Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 M A R C H 6 , 2 0 2 3 E M E R G I N G I N D U S T R I E S Molded fiber Tanbark Molded Fiber Products in Portland will manufacture Type 3 molded fiber using pulp made from locally sourced, sustainable harvested trees. "We started Tanbark to help replace single-use plas- tic," says Melissa LaCasse, CEO and co-founder. Tanbark's Saco facility expects to launch production this month, hire 35-plus employees in the next 12 to 16 months and grow to a 4-ton per day wood pulp facility. It's creating in-house R&D and prototyping capabili- ties, and working with partners to develop new applica- tions and products using virgin pulp from Maine trees. e molded fiber "is literally pulp plus water," some- times adding non-harmful chemicals for performance. Molding starts with fiber slurry, followed by thermo- forming with heat and pressure to form end materials to replace rigid single use plastic. Beyond the product, LaCasse adds, "We're excited to share how Tanbark is innovating a Maine heritage industry to solve a modern problem. After all, Maine is America's wood basket, which translates to a plentiful, renewable, and domestically harvested source." Timber opportunities Mass timber and cross-laminated timber are emerging as opportunities to reduce construction's carbon foot- print by replacing steel and concrete. e Barry Mills Hall and the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies at Bowdoin College in Brunswick use a mix of glue-laminated timber columns and beams and cross-laminated timber panels consisting of multiple layers of dimensional lumber stacked and bonded at 90-degree angles. Construction projects using CLT include Wessex Woods, an Avesta Housing project in Portland. Westbrook's Rock Row will see Maine's first commer- cial office building that primarily uses CLT. For now, Maine imports mass timber products from other states. In Madison, TimberHP will soon launch the first U.S.-made high-performance wood fiber insulation. Co-founder and CEO Joshua Henry recently told Mainebiz that retailers and distribu- tors have expressed strong interest. Structural round timber In Aroostook County, the town of Ashland is col- laborating with WholeTrees Structures of Madison, Wis., and Maine forest company Seven Islands Land Co. on Original Mass Timber Maine, an initiative to build momentum with the East Coast architectural and building community regarding opportunities for structural round timber, says Dan LaMontagne, Seven Islands' president and CEO. SRT utilizes trees in their natural form for structural applications such as columns, beams and trusses. e initiative came about because the parties "believed that East Coast building markets were primed for introduction to this carbon friendly build- ing approach/material," LaMontagne continues. WholeTrees develops SRT markets in other geog- raphies. With further funding, goals include ramping up an SRT production facility in Maine. ere's a case for the role of SRT in sustaining Maine's forest economy. "Put simply," says LaMontagne, "the viability and sustainable management of Maine's forests is strongly correlated to having robust and diverse markets for wood products." L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t l s c h r e i b e r @ m a i n e b i z . b i z www.cportcu.org Joe Fourré 4A Property LLC ITS GREEN LLC See Joe Fourré's Voyage www.cportcu.org/voyages Portland • Scarborough • Augusta • www.cportcu.org 1-800-464-0253 • Federally Insured by NCUA A Vision for Years to Come. Preserving Biddeford's Vibrant Energy. Melissa LaCasse, CEO of Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, will manufacture Type 3 molded fiber using pulp made from locally sourced, sustainable harvested trees. F I L E P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R We started Tanbark to help replace single-use plastic. — Melissa LaCasse Tanbark Molded Fiber Products F O C U S

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