PLC Member Weekly Update Sept. 17, 2021
In this Issue:
MLOP Graduation – Congratulations!
PLC Annual Meeting – Register Now!
PLC Award Nominations Needed – Oct. 1 deadline!
Welcome New Supporting Member – Louisiana Pacific
Member Alert – BMP Workshop Update
Health Premium Support Program – Subsidy Available!
Forest Products Industry Input Session – Sept. 23
Logger Expo – Free Passes!
PLC Store – Many items for sale
Safety Resources – Safety First!
Trucking – Updates weekly
Classified listings – Check them out!
Member Discounts – Many to choose from
Logging News – Latest headlines
Pandemic relief funds for timber harvesters and haulers available!
Applying is easy! $200 million available, only $2 million awarded so far!
Members,
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in July that $200 million in aid for timber harvesters and haulers included in a bipartisan $900 billion COVID-19 relief package approved more than six months ago would be released and Maine loggers and truckers could begin applying for the funds July 22.
The full announcement by USDA may be found HERE, including details on who is eligible and how to apply.
*PLEASE NOTE – Applying for assistance is quick and easy. In fact, the American Loggers Council (ALC) says there is “probably not a simpler federal assistance program.”
To date only 3,000 applications have been submitted and nearly $2 million in initial payments have been disbursed. Prior American Loggers Council surveys and estimates indicate that far more are eligible. The application is only one and a half pages long. APPLY NOW!!!
Loggers and truckers can apply for assistance through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) July 22 through Oct. 15, 2021. The relief program is being called the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers program (PATHH) and is administered by FSA in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.
Who is eligible?
Timber harvesting and hauling businesses that have experienced a gross revenue loss of at least 10% during the period of Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2020, compared to the period of Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2019, are encouraged to apply.
To be eligible for payments, individuals or legal entities must be a timber harvesting or timber hauling business where 50% or more of its gross revenue is derived from one or more of the following:
-Cutting timber
-Transporting timber.
-Processing of wood on-site on the forest land (chipping, grinding, converting to biochar, cutting to smaller lengths, etc.).
How much aid can I receive?
Payments will be based on the applicant’s gross revenue received from Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 1, 2019, minus gross revenue received from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 1, 2020, multiplied by 80%. FSA will issue an initial payment equal to the lesser of the calculated payment amount or $2,000 as applications are approved. A second payment will be made after the signup period has ended based upon remaining PATHH funds.
The maximum amount that a person or legal entity may receive directly is $125,000.
How do I apply?
Loggers and truckers can apply for PATHH beginning on July 22 by completing form FSA-1118, Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers Program application, and certifying to their gross revenue for 2019 and 2020 on the application. Additional documentation may be required. Visit farmers.gov/pathh for more information on how to apply.
Applications can be submitted to the FSA office at any USDA Service Center nationwide by mail, fax, hand delivery, or via electronic means. To find a local FSA office, loggers and truckers can visit farmers.gov/service-locator. They can also call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer assistance.
Information on where to locate your nearest Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Maine is available HERE.
The American Loggers Council has also provided a helpful Q&A on PATHH. It is available HERE.
Webinar Recording Available
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) is making a recording available of last week’s webinar on the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers Program (PATHH) that was held Thursday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. This webinar is for timber harvesters and haulers in the Northeast states of Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
If you missed the webinar, we encourage you to review it. This link will take you to a website called Box, where you can either watch it right there, or download the file: https://nrcs.box.com/s/x74nepkpd02fuhi4yqe720spscgeqnwb
APPLY FOR RELIEF FUNDS HERE
Mechanized Logging Operations Graduation!
SUMMIT TOWNSHIP – Twelve graduates of Maine’s only college training program for operators of mechanized logging equipment were recognized Thursday, Sept. 16 at a ceremony held at the site where they spent weeks harvesting timber using sophisticated state-of-the-art machines like those they will encounter in the logging industry.
