Cabinets, Carbon And Consumers Highlight AHMI Meeting; Improved Cabinet Sales Forecast For 2024

Ponte Vedra, FL–A great crowd heard about cabinets, carbon and consumers at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc. (AHMI) at The Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, located here.

The 95th anniversary meeting began with a prospective on the cabinet industry from a 117-year-old domestic cabinet manufacturing company. Edwin Underwood, Chief Executive Officer of Marsh Furniture in High Point, NC, spoke about the company’s past and future with his prospective on the domestic industry.

Marsh began producing standalone kitchen cupboards in 1906 and now manufactures kitchen, bath and cabinetry with thousands of applications. The company employs more than 700 people in plants and retail centers across the eastern U.S.

The domestic cabinet industry produced more than $10 billion in sales for 2022 with 55 percent in stock cabinets, about 35 percent in semi-custom and the balance in custom work.

Underwood said the cabinet industry is investing in finishing, dimensional processing and technology. Many companies like Marsh are introducing new products that are built from Maple and Oak solids and engineered materials. The finishes in 2023 include brown stains in addition to white and grey, taking a larger market share.

He predicted a decline in cabinet sales in 2023 as interest rates have impacted home sales. The forecast for 2024 is improved.

Carbon is at the forefront in government and the environmental community in 2023 and forests play a large part in that debate. The president of Bluesource Sustainable Forestry Company, Blake Stansell, spoke on the recent sale of The Forestland Group to Bluesource.

The former company is a large landowner in Appalachia and has sold timber resources to many AHMI members. Bluesource will maintain timber management plans with an emphasis on carbon storage and forest products, Stansell said.

Virginia Tech Professor and Researcher Dr. Brian Strahm shared the value of carbon stored in soils that is often overlooked. He said an equal amount of carbon that is reported in standing forests is also stored in the root system underground.

He said the soil carbon and what is stored in finished products must have greater value in the marketplace. Research proves that finished goods have long-term storage values that are not part of most carbon payment schemes.

National Hardwood Lumber Association Executive Director Dallin Brooks spoke on behalf of the Real American Hardwood Coalition with the latest report on consumer marketing efforts. RAH has focused on social media with posts on Instagram, Twitter and other services that have attracted thousands of followers.

The group is developing a relationship with the Magnolia Network to promote American Hardwood products on several consumer television shows. Brooks asked attendees to contribute financially to help raise awareness and thousands of dollars were pledged.

Industry supplier USNR has east coast operations in nearby Jacksonville, FL, and Sales Manager Alan Robbins spoke on the recent acquisitions by the company. These mergers have expanded USNR’s group to include sawmill, cross-laminated timber presses, dry kiln and lumber handling equipment but also parts and supplies.

Dana Lee Cole, executive director of the Hardwood Federation, gave an update on federal legislative issues. She said key issues include the Farm Bill and using Hardwood materials in building, wood-based biomass, and business taxes.

The group had fun with golf, fishing and croquet tournaments.

The next meeting of AHMI is July 22-25 at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV.

Learn more at www.appalawww.appalachianhardwood.org/meetingschianhardwood.org/meetings.