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Seminars Give Edge to Small Hardwood Manufacturers
The NAHB Research Center and the USDA Forest Service is hosting a series of one-day seminars on “Gaining a Competitive Advantage: Insights for Smaller-sized and Start-up Eastern Hardwood Manufacturers” to help hardwood manufacturers learn about and effectively respond to emerging product-demand trends.
The first of the seminars is being held in Princeton, W.Va., on Jan. 16, followed by seminars in Asheville, N.C. on March 24 and in Williamsport, Pa. on April 4.
The seminars are aimed at smaller-sized and start-up manufacturers of eastern hardwood products — from primary producers to secondary manufacturers.
Participants will receive specialized market-trend data collected by the NAHB Research Center annually through its Builder Practices and Consumer Practices surveys, demonstrating the usefulness of this highly relevant, market-trend information to audiences that may not have access to it.
Seminar participants will also learn how to use new product development and commercialization tools recently developed by the Research Center with support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) program. These tools help manufacturers and service providers develop new products and successfully bring them into the marketplace.
Manufacturers will also learn about the importance of diversification, which enables them to serve suppliers more effectively because they can respond to market shifts in demand both toward and away from their main product offering. This includes understanding how overseas competition is supplying the domestic marketplace.
For more information about the seminars or to make a reservation to attend one of them, e-mail Ronda Oglesby at the Research Center, or call her at 301-430–6262.
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