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In this Week's Pellet Wire:
From the Director's Desk:
A Look at May Data
In a week and a half, I’ll be making a whistle-stop tour through Michigan and Indiana to meet with members, retailers, and prospective members. The “Chairman’s Tour” was an idea of member and former PFI chairman Don Wagner, who organized a tour of Pennsylvania and New York pellet manufacturers during my first year as the Executive Director. Without question, these trips and time inside of member facilities are my favorite days of my professional year. Seeing operating pellet facilities reminds me of why this industry is so vital. First and foremost are the people working in the plant. I always enjoy observing the collegial aspect of plant teams, as many really do feel like work families. Plants are busy places. Things are happening. Inbound raw material trucks are presenting at plant scales, truck dumpers raise and lower and forklifts fill trucks with outbound orders headed to market. I also enjoy seeing how plants do what they do. What equipment is new? Where are investments being made? I even enjoy seeing the brands and bag art for the various products.
I’ll be traveling September 13-16 beginning in Holland, Michigan to see Michigan Wood Fuels. I’ll cross into Indiana to see current PFI chairman Cory Schrock at his family’s Fiber By-Products facility and wrap up my trip in Indianapolis at the Easy Heat Wood Pellets operation. We’ll make some stops at pellet retailers along the way but I’d welcome a few suggestions for other plants, feedstock partners, or retailers in the area.
Finally, I’ll have an opportunity to do some plant photography, something I haven’t been able to do for quite some time. Having good photography on hand is vital in our ongoing efforts to tell the story of our sector. The axiom “seeing is believing” could really be amended to “seeing is understanding”. We can talk all day about how we are an important off-taker for manufacturing residuals, but one photograph of a fiber yard full to the brim with hills of residuals is far more effective.
I’m looking forward to getting back out there.
Chairman’s Tour – 2019 Lignetics of Maine in Strong, Maine was a stop on my last official Chairman’s Tour. Seeing plants and seeing how they are situated in their communities is a unique perspective that can only be obtained by actually getting out there. (Photo: Tim Portz)
—Tim Portz
Executive Director
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Send Us Photos! Help us build a collection of photos of our members, their pellets mills, and product! Send images to Tim Portz at [email protected].
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Please get in touch with Tim Portz via email at [email protected] with information on your company's growth, job openings, promotions, or other news.
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