WSARE 2000 Farmer/Rancher Grants-FW00-054

TITLE: Southern Utah Forest Products Association (SUFPA) Cooperative Marketing Kit

SUFPA's ribbon cutting for their new solar wood dry kiln at the Community Forestry Celebration Day is just one example of the many ways SUFPA is working to increase community awareness of southern Utah wood providers and products

Southern Utah Forest Products Association is an agricultural cooperative comprised of southern Utah loggers, saw mill owners, and woodscraftsmen, whose products range from log and timber framed homes to clocks and Native American wood flutes. According to SUFPA director Brian Cottam, a major component of SUFPA is to identify new market opportunities for both low-value forest restoration by-products and value-added wood products.

With such a diverse cooperative, marketing can be difficult. Recently, SUFPA's members have struggled with the lack of an available sustainable timber supply and dwindling traditional markets. To combat these factors SUFPA has decided to create a marketing kit/brochure that will include SUFPA's history and contain product and price lists for all SUFPA members. The kit, which can be tailored to any audience, will provide the marketing flexibility that the cooperative needs. For example, if the target audience were interior designers, the kit would include only inserts from member furniture and cabinetmakers. SUFPA believes that this kit will aid in marketing locally owned wood products and provide for increased business for families and small businesses.

With the help of a Western SARE Farmer/Rancher grant, SUFPA will be able to fund the cost of individual consultations between each cooperative member and a local graphic designer. Cooperative members will meet with the graphic designer to talk about what they want included on their insert page. The success of the SUFPA marketing kit will be measured by the number of members who participate, the number of new businesses interested in joining SUFPA because of the kit, and by the increase in commerce as a result of the kit. In addition, as a member of the Four Corners Sustainable Forestry Initiative, SUFPA will be able to share the marketing kit with other community forestry groups in the Four Corners area.