Students in the 12-week Mechanized Logging Operations Program (MLOP) spent the summer and early fall at the site, gaining hands-on logging experience and benefiting from the guidance of veteran logging instructors for an educational experience that is unmatched by any other logger training program in Maine and neighboring states. This year’s class if the fifth the complete the program.
Graduates included: Andrew Hatchell of Readfield, Andrew McLaughlin of Bangor, Benjamin Carroll of Dixfield, Christopher Glidden of Carroll Plantation, David Lessard of Jackman, Dawson Chauette of Waterboro, Junior Tyler of Farmington, Josh Clark of Brewer, Nathan Bacon of Sidney, Nathan Hilton of Bryant Pond, Robert Stuart of Bridgton, and Colton Carlow of Peru.
Congratulations!
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Contractors, students are still available for hire!
Members,
As you know, the 2021 Mechanized Logging Operations Program (MLOP) ended this week. Several students in the program are still available to hire, and now is the time to call or text MLOP Coordinator Donald Burr at (207)-356-1541 to arrange a time to meet them. Information on the students still available for hire, where they are looking for work, and what equipment they are hoping to run is available HERE.
Don’t delay, contact Donald now!
PLC Annual Meeting Oct. 29!
Register Now!
The countdown to the PLC’s 25th Annual Meeting and Log A Load Auction on Oct. 29 has begun! We will be announcing the full schedule of speakers and events shortly. We have come a long way in 25 years, come celebrate! Members and Supporting Members, please register for this event at https://maineloggers.com/2021meetingauction/
PLC Award Nominations Needed!
Do you know a person or business involved in the logging industry who ought to be recognized for outstanding professionalism, service to the community, or service to the industry? If you do, please nominate them for one of the PLC’s annual awards!
Nominations must be received no later than Oct. 1 2021!
Winners will be honored at the PLC’s Annual Meeting on Oct. 29 in Bangor.
Welcome New Supporting Member: Louisiana Pacific
Louisiana Pacific, of Houlton, ME joined the PLC as a new Supporting Member in September of 2021. LP is a leading manufacturer and marketer of building and lumber products, and revolutionized the industry by inventing alternatives to plywood and solid wood building products. For more information visit www.lpcorp.com. or contact Patrick Ward at (207) 694-8797 or patrick.ward@lpcorp.com.
Member Alert: BMP Workshop Update
The notice as it appeared in a recent Maine Forest Service email
Many of you may have received a notice in late August promoting upcoming Best Management Practices (BMP) workshops in October that are being offered by Maine SFI and the Maine Forest Service.
The PLC would like to make you aware that logging contractors were not invited to participate in the development of these workshops over the past 16 months despite repeated requests to do so. These top-down workshops were not created with the input of contractors and without it, they are missing a key component of contractor buy in and expertise.
The PLC also wants to ensure that if any PLC Members do plan to attend these workshops, they are not being required to do so as a condition of their employment or ability to sell wood. Contractors are not employees and any attempt to treat them as such raises serious legal issues.
To learn more on this topic and why contractors should educate themselves on this topic, please check out this article that begins on page 8 in the latest Logger’s Voice.
Small Business Health Insurance Premium Support Program
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Members,
Starting in November, the State of Maine will be making available a subsidy for small business health insurance plan providers (less than 50 employees). This program will be funded by federal pandemic relief funds, and will run for 18 months. It is intended to provide temporary premium relief to small employers and their employees. The Maine Bureau of Insurance will be doing rulemaking for it this fall.
A powerpoint that is linked below provides a good summary of the program and we encourage you to review it. The PLC will provide additional information on this program as it becomes available.
Funds for the program are being provided through LD 1733, the bill allocating nearly $1 billion in federal pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
INFORMATIONAL POWERPOINT
Forest Products Industry Input Session Sept. 23
Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Commissioner Heather Johnson; Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) Commissioner Amanda Beal, Brian Whitney from the Maine Technology Institute, Carlos Mello from the Finance Authority of Maine, DECD staff, and DACF staff are hosting a virtual input session at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 23 to receive feedback directly from business owners, organizations, community members and stakeholders in the forest products industry. The session is being billed as an opportunity for you to share how they can best help you as Maine moves forward in an economic recovery.Members,
Use the link below to register for the session. When you register you will receive an email with the link and passcode for the session.
