While South Carolina welcomed Boeing, one of the world’s leading high-tech manufacturers, the state was dealing with the future of its oldest and still the largest homegrown industry: forestry.
State Forester Gene Kodama
Gene Kodama the head of the South Carolina Forestry Commission spent all day with leaders from what he calls the wood supply chain, ranging from landowners, the building industry, bioenergy, government agencies and legislators. Kodama says it’s a long list of the folks who can make things happen for the state’s number one manufacturing industry. Two economic studies, done at both Clemson and USC, put forestry at almost $17 billion impact on the state, but that was before this recession hit.
“Forestry is the state’s number one manufacturing industry with regard to wages and jobs,” says Kodama, “One of the highest as far as salaries go, which pumps up your per capita income. I understand that our average wage in South Carolina is around $34,000. If you look at the average wage in the forest products industry, it’s around $46,000 give or take.”
And the amount of inventory is growing, in many ways, says State Forester Gene Kodama. It’s measured by his agency and the National Forest Service.”We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have more forest timber than we have had ever since it’s been measured back in 1936. We have more timber, we have more growth than we’ve ever had in this state–both pine and hardwood,” says Kodama. [click to continue…]
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