The Northern Softwood Lumber Bureau (NSLB) has merged into the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA).
The NELMA name will remain in place to represent mills and associate members located in both regions.
“We are very excited to join forces with the Northern Softwood Lumber Bureau and welcome their members into NELMA. We look forward to working with them to extend NELMA programs across the Great Lakes area,” said Jeff Easterling, president of NELMA. “To address specific needs of our new members, a Red Pine Subcommittee will be added to the NELMA structure, with a kick-off meeting to be scheduled for early spring.”
Both associations enjoy an existing long-standing relationship, as NELMA has provided inspection services for the NSLB since 1985.
NELMA’s region now includes mills in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. (Worth noting: NELMA’s export wood packaging program reaches currently as far west as North Dakota.)
As a result of the merger, NSLB members will have access to marketing programs and industry support not available before. NSLB members produce approximately half a billion board feet of lumber production, with Red Pine the dominant species of the Great Lakes states region but also includes Eastern Spruce, Balsam Fir, Jack Pine, and Eastern White Pine.
The Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NELMA) is a non-profit trade organization that has represented the softwood lumber industry located in the New England and Mid-Atlantic states since 1933.