Register for session
Free Passes to the Bangor Logger’s Expo!
Admission to the Northeastern Forest Products Expo in Bangor, ME on Sept. 24th & 25th has changed for 2021. To attend for free, you must get your passes ahead of time from a vendor. As a vendor, the PLC is entitled to a select number of free passes that we can distribute in advance of the Expo.
As a PLC member benefit, we are offering each of our members up to 4 FREE passes ($10 each at the door). To take advantage of this offer, please respond by Friday, August 6th and let us know how many passes you would like and where to send them.
Click here request your FREE passes!
PLC Online Store
Looking for great PLC items and apparel? Gifts? First Aid packs, safety items and more? You will find them at the new PLC Online Store on our web site. Ordering is easy.
CHECK IT OUT HERE
Safety Resources
Spring Trainings Now Available Online!
Members Only!
GO TO MEMBERS ONLY
NE Safe Logger
Now is a great time for online training!
NE Safe Logger:
Northeast Safe Logger is an entry level safety and workers’ comp. compliance training program for new entrants to the industry. This is a way for your company to create a culture of safety and reduce risk with a program created by loggers for loggers.
· 16 hours of interactive online training
· Complete on a computer, tablet or smart phone
· Done at the users’ own pace anytime day or night
Upon completion participants will get the discounted “certified logger” rate for workers’ compensation insurance in the State of Maine. Visit www.tcnef.org/nesafelogger/ for more information on pricing.
Log-ins are limited and will be awarded on a first come first served basis. Your company will be put on a wait list if all the log-ins are in use.
LEARN MORE about these training options by emailing Jessica at jessica@maineloggers.com or calling (207) 688-8195.
Trucking
As we enter into the fall we enter into the increase of morning and afternoon traffic with schools starting up. Please take time to plan your routes and to be aware of not only the increase in vehicle traffic, but expect an increase in pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic! EYES UP… JUST DRIVE and BE AWARE.
Reminder: Onboard documentation and supporting documents
Motor carriers and drivers have specific requirements under the ELD regulations. Some of the most commonly cited violations pertain to the documents and materials drivers are required to have with them in the commercial motor vehicle (CMV), or that motor carriers must retain in their files, and provide to enforcement personnel upon request. Below are a few reminders to help motor carriers and drivers adhere to these requirements. Learn more…
Logging Industry News
Collins, Golden Urge Maine Loggers to Apply for $200 Million Currently Available for COVID-19 Relief
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Jared Golden are strongly encouraging Maine timber harvesting and hauling businesses that have been seriously impacted by the pandemic to apply for $200 million in COVID-19 relief before the deadline on October 15th.
Member Discounts
TRUCKING DISCOUNTS THROUGH THE ALC!
PLC Members, because the PLC is a member of the American Loggers Council YOU are entitled to special discounts on truck purchases! Click on the brand names below to learn more!
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Fabian Oil Discount
Traction Heavy Duty Special
Wallingford’s Discounts
Maine Trailer Discounts
Scandinavian Forestry Equipment
Sullivan Tire Discount Skidder Tires
PLC Members get a 5% discount on culverts purchased at Treeline and Frank Martin & Sons
Hale Trailer discounts for PLC Members on new trailer purchases! Call Neal at 207-232-7969 for details!
Cross Arena Discounts for PLC!
Classifieds
PLC Classified Section
Check out the equipment and job opportunities our members have listed at the LOGGING ZONE! If you have equipment for sale, are looking to buy, are looking for employees, or are looking for employment – check it out!
Latest listing: Madden Sustainable Forestry, a fourth generation company, is looking for a full-time processor operator to perform quality work in a team environment. Benefits include competitive wages, company vehicle, IRA, health insurance, and paid vacation.
To apply, please send resume and references to Derek Madden at dmadden1982@hotmail.com
Preferred Supporting Members
Preferred Supporting Members
