Industry News News
Numbers up for EWTA Info Fair in Tucson

Held in conjunction with the APA (the Engineered Wood Association) annual meeting, the Info Fair is regarded as the “premier supplier exhibition” for companies wanting to connect and network with key decision makers from North America’s leading engineered wood products manufacturers.

The Info Fair was established in 1993 and is organized and managed by EWTA (The Engineered Wood Technology Association), which is a related non-profit corporation of the APA.
“We’re expecting a great Info Fair this year,” says Terry Kerwood, EWTA managing director.  “Although the economy remains down, our exhibitor numbers are up considerably from last year.  This demonstrates, I think, the value of the show to U.S. and Canadian suppliers as a vehicle for reaching their North American structural wood panel and engineered wood customers.”

Kerwood says they have more than 50 exhibitors for this year’s fair, which is up considerably from the 40 exhibitors they had at last year’s event.  Participating vendors are product, equipment and service providers that are ready to showcase the latest in processing, scanning, and packaging technology.

While at the Info Fair, exhibitors aren’t tied to the booth as the organizers have scheduled exhibition open hours at strategic times that don’t conflict with the APA meetings. This allows the exhibitors to participate in other meeting events and provides adequate time for networking during the convention.

The APA Annual Meeting runs concurrently with the Info Fair and features a number of industry speakers and roundtable discussions. The keynote address will be delivered by Eric Belsky, managing director of Harvard’s Joint Centre for Housing Studies. Belsky is a nationally recognized scholar with experience in housing research, teaching and public policy.

Roundtable discussions include a number of timely topics, including, “What Builders Want Now: A View from the Street” and a session with Bob Flynn, director, international timber with RISI that will cover the global fibre market. Other speakers include Scott Sedam, president of TrueNorth Development, Wayne Trusty, president of the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, and APA market and research director Craig Adair, who will present his market forecast.

An all-day APA Safety and Health Workshop will also be offered following the meeting’s regular program.

The workshop is open to all APA and EWTA members and will provide “a great forum” for discussion about current safety issues at mills and the sharing of best practices in
industry safety.

Other events at the meeting include a golf tournament, which is sponsored by: Willamette Valley Company; Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc.; Arclin; and Raute. For those interested in racquet sports, Flamex is sponsoring an informal tennis tournament in memory of longtime sponsor and tournament organizer Ole Sorensen.

For more information, visit: engineeredwood.org and click on the Info Fair link.