IWPA Advocates For Sustainable Wood Products
Ashley Amidon is the executive director at International Wood Products Association (IWPA), in Alexandria, VA. IWPA represents more than 180 companies and trade associations and advocates for the acceptance and demand for legally sourced and sustainable wood products and has been the leading international trade association for the North American imported wood products industry since it was established in 1956.
Amidon has crisscrossed the globe for IWPA since taking the executive director role in late 2022, visiting 12 countries and more than 60 IWPA members in the United States. From spending her first day on the job staffing the IWPA booth at IWF, to supporting the introduction of bipartisan and bicameral legislation in Congress to assist IWPA members, to pursuing a $1.2 million grant on behalf of IWPA’s educational programming, Amidon is proud to represent a vibrant association committed to sustainable forestry.
Amidon started at IWPA as the organization’s lobbyist and PAC director almost 15 years ago. She left to hold roles as a lobbyist for the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, where she worked on environmental and trade policy issues and as the Vice President of Public Policy for the National Pest Management Association, where she led its public policy team and served as treasurer of its Political Action Committee as well as serving as the executive director of the North Carolina Pest Management Association.
Amidon holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and International Affairs from George Mason University in Virginia and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from University of Hull in the United Kingdom. She is also a Certified Association Executive and currently serves as the co-chair of the Trade Advisory Group for the International Tropical Timber Organization.
Learn more at www.IWPAwood.org.
RAM Forest Products Inc. Produces Ash, Cherry, Maple, Poplar, Oak
Rus Gustin is a sales representative for RAM Forest Products Inc. based in Shinglehouse, PA. Gustin handles kiln-dried hardwood sales in the United States and Canada. He also handles the domestic freight for the company.
RAM Forest Products was founded in 1977 and has grown into a large sawmill operation with 1.5 million board feet of dry kilns. The firm has an annual production of approximately 25 million board feet of hardwood lumber. Species produced include Ash, Cherry, Hard and Soft Maple, Poplar, and Red and White Oak.
Services include export preparation and packaging and container loading.
RAM Forest Products also participates in the NHLA Kiln Drying Certification Program.
Gustin has been employed by RAM Forest Products for 42 years and in his current position for the past 36 years. He began his career at an Ethan Allen plant in Eldred, PA. He also worked as a maintenance mechanic for Tree Sweet Orange Juice Co. based in Fort Pierce, FL. Next, Gustin worked at Joslyn Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of electrical insulators based in Lima, NY, as he finished acquiring his degree from Elim Bible Institute, also located in Lima.
Gustin began his career with RAM Forest Products as a lumber handler. He went on to gain six years of lumber inspection experience with the company before he moved into the sales department.
He and Karen, his wife of 45 years, have two children and five grandchildren.
In his spare time Gustin enjoys playing golf, sailing, watching most sports and is active in his local church.
RAM Forest Products Inc. is a member of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc., the Hardwood Manufacturers Association, Penn-York Lumbermens Club, Appalachian Lumbermens Club and the American Hardwood Export Council.
See more at www.ramforestproducts.com.
Patrick Lumber Company Producer Of Hardwood And Softwood Lumber
Thomas Compa is a lumber trader for Patrick Lumber Company (PLC), which has been in business for over a century and is headquartered in Philomath, OR.
A secondary lumber manufacturer with customers across the world, PLC produces more than 40 million board feet annually of Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Alaskan Yellow Cedar, Hemlock, Southern Yellow Pine and Alder in high-grade rough KD, VG clears, DF timbers, STK, and finished patterns. It also offers custom remanufacturing and milling.
Prior to joining PLC in April of 2023, Compa’s work in the forest products industry included his role as an export coordinator for an organization that sells dimensional lumber and building material products in Japanese and Australian markets from 2014 – 2022, and the time he spent manufacturing and selling kayak kits made from Okoume, Birch and Mahogany plywood as a teenager. In addition, Compa grew up surrounded by woodworking in a town that built wooden boats where his father was a shipwright.
After graduating from Port Townsend High School in Port Townsend, WA, Compa continued his education at Portland State University in Portland, OR, where he received his Bachelor of Science in social science with a minor in psychology.
Married 11 years in August, he and his wife Ann have two sons: Remy and Elliot. In his free time, Compa visits with his family and friends. He likes traveling to Bend and Hood River in Oregon. He also enjoys riding his bicycle, golfing and skiing.
PLC maintains memberships with the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, National Hardwood Lumber Association, Softwood Export Council, Southern Forest Products Association, Western Wood Products Association, International Order of Hoo-Hoo, Pacific Lumber Exporters Association and Portland Wholesale Lumber Association.
For more information, visit www.patlbr.com, email tcompa@patlbr.com or call 503-295-2611.
