Endowment Releases Report on Business Clustering

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) today announced the release of a report and series of documents on the status of and opportunities for business clustering within the forest products sector in the U.S. (view publications).  The research was led by the Forest and Wildlife Research Center of Mississippi State University, the Franklin Furniture Institute of Mississippi State University, Dovetail Partners, and the Department of Forestry of the University of Missouri. The project identified business cluster models adopted in the forest sector, explored partnerships among cluster entities, and examined policies, strategies and support mechanisms that could facilitate successful business.  Information collected during the summer and fall of 2008 was also used to develop a template for a national registry of forest business clusters. The project constituted a comprehensive research effort comprised of the following components:  a literature review, a nation-wide online survey, geospatial and econometric analyses, phone interviews with stakeholders knowledgeable of forest business clusters in the public and private sectors, and a website featuring a registry of forest business clusters in the U.S. (www.fwrc.msstate.edu/cluster/cluster_search.asp)