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The U.S. Economic Development Administration has awarded the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition $41.4 million to develop and expand Oregon’s emerging mass-timber industry. The money is intended to address a worsening housing crisis, increasing threats of wildfires聽and the need for job creation in hard-hit communities.

The EDA will issue the award via its $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The OMTC is one of 21 coalitions selected from a nationwide pool of 529 applicants to receive funding through the challenge.

The OMTC is a partnership between the Port of Portland, Business Oregon, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Department of Land Conservation and Development, and the TallWood Design Institute 鈥� a collaboration between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.

The grant money will support university research involving the use of mass timber in housing; spur development of a factory to produce mass-timber housing; fund forest restoration projects in the Willamette National Forest; jump-start public-private partnerships to grow employment in the creation and use of mass timber in housing; and support efforts to modernize building codes in Oregon communities impacted by recent wildfires to enable use of mass timber in housing.

President Joe Biden in April visited Portland International Airport as part of a national infrastructure tour and met with members of the OMTC. He observed the use of locally sourced mass timber in PDX’s new roof and learned how mass timber can be used in housing.

鈥淭his is a transformational moment for Oregon,鈥� Port of Portland Executive Director Curtis Robinhold stated in a news release. 鈥淭he project will create rural and urban jobs with products grown and manufactured right here in Oregon. The innovations will enable production of high-quality building products from low-quality wood. This will increase housing, provide jobs and promote forest health. That means more homes at lower costs, new workforce opportunities and more climate-resilient communities.鈥�

The Port of Portland will use funding for site improvements that will lead to construction of a mass-timber housing factory at Terminal 2.

鈥淎lready a global leader in mass timber, the Northwest is poised to bring mass timber forward as a housing solution,鈥� Iain Macdonald, director of the TallWood Design Institute, stated in the news release. 鈥淢ass timber allows for rapid construction using sustainable, locally sourced, low-carbon wood products.鈥�

The Build Back Better funding will support a comprehensive strategy for expanding the mass-timber housing market:

• The money will accelerate mass-timber research and development efforts via construction of an acoustic testing laboratory at the University of Oregon and a fire testing facility at Oregon State University. Also, applied research at UO and OSU will advance via testing of mass-timber housing prototypes for structural, seismic, durability and energy performance.
• Federal investment will offset the costs of site development for a mass-timber modular home factory, the UO’s acoustics research lab and a fabrication facility at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2. Planning for site improvements at T2 will begin immediately, with construction of the lab and site work expected to begin in 2024.
• Public-private partnerships聽will be developed to produce mass-timber homes at a greater pace and promote workforce training opportunities in advanced manufacturing and the use of mass timber in construction.
• The Oregon Department of Forestry will receive funding to implement forest restoration projects within the Willamette National Forest to improve resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and provide a sustainable supply for mass timber production. Resilience treatments will utilize a materials track-and-trace program to provide utilization and resource accountability.
• OSU will receive funding for research and development to modernize forest restoration practices, including improved forest inventory mapping, enhanced forest worker health and safety, and efficiency within wood supply chain activities. OSU also will develop workforce training curriculum to help promote employment in the forest and wood products industry.
• The Department of Land Conservation and Development will modernize development codes to support the use of mass timber in newly built modular workforce housing in 10 communities, prioritizing those impacted by wildfires in 2020.