The National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) Board of Managers has announced the appointment of Dallin Brooks as the organisation’s new executive director.
Since June 2021, the search committee has been finding the right executive director to help NHLA reach its full potential. “With the help of the recruiting firm Vetted Solutions, we have found an individual with a great deal of energy, ability and an intense desire to be part of helping to create a vibrant industry,” said Jeff Wirkkala, President of NHLA.
For the last ten years, Brooks has been the executive director of the Western Wood Preservers Institute (WWPI), working to promote and protect the preserved wood market for lumber, utility poles, and railway ties.
Together with his staff in WWPI, he developed smartphone applications for Treated Wood Guide, Wood Pole Guide, and Tie Grading Guide in collaboration with other industry associations. Brooks maintained the preserved lumber “Checkmark” inspection programme and worked with universities to research and improve quality control metrics and standards, reducing variability, and improving treating production. He also successfully lobbied legislation for the continued use and disposal of treated wood waste in California.
Brooks graduated with a BSc in Wood Products Processing as well as an MSc in Forest and Society from the University of British Columbia. He has experience in the hardwood industry; while working for Jartek, a company which specialises in wood processing equipment and production lines, he strove to bring thermal modification from Finland to North America for wide plank flooring, cabinets, gun stocks, and other niche hardwood markets.
Brooks’s official start date will be 13 Jun 2022.
