After being a member of the forest products community for over 40 years, I have yet to see our community demonstrate continual progress or the know-how to become better.

Case in point: Although we have the technology, raw materials and markets in our own backyard, imported wood furniture has still taken over two-third of our domestic market share. While we move our furniture manufacturing offshore to make easier profits, foreign companies such as IKEA are making major capital investments in setting up production here.

While forest products are still the largest or second largest industry in some states, the forest products departments in the state universities, however, can hardly find enough students interested in enrollment.

Just how can we feel proud of being a member of this community if we continue to keep going downhill? Are there any ways that we can revitalize our community?

As a research scientist who has witnessed and even participated in the export furniture boom in Taiwan back in the 1980s, I have always been inquisitive about these exporting companies’ sustainability in a matured market. In order to find out how woodworking companies can manage to stay prosperous and achieve sustainability, I decided to carry my study further and become an entrepreneur to research for answers in the matured U.S. market. After 10 years of being an academic plus 20 years as an entrepreneur, I believe that I can provide further insight and ideas on how to revitalize our forest products community.

In this blog, I will start by sharing a rewarding experience of mine with my fellow academics, and then propose an innovative approach to strengthen our forest products education.

'Disconnect' Between Academics and Industry
It is easy to see that there is a disconnect between academic institutes and the industry. Which side should take the initiative to close the gap? If we want to be inquisitive about this, we have to start by first acknowledging that even academic institutes need to generate products, namely graduates and research findings, in order to get funding. Where then is the market for our graduates and research? Being that the U.S. wood products industry is still large, there should be plenty of incentives for us to study our own market in order to generate better products. If we fail to attempt that, we are either short-sighted or simply lazy.

In order to make the distinction between theory and practice, we need to learn how businesses are operated from business people first. Then we will know how to advise them effectively. From my own experience, once I had gone through this process, my teaching and research projects all became much more meaningful. I would also emphasize that, while dealing with the industry, maintaining our modesty and integrity can carry us in a long and rewarding way.

From this reciprocating process, “knowledge is power” will become even more evident to us academics. And that can really make us feel proud. If I was a university professor now, I would put together an elective entrepreneurship course for sophomores and up in the school of forestry or school of agriculture. The objective is to expose students to the concept of becoming an entrepreneur early on. The design of the course would first cover some concepts in the basic disciplines required in running a small business, and then invite in small business owners and entrepreneurs as speakers to share their real life experiences in this two hour a week class.

The purposes of having this class are threefold:
 

• First, to show students that most businesses compete with their expertise knowledge and capability. Thus the students may be motivated in having a sense of direction and study harder while in school.
• Second, to let students be aware that just having good ideas and a willingness to work hard are no guarantees for success in the business world. They are better off forming the notion that they should work for other people first to gain experience and put their abilities to the test.
• Third, allow students to know that becoming an entrepreneur is not for everyone. From learning how challenging it is to run a business, hopefully they can appreciate their prospective employers more and even develop better work ethics.