The SLB is an industry-funded initiative with a specific mandate: promoting softwood lumber to increase demand and expand market share. We aim to make softwood lumber the preferred building material in commercial, residential, and outdoor construction in the United States from both economic and environmental standpoints.
What makes the SLB so effective? Because the SLB only invests the industry’s funds into activities that expand the use of lumber now and in the future. And we continuously measure our impact: The SLB’s investments have generated more than 14.9 BBF of incremental demand since our founding in 2012.
How We're Set Up
What’s a commodity checkoff?
A commodity checkoff is an industry-funded research and promotion program overseen by a government department such as the USDA. Checkoff programs were behind familiar American advertising campaigns such as “Got Milk?” and “The Incredible, Edible Egg.” The softwood lumber checkoff was established by a supermajority of the lumber industry in 2011, with 67% of companies and 80% of the lumber volume voting in favor. In 2018, 78% of companies representing 94% of the lumber volume voted to continue the SLB.
How are we funded?
The SLB is funded by U.S. softwood producers and importers of lumber into the United States that produce or import more than 15 million board feet. The SLB assessment rate is $0.41/thousand BF. Assessments are based on production and imports so that every company contributes as much as it stands to gain.
Who sets our priorities?
The SLB is governed by a Board of Directors made up of lumber industry executives—in other words, the industry sets our direction and investment priorities.
How are we structured for success?
The Board of Directors reflects the makeup of the industry. Board seats are apportioned to ensure a mix of large and small companies in each region, allowing a diverse array of goals to be brought forward.
How We Grow Lumber Demand
The SLB invests in four core programs:
Codes and Standards
Through the American Wood Council, the SLB invests in protecting and expanding opportunities for wood construction. The AWC develops codes, standards, regulations, sustainability data, and design tools and guidelines for wood construction, ensuring wood products are treated fairly.
Communications
Through Think Wood, the SLB influences architects, developers, engineers, and commercial and residential contractors to build interest in using wood in the residential, mid-rise, and non-residential sectors.
Conversion
WoodWorks works directly with design and construction teams to support and influence projects, with the goal of facilitating a shift toward wood.
Education
The SLB is focused on education to ensure the next generation of architects, engineers, and contractors are passionate about building with wood.
What are our key accomplishments?
The SLB and AWC’s work on codes and standards was instrumental in gaining acceptance in the 2021 building code for tall mass timber construction up to 18 stories. That work continued in the 2024 code cycle, where the program was successful in permitting exposed mass timber ceilings in buildings up to 12 stories, making mass timber more cost-competitive and attractive to designers.
WoodWorks tracks every single project that the program influences and converts. Since 2015, the program has directly influenced 3,510 projects representing 6 BBF of incremental lumber demand.
SLB Education launched The Wood Institute in 2020 as the first comprehensive, one-stop-shop for continuing education about wood topics. SLB Education is the industry’s answer to advancing wood design in postsecondary schools—something that competing industries have been doing for decades.
Think Wood is currently the most significant and widely recognized digital communications platform devoted to covering light-frame construction and mass timber projects in the United States.
How does the SLB support innovation?
The SLB serves as the nucleus for a broad coalition of industry associations, like-minded organizations, and government agencies to ensure alignment, eliminate duplication, and execute initiatives.
The SLB’s work with the USDA Forest Service is a key example of how public-private partnerships allow effective investment of talent and resources towards our shared goals. The SLB and USDA Forest Service have worked together on impactful initiatives such as the Mass Timber Competition, mass timber accelerators in several cities, Wood Innovations Grants, and the Think Wood communications program—each of which is not only supporting innovative projects built with wood, but also creating advocates that will go on to promote the use of wood in groundbreaking buildings to come.
How do we generate value for investors?
The SLB’s smart investments have returned significant results, and our work is gaining momentum: after generating 151 million board feet in 2012, our impact increased to 1.2 billion board feet in 2018. In 2023, the SLB and its funded programs generated 1.9 BBF in incremental demand.
Increased Demand
Since inception, the initiative has generated more than 14.9 BBF in demand, equating to 86 board feet or $45 in revenue for every dollar spent.
Carbon Reduction
We’re equally proud of our carbon impact: the increase in demand for wood and diversification away from other materials has resulted in a total carbon benefit—stored and avoided—of 36.7 million metric tons of CO2 over the life of the SLB.
Why We Matter
Why do we need to defend market share and grow demand?
