor decks.
To read more, visit Woodworking Network.
Where Are They Now? Requests
To date, WMIA has awarded over $480,000 in financial support to students looking to continue their education in the wood industry. But once these scholarship recipients graduate, what happens to them? Do they stay in the industry or do they pursue another path? WMIA has recently begun profiling past scholarship recipients. We’re looking for more past recipients, so if you received a scholarship or know someone who has, please contact Olivia Mueting at [email protected].
Learn more about some of our past recipients by visiting here.
