Industry presence/growth
Join more than 343 wood processors and
15,600 employees in the industry, which
is the state’s third largest manufacturing
employer, exceeded only by primary/fabricated
metals and chemicals.
West Virginia ranked ninth in wood
industry share of total state employment
in 2004 and fourth in wood industry
share of total GSP in 2003.
Join such national industry
leaders as:
Labor
Take advantage of the state’s
large supply – more than 45,000:
- trained team assemblers
- cabinetmakers and bench carpenters
- carpenters and woodworkers
- sawing machine setters and operators
Affordability of the work force is
ensured. The average industry wage in
West Virginia is 80 percent of the average
wage in the competing states and 78
percent of the national average.
State productivity is revealed in the
fact that West Virginia ranked 10th
nationally in wood industry GSP per
capita in 2003 and seventh in wood industry
GSP per worker.
Technology
The
West Virginia Wood Technology Center
in Elkins offers a wide range of training
and certification programs in advanced
wood manufacturing technologies on state
of the art, computerized equipment and
partners with neighboring Fairmont
State University in offering an associate
degree in Wood Production Technology.
The Center also provides incubator space
for wood product startup companies and
offers machine rental time on its equipment
to incubator tenants as well as area wood
businesses in general.
Associate degree programs in forestry/forest
technology are also offered at:
Baccalaureate through doctoral degree
programs in forest management are offered
at:
Professional assistance to forest businesses
is available through:
Raw materials
West Virginia’s 12 million acres
of forestland and 75 billion board feet
of timber inventory form the basis of
a thriving wood industry. As one of
the top wood-producing states in the
nation, West Virginia outputs more than
700 million board feet of lumber, 770
million square feet of OSB and 800 million
square feet of veneer annually. The
state ranks third nationally in percentage
of forested land at 79 percent.
Profitability
Cash in on a profit margin averaging
5.2 percentage points higher, based
on a comparative analysis of operating
costs and profitability for a typical
value-added wood products establishment
in West Virginia, as compared to our
competitor states.
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