It is a new year and a time for reflection and anticipation for the year to come. During 2023 VFA made great strides in several areas within our organization to facilitate the needs of our membership. These efforts included changes in our volunteer leadership structure, as well as our membership and dues structure. The all-new Forest Leadership Retreat was a great success, and plans for the second annual retreat are well in the works. Our Advocacy Fund proved to be successful with the results of the past couple of years and is now more important than ever with the changes we have seen in our state government. It has been long recognized that VFA needed to adjust our dues structure to account for inflation and the increased costs of doing business since the pandemic. Additionally, the volunteer leadership structure needed to be changed to ensure our members are getting the best value for their money. We revamped the Advisory Council to consist of smaller Segment Advisories Councils that match our membership structure to ensure the needs and issues our members face are recognized and brought to the Board of Directors’ attention. These new councils will also aid in determining the direction of our strategic plan. Our Segment Councils consist of the Landownership Council, Harvesting and Transportation Council, Forest Management and Consulting Council, and the Wood Manufacturing Council. Each council consists of five members plus a board liaison who reports back to VFA’s directors at our three board meetings per year. The new structure encourages participation and action by our volunteers as well as our talented staff. Our first Forest Leadership Retreat, held in September 2023, was a huge success. The speakers were very insightful, provoking participants to consider new ideas for meeting the challenges and opportunities the forest products industry faces. I am sure Chair Steven Peter and the organizing committee are using feedback from this past program to create something even greater for our September 2024 event at Wintergreen Resort. Our advocacy efforts continue to succeed, and the Advocacy Fund is instrumental to help VFA reach our legislators through the efforts of our contract lobbyists at Advantus Strategies. On January 24, VFA teamed up with Virginia Loggers Association and Virginia Forest Products Association at the Legislative Day on the Hill to tell our story and discuss how some of the bills being introduced or amended have an impact on our community. Kyle Shreve and Robert Crockett of Advantus Strategies, as well as our Executive Director Corey Connors, are in the trenches tirelessly fighting for us. As great as they are, there is no substitute for the members of our forestry community who are meeting our lawmakers face-to-face to tell our story. The forecast of the changing faces of our legislators, as presented by Dr. Bob Holsworth at the last Forestry Summit, came to fruition. Our presence at the Capital was well Dan Hockenberger Building New Strategies to Support Members and Strengthen the Forestry Community PRESIDENT’S COLUMN 3808 Augusta Avenue Richmond, VA 23230-3910 Phone: 804-278-8733 • Fax: 804-278-8774 vfa@vaforestry.org • www.vaforestry.org OFFICERS (2023–2024) President Dan Hockenberger Virginia Forest Resources, LLC West Point Vice President and President Elect Chris Harris Pinecrest Timber Co. Prince George Treasurer Christina Hager Dominion Energy Richmond Past President Stephanie Grubb International Paper Pawleys Island Executive Director Corey Connors Richmond EX-OFFICIO OFFICERS Paul Winistorfer Virginia Tech—CNRE Blacksburg Rob Farrell Va. Dept. of Forestry Charlottesville DIRECTORS Term Expiring 2024 Lavan Daubermann Colonial Farm Credit Mechanicsville Michael Harold Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, Inc. Harrisonburg John E. Jones III Central VA Land & Timber Montpelior Term Expiring 2025 Ben Cole Cole Timberland Management LLC Appomattox Jay Phaup Greif Packaging LLC Amherst Laurie Wright Wright Forestry LLC Blackridge Term Expiring 2026 Scott Barrett Virginia Tech Blacksburg Eric Goodman WestRock Clarksville Brian Irvine Roseburg Roanoke Rapids, NC John Reid Forest Resources Mgmt. Aylett STAFF Corey Connors, Executive Director Sonnia Montemayor, Deputy Executive Director Chris Frost, Operations Assistant The Virginia Forestry Association, chartered in 1943, is a notfor-profit, non-governmental, privately-supported association of forest landowners, wood product industries and businesses, loggers, foresters, forest use groups, and conservation-minded citizens. New board members are elected annually by mail ballot to all VFA members. Any VFA member may be a candidate for the board. Winter 2024 5 —continued on page 28
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