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��Entrepreneurship Opportunities in �Maine’s Forest Industry

Eric Kingsley

Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC

kingsley@inrsllc.com

Phone 207-233-9910

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Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC

  • Founded in 1994
  • Offices in New Hampshire and Maine
  • Focused at the intersection of forest industry, energy and economic development
  • Services include:

- consulting in renewable energy

- advocacy

- forest management and protection

- forest certification and sustainability

  • Clients from the private, non-profit and government sectors
  • Conducted work in all regions of North America
  • www.inrsllc.com

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Traditional Industries

  • Farming
  • Fishing
  • Forestry

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Probably a lot like many other industries, but there are some things to be aware of…

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Manufacturing / Processing

  • Fixed location
    • A sawmill
    • A paper mill
  • Very likely to be technology innovators / adopters
    • Rarely early adopters
  • Employing technology and automation to improve efficiency

Supply Chain

  • From the resource to the market
    • A logger
    • A trucking company
  • Often mobile
  • Smaller companies
  • Likely to use expensive and technology – heavy equipment
  • Unlikely to be utilizing information technology to its potential

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Example of a Supply Chain (forestry)

  • Landowner
  • Forester (professionally trained, managing the timberland)
  • Logger (logging crew)
  • Trucker
  • Mills
    • Sawlogs
    • Pulpwood
    • Chips
  • Each part of the supply chain has unique needs and opportunities

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Companies in a gross over-generalization

  • Smaller companies
    • From solo to +/-25 is typical
    • B2B
  • Significant capital investment
  • Education obtained via operation, some school
  • Little time to search for solutions
  • Rely upon trusted advisors to identify opportunities (trade associations, accountants, bankers, equipment dealers, etc.)
  • Limited information technology – UI / UX is critical

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Where Are There Opportunities?

  • Tracking from resource to market
    • This is becoming important for market-based label claims and certification
  • Trucking dispatch / coordination
  • Productivity
  • Monitoring
  • Measurement
  • Safety
  • Compliance
  • Training
  • Others?

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Some Things to Consider

  • Cell coverage is not a given – no mater what the maps show you, there are lots of places where cell coverage does not exist
  • There are opportunities to transfer technology from adjacent industries
    • In many instances, traditional industries are not the logical first-use case, but likely some technologies can be customized and re-purposed
  • These are often commodity businesses
    • Low margin operations are common
    • Efficiency is frequently the key to success

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Customer Discovery

  • Trade associations are a great place to start – they represent the entities you are looking to connect with
  • Trade associations are not actually in the business you want to connect with – they are a resource, but not the market
  • Spend time seeing what tasks actually occur
  • Spend time in the field, if possible
  • Wireframes, mock-ups, etc. are critical – users are concrete thinkers
  • Be as clear as possible, don’t use tech language
  • Ask questions and listen

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Forager – example of Farm-to-Table

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Team Safe Trucking: example of remote learning

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Safety App – example of compliance

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Discussion and Questions

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Eric Kingsley

Innovative Natural Resource Solutions LLC

Phone 207-233-9910

Email kingsley@inrsllc.com

DRAFT - FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION ONLY

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