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All guests are welcome at Ponsse’s Vieremä factory in Finland. Customers always come first, but the company also tries to find a suitable visit time for other groups, said Petri Rissanen, who is responsible for visits. Source: Timberbiz “A visit always includes at least a company presentation and a factory tour. The visit program is organized according to the group of visitors and their schedule. “In practice, for example, foreign customer groups spend several days in Finland, during which the guests can visit, for example, the test farm, the Iisalmi logistics and maintenance service center, and Einari’s former home in Mäkelä. In addition, there can be a variety of other activities, from snowmobiling to hunting,” Mr Rissanen said. The guests stay at the Ponsse Club next to the factory. The club has accommodation for 25 people, a smoke sauna, its own kitchen and a large dining room. Three people take care of the meals and maintenance of the club, and one property manager, who heats the smoke sauna, does snow removal and keeps the building in good condition. “We do not have full-time leaders, but groups are hosted by a team in accordance with the Ponsse spirit. It is interesting for customers to get to talk to Ponsse employees working in different jobs, and it is valuable for employees to meet customers and hear their feedback. Often, the company’s management or owners also meet guest groups,” Mr Rissanen said. The factory receives around 4,000 – 6,000 visitors annually. This figure does not include subcontractors, for example. Last year, visitors came from around 30 countries. “We are probably one of the busiest attractions in Upper Savo in terms of visitor numbers,” Mr Rissanen said. “When guests come from far away to Vieremä, we want to give them time and a good impression. “Ponsse is a family company, as are often the companies of dealers, service entrepreneurs and forest machinery contractors. We are interested in similar things, we have the same hobbies, and we share the same values about life and work. I hope that a visit here would feel like visiting a good friend.”  

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US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L Rollins has announced the US Forest Service is awarding US$80 million in Wood Innovation Grants to spur wood products manufacturing, expand active forest management, and accelerate energy innovation across America’s timber-producing communities. Source: Timberbiz “The United States is blessed with a bounty of natural resources that we must properly manage to sustain our future economy and boost rural communities. Proper forest use and management lowers our reliance on foreign products and is inherently aligned with President Trump’s America First agenda,” said Secretary Rollins. “We’re investing in innovation that ensures a steady, sustainable supply of American wood that not only supports jobs and fuels economies, it protects the people and communities we serve, as well as the forest resources they depend on to survive and thrive.” This investment delivers on President Trump’s commitment to unleashing America’s abundant natural resources by tearing down unnecessary barriers that have kept forests dangerously overstocked and unhealthy, putting communities at risk from wildfire and other threats. It also follows through on Secretary Rollins’ memorandums to the Forest Service (PDF, 2.9 MB) to carry out efforts to make forests more productive, $200 million timber investment in May, part of a broader strategy to advance economic opportunity and ensure long-term forest resilience through regulatory streamlining and expedited project approvals.

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