Competitive materials are waging increasingly aggressive campaigns attacking wood’s environmental and performance credentials. The lumber industry has made incredible progress on codes and standards and in the market share for wood construction—but without continuing our investment, we’ll lose the gains we’ve made.
How are we adapting to current market conditions?
The lumber industry has seen a variety of economic cycles in recent years. In 2023 and 2024, high interest rates and tight lending have had an impact on multifamily and non-residential construction. Throughout it all, the SLB has forged a path to steady market share growth for the lumber industry by collaborating with cities, trade groups, and institutions. By strengthening prospects for business over the medium and long term, the SLB helps to diversify and grow the demand base for wood products—activities that help to mitigate the impact of economic volatility on the wood products industry.
The SLB’s Board Members, program leaders, and the softwood lumber industry are working together to ensure we continue to grow market share in the years to come. Check out their messages reflecting on the SLB’s impact
Vaughn Emmerson
Engineering, Technology, and Fabrication Manager; Sierra Pacific Industries
“The lumber market has traditionally been driven by the single-family residential market, but there’s so much more that wood can do. The SLB’s programs are doing a great job educating the design industry on wood’s benefits in nonresidential markets from a construction and sustainability perspective. The SLB’s work in education stands out to me, because if we can influence decision-makers early in their career, they’re going to have a voice in hundreds or thousands of projects in their career. We are growing a tree today that we are not going to harvest for 40 years. We have to take the same long-term approach, and the SLB is well-equipped to position our industry for lasting growth.”
Fritz Mason
President of Lumber, Georgia-Pacific; SLB Board of Directors
“We see the SLB as a very efficient way to fund critical investments in growing new markets for softwood lumber and defending existing markets. The SLB’s programs are strategically aligned, working together to promote growth. WoodWorks’ role of converting projects to wood is supported by Think Wood’s marketing efforts and the AWC’s work in codes and standards. It’s critical that we continue to have a sustainable funding stream for these programs.”
Tim Biewer
President and CEO, Biewer Lumber; SLB Board of Directors
“The SLB has done a great job growing the market for mass timber and tall wood construction. There’s a lot of lumber used in those technologies, so the push to get architects, engineers and developers on board has been a top focus. The success has resulted from smart coordination by the AWC, getting mass timber approved in buildings up to 18 floors; WoodWorks working directly with design teams; and Think Wood promoting examples of wood’s performance and warmth in comparison with concrete and steel. I’m sure our company has sold more lumber because of these accomplishments, and the SLB’s work will continue to boost the entire lumber industry.”
Jerome Pelletier
Vice President of the Sawmill Division, J.D. Irving, Ltd.; SLB Board of Directors, Research and Promotion Programs Committee Chair
“Since I first joined the board three years ago, I’ve been amazed by the industry knowledge and skills that the SLB staff brings to the table. They have a clear understanding of market trends and a strategy on where the industry’s investments can be done to be the most impactful. That expertise stands out by the results. Since inception, the SLB has generated $45 in additional revenue for every $1 invested by the lumber industry. This translates to more buildings built with wood as opposed to concrete and steel, generating several additional billion board feet of lumber demand over the last decade.”
Brian Luoma
Retired President and CEO, The Westervelt Company; SLB Board Chair
“Builders, developers, and architects are becoming increasingly positive about the environmental and economic benefits of wood construction, and the SLB is building on that momentum by removing obstacles and promoting using more wood in non-traditional applications. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved, but we need to continue building momentum. I look forward to seeing what the industry can accomplish by continuing to work together in the years ahead.”
Jackson Morrill
President and CEO, American Wood Council
“Our work in standards and building codes led to the adoption in the 2021 building code for building mass timber buildings up to 18 stories, and the SLB was integral in supporting that effort and helping us to achieve that goal. In the 2024 code cycle, we were successful in getting exposed ceilings for mass timber buildings, and we’ve heard from many architects and designers that it was important for them in terms of moving forward with mass timber.”
Jennifer Cover
President and CEO, WoodWorks
“Our goal is to try to increase the amount of lumber used in as many projects as possible across the country. WoodWorks builds on all the great work done by the other programs that the SLB invests in: Think Wood, generating excitement and getting the word out about utilizing wood, and then the doors that AWC opens with code. Our goal is to help people walk through those doors that have been opened to make sure that people do successfully actually design a wood structure. Together, I think it’s a really nicely balanced overall program.”
