SAF Learning
Developing and Improving your Urban Wood Business
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- Non-member - $15
- Member - $10
Webinar information
Creating a small business is always a challenge. For urban wood enthusiasts, that challenge is even more pronounced. Enterprising urban wood workers navigate to find locally-sourced wood; haul fallen logs to their workshop; sort the logs by species; acquire and operate equipment to saw, dry, and mill the wood into slabs or lumber; and market their products - from slabs to furniture - to generate a steady flow of customers.
This panel of four urban wood professionals will share their stories of how they established and refined their business model to operate in the black year after year.
Panelists
Ned Gearing - Owner, Rocktown Urban Wood - Harrisonburg, VA
Kevin Svara - Carpenter, Contractor, and Designer; Svara Restoration - Durham, NC
Phil Long - Owner, Bee Tree Hardwoods - Swannanoa, NC
Jennifer Alger - Co-owner and President, Far West Forest Products - Olivehurst, CA
Is this webinar for you?
This webinar is intended for arborists, urban foresters, landscape architects, and wood processing specialists. It is additionally intended for those in pursuit of starting an urban wood business or just wanting to learn more about the urban wood movement. Anyone who has a love for urban, salvaged, and reclaimed wood will also benefit by learning more about the unique business structure that is growing across the United States.
Registration
1. Click REGISTER to the right of the webinar title. Be sure to log in with your SAF account username and password.
2. After checking out, the webinar will be available on your MY DASHBOARD page here on ForestEd.
For group registrations or registering someone other than yourself please contact membership@safnet.org or 202-938-3910.
Pricing
SAF and UWN Member: $10
Non-member: $15
UWN Members will receive a promotion code through the UWN listserv, to use for registering at the SAF member price of $10.
Join SAF TODAY to take advantage of the growing member benefits, including course savings, free community of interest webinars, and more. Affiliate membership is now available!
Webinar access
The webinar was live on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 1 pm ET.
The archived recording of the webinar is available for viewing through March 13, 2025 at 11:59 pm ET.
Access this webinar within the Contents tab (to the right of the Overview information).
Webinar duration
The duration of this webinar is 1 hour 30 minutes.
Learning objectives
Upon successful completion of this webinar, you will be able to:
1. Explain how external factors (e.g., storms, insects/disease, politics, covid, economy, etc.) influence a business owner's access to urban wood.
2. Identify how to prioritize custom order projects when attending to multiple customers at once.
3. Explain how someone can manage multiple urban wood projects based on wood type and wood processing completion steps.
4. Discuss methods for scaling up an urban wood business.
Rubric
Successful completion of the webinar is measured by participating in the entire webinar and completing the evaluation.
Evaluation
Participant feedback is appreciated to help the presenters and webinar partner continually improve webinars for future programming.
CFEs
Upon successful completion of this webinar, you will earn 1.5 CFEs in Category 1. CFEs will automatically be added to your CFE record located on www.eforester.org by the end of the day (11:59 pm ET).
ISA certification holders can also earn CEUs. This program is approved by ISA for 1.5 CEUs in the following categories: Certified Arborist, Utility Specialist, Municipal Specialist, Aerial Lift Specialist, BMCA Management, and BMCA Climber Specialist.
To receive any credit, you will need to pass a short quiz.
For ISA pre-approved webinars, SAF will report ISA CEU completions on a monthly basis for ISA CEU approved programs.
Certificate
Upon successful completion of this webinar and the evaluation, participants may download and print a certificate verifying completion of the webinar and earning SAF CFEs. CFE certificates will only be available until March 14, 2025 at 12:00 am ET.
Return to Webinar
Once you are registered for the webinar, access this webinar within your MY DASHBOARD. Prior to the start time, the webinar will be listed under "Upcoming Live Events."
Following the day of the webinar, you can return to download your certificate and watch the archived recording by accessing the webinar information within the general listing of YOUR DASHBOARD for 12 months following the webinar. The webinar product will become inaccessible on March 14, 2025 at 12:00 am ET.
Need Help?
For ForestEd questions, visit FAQs, email ForestEdSupport@safnet.org, or check out the registration quick tips in the Handouts tab. For technical assistance and questions about this webinar, email ForestEdSupport@safnet.org.
Refund
This is a non-refundable item. Please view FAQs for additional information.
Ned Gearing
Owner
Rocktown Urban Wood
Ned Gearing owns Rocktown Urban Wood in Harrisonburg, VA. He uses only locally sourced wood to design and construct products that have benefitted homeowners and municipalities alike. Additionally, he sells live edge slabs to individuals wanting to pursue their own woodworking products and even provides kiln drying services for individuals who need to treat their own urban wood. As a small business owner with multiple years of success under his belt, Ned is poised to help you learn the best way to approach your own urban wood business and sustain it well into the future.
Kevin Svara
Carpenter, Contractor, and Designer
Svara Restoration
Kevin Svara is a restoration carpenter based in Durham, NC. He comes from an environmental science and industrial design background, which he applied during work in field biological research in the U.S. and Amazonian Peru. Following those experiences, he began his work in restoration and contracting, becoming a carpenter-builder whose business is a mix of historic home renovation and custom carpentry. In 2017, he began renting space to dry and later mill wood, and is now able to produce kiln-dried lumber for his own carpentry/woodworking jobs as well as sell lumber to other carpenters and artisans.
Phil Long
Owner
Bee Tree Hardwoods
Phil Long owns Bee Tree Hardwoods in Swannanoa, NC. He initiated this business with his brother in 1998 and quickly became known as the local experts in wood processing of Appalachian hardwoods. Today, Phil and his family provide a variety of services: custom sawing, air drying, kiln drying and milling. He also offers up to 10 hardwood slab varieties for sale, attracting business from homeowners, contractors, woodworkers, and architects. To top it off, Phil has formal training in business management, making his knowledge and experience of keen importance to novice urban wood business owners.
Jennifer Alger
Co-owner and President
Far West Forest Products
Jennifer Alger is the Co-owner and President of Far West Forest Products in Olivehurst, CA. This company sells slabs of locally sourced hardwoods as well as salvaged and reclaimed wood. She helped start this business in response to managing and marketing her father's portable saw milling business. As a national leader within the Urban Wood Network, she led the process to establish certification standards for urban, salvaged, and reclaimed wood. This year she became a Board member of UWN to help it get established as a new non-profit.
Kathryn Reis (Moderator)
Conservation Educator Coordinator
Randolph County Soil and Water Conservation District
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