Performing Department
School of Forest Resources
Non Technical Summary
Maine is one of the states most dependent on a strong forest products sector and recently there have been significant setback with the closure of five pulp mills as well as reduced capacity at several other production facilities in the state. This proposed project will identify Maine's forest product market capabilities and competitiveness, and quantify future potential markets, which are needed to develop a Vision & Roadmap for Maine's future forest products economy. A comprehensive and strategic roadmap is crucial for attracting capital investment to create new, and retain and expand existing, forest products businesses. In particular, the University of Maine will: (1) Identify the current and emerging forest products markets where Maine is likely to be most competitive; (2) Complete a competitive analysis benchmarking study comparing Maine to other forest industry states, and provinces and countries where appropriate (e.g. wood fiber availability and cost, cost of energy, workforce development, environmental review and permitting, taxation, transportation, and state economic development incentives.) This study will build on previous benchmarking efforts and identify necessary changes that can make Maine forest products more competitive; and (3) Conduct a Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results (SOAR) analysis of forest sectors, communities, and capital investors in Maine. For Maine companies to be sustained, understanding their business needs and ideas about future opportunities is an important element in preparing a roadmap forward. Completion of these objectives will provide the necessary and key elements needed to help strengthen and diversify Maine's forest product sector.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
To attract the capital investment needed to capture emerging opportunities, Maine must develop a strong vision and roadmap to the future. Other regions of the world that are significant players in the growing global forest products economy (such as Sweden, Finland, Europe, New Zealand, and several Canadian provinces) have developed comprehensive strategic plans to attract capital investment to their forest products sector. If Maine wants to position itself for future economic development in this sector, it also must develop a comprehensive vision, identify specific markets where it can be successful in the future, understand its advantages in capturing these markets, as well as clearly defining the challenges and obstacles that must be overcome to make the vision a reality. Such a plan will need to identify what specific actions are needed in the near-, mid-, and long-term to achieve the overall vision.The specific goal of this project is to identify Maine's forest product market capabilities and competitiveness, and quantify future potential markets, which are needed to develop a Vision & Roadmap for Maine's future forest products economy. A comprehensive and strategic roadmap is crucial for attracting capital investment to create new, and retain and expand existing, forest products businesses. In particular, the University of Maine will: (1) Identify the current and emerging forest products markets where Maine is likely to be most competitive; (2) Complete a competitive analysis benchmarking study comparing Maine to other forest industry states, and provinces and countries where appropriate (e.g. wood fiber availability and cost, cost of energy, workforce development, environmental review and permitting, taxation, transportation, and state economic development incentives.) This study will build on previous benchmarking efforts and identify necessary changes that can make Maine forest products more competitive; and (3) Conduct a Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results (SOAR) analysis of forest sectors, communities, and capital investors in Maine. For Maine companies to be sustained, understanding their business needs and ideas about future opportunities is an important element in preparing a roadmap forward. Completion of these objectives will provide the necessary and key elements needed to help strengthen and diversify Maine's forest product sector.
Project Methods
This proposal and work plan are part of a larger effort to develop a comprehensive Vision & Roadmap for Maine's forest product sector. The larger effort is a multi-year, multi-phase project with three core elements and a final synthesis/integration piece that would provide specific recommendations for the sector in terms of future opportunities, favorable practices and policies, and next steps.For this specific work plan, the initial phase for each of the primary core project elements would be completed. These three core project elements are the: (1) Forest Products Market Analysis; (2) Forest Benchmarking and (3) Forest Industry Sub-Sector Analysis. Each of these core elements would have Team Leaders with specific deliverables and be coordinated by project PI Weiskittel. Each core project element is briefly described below. The Forest Products Market Analysis will assess past (<10 years), current, and future prospects for the forest products industry to better understand potential demand and market niche. This will be accomplished by compiling and assessing existing economic data, completing interviews with industry experts, and conducting projections based upon current and possible market conditions. Based upon these data, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges for each market sector will be identified and discussed. This will provide a simple analytical model capable of estimating broad outcomes under alternative scenarios/pathways for Maine forest product industries as well as a synthesis of where Maine operators stand to be most competitive in a global market under alternative futures.Forest Benchmarking will assess the current operating climate of Maine by evaluating a wide range of metrics important to the forest products industry in Maine. This effort will build upon existing work that compares Maine to other paper industry states using a number of metrics. For this analysis, additional benchmarks relevant to the other forest products industries sectors will be developed in conjunction to electricity cost, wood availability and taxation. These will include transportation (road, rails and water) infrastructure, distance to market, supply chain infrastructure, workforce, research and development funding, and other items that may be of interest to particular or all sectors of Maine's current and future forest industry. This benchmarking will assess Maine regionally, nationally, and internationally to better understand the market opportunities and challenges at a range of scales. This effort will focus on the most likely competing regions relevant to each key forest product industry sector. The primary deliverable from this analysis will be a detailed report on the current and potential forest products market that will be of wide interest from the state's forest industry, policy makers, investors, and potential industries.The Forest Industry Sub-Sector Analysis will enhance economic development by informing the visioning and strategic planning process using a detailed assessment of the strengths, opportunities, challenges, and outcomes for two of the seven primary sub-sectors (landowners, loggers, transportation, sawmills, pulp & paper mills, bioenergy, and capital investors) making up Maine's forest-based economy. We will focus this investigation on pulp & paper mill and capital investor sub-sectors because they are key to understanding recent and future economic trends in the forest products industry. Information and methods developed from this initial effort will be expanded (using other funding sources) to the remaining sub-sectors for a full understanding of all sub-sectors. Following initial contact with the pulp & paper mill and capital investor sub-sectors, a detailed interview and engagement process will be conducted with sub-sector gatekeepers and key sector participants. Participant responses will be compiled, analyzed, and shared with all of the primary sub-sectors for additional follow-up. Primary deliverables from this initial phase would be: (1) documentation of strengths, aspirations, opportunities, and outcomes for two of the seven primary subsectors in Maine's forest industry; (2) list of action items for next steps with revised procedures based on experience with initial phase; and (3) an understanding/diagram of sub-sector perceptions and future visions for Maine's forestry industry.