Coming Soon: WERC Education Will Be Closer to Home
by David Welch
Greg Puckett, marketing director at the Wood Education and Resource Center, must feel like a child on Christmas Eve - he never thought this day would come. Puckett has been with the center for almost four years. In that time he has seen the Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technology Center (RCBHTC) become one of the premier wood product training centers in the nation, only later to fall into relative oblivion due to a lack of funding and its out of the way location in Princeton, West Virginia.
Then the center caught a break. The latest federal budget provides funds that will allow the USDA Forest Service to take a leading role in addressing many of the issues facing those with an interest in the production of hardwood forest products. Congress provided the Forest Service with funding for the development of the Institute of Hardwood Technology Transfer and Applied Research. As part of this arrangement, the Forest Service was asked to assume responsibility for overall direction of the RCBHTC. Reflecting an expanded mission and a second chance, the RCBHTC was renamed the Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC).
What at one time must have seemed like a dying cause to Puckett is now a situation that is ripe with optimism. The center is now searching for a contractor who will handle its day-to-day operations. When it finds its contractor, classes will start up again. "It’s all pretty exciting for me," Puckett said. "There was a while there when I wondered if this day would ever get here."
The Forest Service intends to cast a wide net when it reaches out for a contractor to run the facility, reports Al Steele, interim director of the center. "We are looking for a contractor with a significant amount of experience, existing relationships, sound management/technical skills and the ability to successfully work with a diverse clientele," he says.
It would make sense to find someone that will become the Wood Education and Resource Center, much in the same way as Duane Griffiths is the Stiles Education Center. However, what will make the center a success this time around will be its ability to partner with various associations, universities and educational training centers. According to Puckett, the Center will be "the place to call for information."
The partnership even includes the Army National Guard. One of the lessons learned by the Byrd Center was that although Princeton was a beautiful place to visit, it was a difficult place to reach. There was no way the center could cater to the entire country.
That’s where the National Guard plays a role. The center now will have access to over 600 video-conferencing sites being constructed by the Army National Guard. Whereas it has been difficult to bring students into Princeton, there is a good chance now that one of these learning facilities will be close by - wherever your facility may be.
The center will be doing some trial runs on its distance learning capabilities in the next month. "You can say that we are now focusing on the packaging and distribution of information as it applies to the wood products industry," Steele said. Packaging and distribution of information? Sounds to me like a philosophy that just might work. For further information, you may contact Greg Puckett at the center by phoning (304) 487-1510.
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David Welch
Phone: 800-633-5953
Fax: 205-391-2081
e-mail: dwelch@randallpub.com
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