PLIB Holds Historic 2025 Annual Meeting

In late May, PLIB Members and Directors gathered in Austria and Germany for PLIB’s 2025 Annual Meeting of the Members. The event was historic, as it was the first time PLIB held its annual meeting outside of North America, highlighting our excellent partnership with European members. The meeting provided valuable spaces for discussion and collaboration between European and North American lumber, glulam and mass timber panel manufacturers, as well as an opportunity for our directors to meet most of our European inspection staff.

We kicked off with the Executive Committee meeting on May 19 at Binderholz Fügen, followed by an insightful mill tour of the Fügen sawmill. Built in the mid-1980’s, the mill has received extensive updates and remains a solid producer in the Binderholz family of mills. That night, the welcome dinner featured a message from Mr. Reinhard Binder as well as a keynote from forestry expert Mr. Richard Ramsauer, setting the stage for productive conversations.

The next day, the Member’s Meeting addressed governance, financial oversight, and key industry updates, and elections for the 2025-2026 term. The Board of Directors convened afterward to discuss leadership appointments, industry regulations such as the EUDR, financial reports, and state lumber grading legislation.

The next three days were spent visiting several mills in central Germany as the group made its way to Hannover for the LIGNA show. Members present include Binderholz, Elk Creek Forest Products, Freres Engineered Wood, Fritch Mill, Gilbert Smith Forest Products, Hy Mark Wood Manufacturing, Mercer, Rettenmeier, Rosboro, Roseburg Forest Products, Southport Lumber, and Utah Lumber. Mills visited include Binderholz Burgbernheim CLT, Mercer Saalburg-Ebersdorf, Rettenmeier Wilburgstetten, and while exploring historic sites in Rothenburg and Bamberg. These tours showcased advancements in timber production at some of our biggest and most modern European mills, as well as our European members sustainability efforts.

The following week, many attendees participated in LIGNA 2025 in Hannover, a massive wood industry machine and technology convention that allowed our members to engage with international industry equipment manufacturers and leaders. PLIB members were treated to a special reception and informative presentation by German sawmill equipment manufacturer Linck (thank you Joern Rathke and other Linck representatives for your graciousness!). Members wrapped up the first day of the LIGNA show at a reception hosted by MicroTec.