Newsletter - Uncategorized

The Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) Board of Directors has appointed Eric Gee to serve as Executive Director. Eric succeeds Tami Kessler, who retired after a 44-year career with the association.       Eric began his wood industry career in Jackson, Mississippi with James M. Vardaman & Company where he worked as a consulting forester. He joined […]

The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB or Board) seeks nominations of softwood lumber manufacturers and importers interested in candidacy for Board seats coming open in January 2022. Each Director will serve a three-year term and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The deadline for nominations is April 20, 2021. The SLB is seeking nominees […]

After serving the southern pine industry for nearly 45 years with the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA), Tami Kessler will retire on April 2, 2021.  Tami began her life-long career with SFPA after graduating from Soule Business College in December 1976, joining the association as Secretary to the Forest Resource Division. Her path to Executive Director began as she moved into SFPA’s Accounting Department following the retirement of Elsie Wichterich. In […]

SFPA has recently welcomed a new staff member, Alaina Hanson, CPA, who was brought on board October 5 to fulfill the position of Director of Administration. A graduate of Syracuse University, Alaina moved to New Orleans in 2008 to begin her career as a designer. Torn between starting her own business and returning to school, […]

Harold Maxwell, Group VP Temple-Inland over Building Products, and former SFPA Chairman – 1988, passed away unexpectedly Sunday, May 17, 2020. Under Harold’s dedicated leadership, the SFPA enjoyed a year full of notable progress and accomplishments. From the incorporation of SFPA design values into the British Standards to global markets opening up for Southern Pine […]

In an effort to preserve stock and strengthen the supply chain, Robert D. Taylor, Sr., President of Taylor is proposing that the United States Government provide a 12- to 18-month interest-free and principle-free floorplan arrangement for manufacturers. Similar plans are regularly available to car dealerships, equipment dealerships, and other retail outlets, while manufacturers must use […]

Former SFPA Chairman and industry leader John Carmack Shealy, Sr. passed away Sunday, April 19. 2020. A graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a degree in forestry, John worked for many years in the timber industry and retired from Willamette Industries as Vice President of the Southern Division in 1997. As an active member of […]

Congratulations to Fritz Mason on being named the Timber Processing 2020 Person of the Year by Timber Processing Magazine.  Mason is the President and General Manager of Georgia Pacific. Deeply analytic and passionate, Mason was selected based on the award’s criteria: leadership within the individual’s own company, and leadership within the industry at large. Mason […]

Lumber Manufacturer Any individual, corporation, partnership or association engaged in the  U.S. domestic manufacture  of Southern Pine lumber whether from the log or from rough green, and shipped whether treated or untreated, from all the Member’s plants, irrespective of the destination of such shipments (including member’s shipments to a member’s distribution center).  Dues are paid […]

Raised Wood Floor Foundations Although the majority of housing starts in the U.S. occur in the South, about 66% of all homes in this region utilize slab-on-grade construction. SFPA’s promotional objective is to convince consumers, professional designers, planners, code and government officials that, in flood-prone areas, raised wood floor foundations represent a safer and equally […]