Workshops
- Lumber and Building Materials Short Course
- Building Materials Marketing: Managing Products and Services
- Strategic Planning for Small and Medium Size Wood Products Companies: the Key to Success
- Strategic Marketing and Market Plans for Wood Products Companies: Competing in the 21st Century
- Lead Management and Sale Force Planning for Improved ROI
- Aspects of Environmental Policy and Corporate Management in the Forest Products Industry
- Understanding Wood and Bio-Based materials: Issues of Product Performance
- Strategic Pricing: Creating Better Prices, More Often
- Addressing Moisture, Mold, and Indoor Air Quality
How to Register
Customized Seminars and Workshops

Strategic Planning for Small and Medium Size Wood Products Companies: the Key to Success
A Workshop for Those Involved in Marketing, Sales, and Distribution of Forest Products and Building Materials

Offered On Demand

Overview | Workshop Leaders | Dates, Location & Directions | Registration/Fees

Overview

Research has shown that a formal planning process is a key element in the success of companies, especially with regard to developing new products and new markets. Research on wood products manufacturing firms in Maine and Minnesota demonstrated that wood products firms recognized as industry role models were significantly more likely to have a formal planning process than the industry as a whole.

This workshop focuses on the strategic planning process from initiation to implementation. It is a hands-on program designed to provide individuals with the tools to quickly, efficiently, and effectively create a strategic plan that fits both a company's style and needs, and leads to improved control and higher margins.

The Workshop Leaders

Dr. Jeff Howe is President of Strategic Enterprises, a St. Paul, MN consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, marketing, organizational development and transition planning for the wood products industry. Dr. Howe has his M.S. and PhD in Forest Products, and has over 30 years practical experience in the wood products industry.

Dr. Steve Bratkovich is Forest Products Specialist with the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry in St. Paul, MN. Dr. Bratkovich has his M.S. in Forest Economics and PhD in Adult Education. He has spent over 25 years providing technical assistance and educational programs to forestland owners and forest products firms.

Dr. Howe and Dr. Bratkovich are the authors of "A Planning Guide for Small and Medium Size Wood Products Companies: The Keys to Success," selected as one of the ten "must-have" books for every forest and wood products manager.

Dates, Location, & Directions

The workshop will be conducted at the Kaufert Laboratory of Forest Products and Wood Science, St. Paul Campus - University of Minnesota, 2004 Folwell Avenue, St. Paul. We'll be in room 225.

For directions to the St. Paul campus and Kaufert Laboratory, and parking information, go to: http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/KaufL/index.html

Registration/Fees

The cost of this workshop is $110 per participant ($99 if registration, including payment, is received at least one week in advance of the event).

This workshop is also available to individual firms on a customized basis. For a flat fee of $2,400 per day of instruction, plus direct costs of travel, FPMDI will conduct training sessions for up to 50 attendees per session (will take more for some topics) at locations selected by the firm involved. Alternatively, two or more firms may pool resources to sponsor training sessions. The individualized arrangement allows targeted training to employees at very reasonable per-employee registration costs ($50 per employee and less) and without incurring expenses for employee travel or out-of-town accommodations.