Ensuring economic prosperity
Mass Timber Awareness and Utilization
We are framing forest products as a sustainable solution.
Georgia has one of the most productive wood baskets in the world, and forestry is an economic pillar for the state, providing essential jobs and vital support for rural and urban communities alike.
Increased demand for forest products, like mass timber, provides economic incentive for private landowners to stay in business, which helps keep forests as forests. GFF is investing time and resources in promoting the use of forest products by educating decision makers and the general public of the added benefits that forests provide.
Installing a Mass Timber 'Popup'
We are using the under-construction 619 Ponce mass timber building as a foundation to showcase the benefits of mass timber.
The mass timber pop-up will be displayed outside the Food Hall at Ponce City Market. The structure was designed by a professional architectural studio this year and will be constructed and displayed in 2023.
Telling Our Story – Seedlings to Solutions
We are bringing together the entire forestry supply chain to tell the story of mass timber, from the seedling to the skyline.
Next year, GFF will be publishing a documentary that features 619 Ponce, a mixed-use mass timber development that is being constructed at Ponce City Market by Jamestown Properties. In addition to it being built next to an iconic Atlanta landmark, the building is a sustainability success story, using wood that is grown on Jamestown's forestland in Georgia and converted to engineered mass timber manufactured in the U.S. South.
Building a Mass Timber Movement – The Phoenix
Furthering public awareness of the sustainability benefits of mass timber
This past spring, GFF partnered with Georgia Tech's Digital Fabrication Lab to host a Mass Timber Design Studio. Students developed plan for a mass timber pavilion, called "Phoenix," that can be moved to different high-profile areas across the state.
Phoenix will be installed in 2023 at Ponce City Market and doubles as an art installation and education display.
Click here to watch a flyover preview of the mass timber pavilion
Researching and Addressing Forestry's Workforce Challenges
We jumped on the forestry workforce's struggles, funding a research project through the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The research focused on three key areas:
Harvest & Haul
Industrial & Mills
The project will provide us with the fuel to address the workforce shortages now and in the next 10 years. We will have full results in early 2023.
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© 2023 Georgia Forestry Foundation