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Having been raised in the wood products area and having worked in the field more than 25 years, Expert L. Expert is well versed in many areas of the wood and lumber industry. As an associate professor at Virgina Tech, Expert teaches classes (across the U.S.) on uses for wood in various products. He has also conducted research and developed a wood residue guide for the state of Virginia which lists all the potential markets for wood by-products.

Expert holds degrees in wood science, has worked in and managed hardwood and softwood sawmills, and sold untreated and treated lumber products. He has published extensively in the areas of wood use in the U.S. transportation network and value-added forest products.

Expert managed a wood preserving plant and sold treated wood for eight years. He is an instructor in wood treating recertification classes for the Commonwealth of Virginia and he conducts research in the area of recycling treated wood.

Expert holds an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, although his business management experience goes back long before receiving this degree. He was a production manager at a wood treating facility in Minnesota where he scheduled work and was responsible for inventory management and labor relations in a union shop. He managed a wholesale treated lumber distribution facility in the Minneapolis area where he was responsible for profit/loss. In Expert's current position as a professor, he teaches courses that deal with strategic management issues as they relate to the forest products industry.

He has been involved in a number of different management positions in the wood treating area where he and his colleagues conducted strategic planning sessions. Expert also teaches business strategy as part of his continuing eduction courses to industry and to students at Employer.

With an advanced degree in Forest Products Marketing, Expert is a specialist in this area and a well-regarded instructor of both undergraduate and graduate coursework in the marketing of wood and wood products. He has conducted over 40 continuing education courses to the industry in forest products marketing. In his own work, Expert's research is focused on the marketing of wood products and expanding the markets for wood products in the U.S. infrastructure. He has received over $750,000 in grants and contracts to conduct research at Employer. Specifically, Expert’s market research has focused on investigating how wood is positioned against concrete, steel and plastic by engineers and architects in industrial markets, and he has published a number of articles in this area. As part of their research efforts, Expert and his associates regularly conduct new product surveys. He has direct experience leading a number of surveys to consumers of wood products. Expert teaches and has conducted market research in product positioning strategies for both existing and new products. He also teaches classes which discuss promotion as part of the 4 Ps of marketing (product, place, price and promotion).

Expert closely follows market trends in the forest products industry. Currently, these trends include product subsitution by nonwood and wood-based composites, the affect of forest certification on the marketing of products and the internationalization of the wood products industry. Expert has experience instructing and consulting in these areas.

Expert has developed a number of marketing plans which included the marketing mix and market strategy for companies. These are also concepts he teaches in undergraduate and graduate classes.

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Expert has provided market and sales training for major U.S. forest products companies.He has conducted market research in the areas of market changes in building products.He has conducted market research for treated wood markets.He provides technical expertise for organizations in the recycling of wood products.And Expert has also provided techical assistance and conducted research for companies interested in markets in the U.S. infrastructure.