Shelburne Wood Shop Wins New Federal Grant To Further Innovative Efforts To Help Increase Value Of Vermont Wood Products....Project Should Boost Vermont's Rural Timber-Dependent Communities

September 28, 1999

(September 28) -- A team of Shelburne woodworkers has secured a new $220,000 federal grant to continue their innovative efforts to expand the market for -- and increase the worth of -- low-value timber.

Sen. Patrick Leahy had urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to award the new federal grant to the woodworking shop of Bruce Beeken and Jeff Parsons, two enterprising woodworkers who have operated a business in Shelburne since 1983. Beeken/Parsons will use the grant to begin production of their "character wood" furniture. Nearly two-thirds of Vermont hardwoods is classified as "low-value" sawtimber because it contains knots or blemishes, so enhancing the value of that wood could be a significant boost for Vermont's $1.2 billion forest products industry. The woodworking duo have led a research and marketing effort to change the perception of "low-value" wood by arguing that its flaws actually make it as appealing as the "character wood" that is used in high-value furniture and crafts.

The Beeken/Parsons project opens up a novel way to help rural communities that have suffered a dramatic decline in timber and wood manufacturing jobs during the last decade. Current markets for low-grade wood provide the community with little economic sustenance, but by using that wood in high-value furniture production that can fetch a larger return, the value of that low grade wood can increase by up to 150 percent.

With the new funds from the Agriculture Department, Beeken/Parsons plan to develop new techniques to use "character wood" as well as work with wood product and marketing businesses in Vermont to open new markets for landowners and manufacturers.

"This project is an ingenious way to marry the twin goals of improving the economic and environmental health of timber-dependent towns in northern Vermont," said Leahy. "Their vision, along with this federal aid, can help re-energize Vermont's forest products industry."

The project was also strongly supported by Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. Jim Jeffords and the U.S. Forest Service. The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) underwrote the development of the grant program. The VSJF funding was administered by the Richford Economic Advancement Corporation.

Local contact: Jeff Parsons at 985-2913.