The Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC), located in Princeton, WV, is a USDA Forest Service facility with offices, training facilities, and a rough mill. WERC's mission is to facilitate interaction and information exchange with the forest products industry, to enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production in the eastern hardwood forest region of the United States.
WERC supports managerial and technical innovation to keep businesses competitive. It provides state-of-the-art training, technology transfer, networking opportunities, applied research, and information and sharing.
WERC serves the primary and secondary hardwood manufacturing industries located in the 35 States of the eastern hardwood forest region.
WERC's Primary Goals
- Improve the knowledge, skills, and capacity of the forest industry management and workforce.
- Increase communication, cooperation, and collaborative problem solving within the forest products industry.
- Improve efficiency in forest product manufacturing and wood utilization.
- Promote the sustainable utilization of woody biomass for energy and value-added products.
Program Highlights
- Publication: Business Management Practices for Small to Medium Sized Forest Products Firms
- Publication: Wood Utilization Options for Urban Trees Infested by Invasive Species
- Publication: Manufacturing and Marketing Eastern Hardwood Lumber Produced from Thin Kerf Band Mills
- National Skill Standards for Woodworkers. more >>
- Publication: A Marketing Guide for Small and Medium Sized Primary Forest Products Processors. This publication provides small and medium sized sawmills and primary processors with many marketing ideas and concepts. more>>
- Woody Biomass Technical Assistance Team. more>>
WERC Success Stories
- Missouri Schools Fire Up Savings with Woody Biomass Heating Systems
- Planning and Analysis in Timber Harvesting Software Tool Helps Companies Expand, Control, and Plan for the Future
- Using Wood in the Aftermath of EAB: Opportunities in Southeast Michigan