Minnesota Wood Campaign offers help and hope for Northern Minnesota Businesses
Contact: Gary Winget, 651-223-5629, Gary@TrueNorthWoods.com, or visit the Campaign’s website at http://www.truenorthwoods.com/.
On November 30, 2007, the State of Minnesota released a dim economic forecast, projecting a $373 million deficit for the 2008-09 biennium. The signs of an economic decline continue all around us. We can’t help but notice that the housing market has severely cooled and jobs are being eliminated.
In a time when northern Minnesota’s wood producers face evermore challenges marketing their products, one supportive group is getting ready to ramp up its promotion program for Minnesota forest products as well as its membership for 2008. The Minnesota Wood Campaign, organized in 2003, currently has over 140 general and branded members throughout central and northern Minnesota. But there are many more such businesses that could benefit from their market promotion programs.
The Campaign developed the True North Woods® certification brand to enable its members to market their products as local and sustainable and position themselves as part of the growing Green Movement. The brand assures consumers that the products they purchase are made by people who care about their work and the forests, and are produced from materials that originated in the sustainably managed and harvested forests of central and northern Minnesot.
“The weakening of the housing construction industry and the prospects of a sluggish economy over the next year have made it even more important for artisans, producers, and manufacturers in the forest products industry to band together. We can help them aggressively market the unique traits of our northern wood species and the quality craftsmanship that goes into the products our members produce,” says Gary Winget, general manager of the Campaign.
The Minnesota Wood Campaign is launching its annual month-long membership drive on February 15. Artisans, primary and secondary producers, and manufacturers who produced products from materials that originate in Minnesota’s central and northern forests are invited to join the Campaign.
“The Campaign’s aggressive marketing program” noted John Rajala, president of the Campaign, “promotes the region’s True North Woods® certification brand, and its members’ products bearing that brand, to discerning consumers, architects, builders, and others that value high-quality, locally, and sustainably produced products.”
Persons interested in more information about the Campaign may contact the Campaign’s marketing office at 1-888-223-5629, email
