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January 2010
Purdue University Student Chapter Advances Local Branding of Wood Products

"Support local wood products" is the slogan on the back of the most recent shirt from the Purdue University Student Chapter of the Forest Products Society, a club that is set on getting the word out about themselves and their parent industry. The chapter endeavors to be involved in the work of the Purdue Wood Research Lab and the industry in Indiana as a whole, visiting manufacturers and attending trade shows and conferences.

"Our fundraisers, especially our shirts, have been a great way of getting the message across," says current president Ethan Ehler. The club's shirts have shown wood uses, created awareness for the emerald ash borer, and challenged feasibility of alternative products. Ethan adds, "We do it in a fun way."

The club's best fundraiser to date has been the "Premium Indiana Hardwoods" certified cutting boards. These boards highlight Indiana industry's branding campaign and have gone through an evolution in design since 2007. The idea behind the boards is something that is educational, with the board comprised of nine of Indiana's most commercially valuable species glued together and labeled, promotional, using only quality wood and branding it as from Indiana, and functional, being of sound and sturdy construction that it could be used for a cutting board or hot pot trivet.

The cutting boards have also been an education for the club. Making them allows members to be a part of a production process and learn the properties of wood in a hands-on scenario. "Early on we had a lot of reject boards," says recent graduate Kyle Newman, "but we started implementing ideas of continuous improvement from our manufacturing classes and managed to cut our defects way back."

The club doesn't spend all their time in the lab. Last March they sacrificed their spring break to tour seven wood product related facilities in southern Indiana. Not to say that all their time was in a plant. The club stayed at an FPS member's cabin. There was time made for fishing and even a trek to Mammoth Cave. The year before they made it all the way to California and Oregon. "It was our west coast tree tour," says Daniel Warner, former President, "We went from the Sequoias in Yosemite to the Redwoods and on up to see the Spruce Goose, the largest wood product to ever fly." Last spring the club held their first boat show as a part of Purdue's Spring Fest. Over 20 wooden boats were showcased.

Visit Purdue University Student Chapter to learn more about this active FPS Chapter and see pictures of their T-shirts, cutting boards, wood boat show and other club activities.