CEO STORY | HARDWOOD HERALD SEPT 2026

I enjoyed attending the IWF Show in Atlanta this August. It's a great way to be present with so many important people in our great industry, from customers to equipment manufacturers, material suppliers, and more.

CFP had over 140 important customers and partners attend an appreciation event in Atlanta on Tuesday evening. Additionally, we had many scheduled and impromptu meetings on the show floor.

When we get back from such an experience, we are full of interesting thoughts – discussions we had, things we saw and heard, ideas that were shared and so much more.

Workforce Education is something we heard a lot about at IWF, and it is bound to be a big theme at the upcoming NBMDA Conference. Many partners discussed retirements and the hiring of our “next generation’. Training this next generation on the complexities of hardwood plywood will be key to ensuring continued success for everyone.

We at Columbia could not agree more.

Columbia Forest Products will turn 70 years old in 2027. As a leading plywood manufacturer with seven decades of knowledge to share, we're putting more options on the table for you and your teams to learn or refresh the product and industry knowledge they’ve already developed.

In this issue of the Hardwood Herald, you’ll read about two new online CEU’s (one in a convenient audio podcast form); our classic CFP University Online, and the CFP Select program, where you and your customers can virtually join us at the Grading Station at our Chatham facility to inspect and discuss stacks of face veneer.

Of course, you are always encouraged to visit our mills, where even more “hands-on” learning and conversations can occur. We even have a curated stack of 400+ face veneers in Old Fort that we can flip through if that would be helpful!

And if you find yourself visiting Oregon or North Carolina soon, you’ll be able to see some of our strategic capacity investments coming into play… a state-of-the-art Meinan lathe in Klamath Falls, and a new UV line in Old Fort.

We hope you, your families, and teams have a relaxing and fruitful Autumn.