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CapitalPress.com
October 5, 2018
People & Places
Going with mass timber
Russ Vaagen
starting new
company producing
mass timber
Western
Innovator
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
COLVILLE, Wash. —
Russ Vaagen, whose family
has a 66-year history in Wash-
ington state’s timber industry,
sees a future in mass timber.
The former president of
family-owned Vaagen Broth-
ers Lumber has founded a
new company, Vaagen Tim-
bers, which will produce mass
timber products.
Mass timber, also called
engineered wood, includes
cross laminated timber, glu-
lam beams and other products
that are less expensive, light-
er and just as strong as other
building materials such as
steel and concrete.
Cross laminated timber
is made by gluing planks of
wood in perpendicular layers,
creating thick panels that can
be used for walls and floors.
He sees the use of wood in
homes, apartments and build-
ings as a way to remind ur-
ban and suburban consumers
about the importance of the
rural timber industry.
“These products allow us
to tell a story so the consumer
really understands and makes
that connection: ‘I’m living in
this apartment and it’s made
Russ Vaagen
Title: Founder and CEO,
Vaagen Timbers; former
president of Vaagen Broth-
ers Lumber.
Age: 41
Hometown: Colville, Wash.
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Vaagen Timbers founder and CEO Russ Vaagen talks about his new company’s approach and con-
necting forest management with market needs Sept. 4 in Colville, Wash.
of wood and it ... supports
healthy forests and healthy
communities,” Vaagen said.
He foresees the timber go-
ing into mid-rise apartments
and commercial structures
ranging from 4 to 10 stories.
Vaagen expects to use
roughly 30 million board-feet
of timber per year at first, with
room for growth.
He points to more devel-
opers building all-wood proj-
ects, supporting local jobs and
economies.
Because mass timber uses
smaller logs, it benefits in-
land forests where restoration
is needed, thinning the small
trees in the dense under story
and leaving the biggest and
best trees more fire resistant,
Vaagen said.
He also is adamant about
helping rural economies in
timber country.
“We want to see the value
that’s coming from the forest
get added as close to the forest
as possible,” Vaagen said.
Vaagen is the president
of the Northeast Washing-
ton Forestry Coalition on the
Colville National Forest. He
emphasizes timber sales to
mills as a tool for forest resto-
ration, used to pay for needed
thinning.
Vaagen said he tries to
match forest needs with com-
munity needs for the greatest
good.
Mass timber has been used
in Europe for decades but is
relatively new to the U.S. in-
dustry, said Adam Molenda,
president of the Timber Prod-
uct Manufacturers Associa-
tion.
Vaagen is on the associa-
tion’s board of directors.
“It’s very structurally
sound, it’s very fire-resistant,”
Molenda said. “There’s op-
portunities to build skyscrap-
ers, new buildings. We hope
that the industry would see
the value and help manage the
forest a little better.”
James Krejci is a commer-
Education: Degrees in
management and human
resource management from
Washington State University.
Family: Engaged, two
children, expecting a baby in
November
Website: https://www.
vaagentimbers.com/
http://www.theforestblog.
com/
cial banker at Umpqua Bank
and has worked with Vaagen.
“He’s done a lot of work
educating the general pub-
lic on proper management
techniques and initiatives,
with the goal of minimizing
wildfire impacts and leaving
healthier forests,” Krejci said.
“He’s done that while cre-
ating a business model that
supports those techniques and
initiatives.”
OSU, retailer collaborate on provolone
By ALIYA HALL
For the Capital Press
CORVALLIS, Ore. — For
Christie Alexandre-Zeoli, who
is in charge of cheese purchas-
ing at Market of Choice, the
collaboration between Oregon
State University and the high-
end regional grocery chain
“scratches every itch.”
The collaboration involves
utilizing the cheese created
in the OSU dairy program to
teaching the store’s cheese
stewards how the cheese is
made.
“I really feel like land grant
universities with these pro-
grams have so much to give
retail organizations,” she said.
“There is so much knowledge
and talent available.”
Although stewards under-
stand what they are looking for
with the cheese, Alexandre-Ze-
oli said it’s completely different
when making it, and she want-
ed to provide them with first-
hand experience.
A cheesemaker herself —
formerly involved with Wash-
ington State University’s Cou-
gar Gold cheese — she said it’s
a connection between the head
and the heart.
“The head knows it’s a great
cheese, but the cheesemak-
er has a different depth about
what it takes,” she said. “The
sweat and cleaning, the science
and technology, as well as the
artisan knowledge. This collab-
oration not only educates my
stewards to be the best cheese
Steve Smith Photography
Market of Choice cheese stewards and Oregon State University students worked together to create
Beaver Classic Provolone cheese.
retailers in the state of Oregon,
it also teaches them what it
means to make cheese.”
Alexandre-Zeoli said she
has known Robin Frojen,
the OSU food pilot plant and
creamery manager, for years,
and has watched her bring Bea-
ver Classic cheese back to the
forefront. Through their part-
nership, Beaver Classic Provo-
lone was born.
“This cheese that Robin has
created is a traditional style pro-
volone aged for three months,”
she said. “Provolone in this
country — in my opinion —
has become, and has been in
the past, a highly processed
standardized product, one that
has not showcased traditional
provolone the way it’s made
in Italy. Robin was inspired
to make it an Old World-style
aged provolone.”
Alexandre-Zeoli said it’s a
snacking and ingredient cheese
that is creamy, with a butter
flavor and a little “funk.” She’s
often asked about the choice
of provolone, and she said that
everyday cheeses “deserve as
much exposure and apprecia-
tion as a triple-creme brie.”
The process starts with get-
ting the milk from the OSU
dairy herd. The students pas-
teurize, culture and ferment it
until it coagulates. The curds
are cut and cooked for a spe-
cific time and a set temperature
and acidity. A special aspect to
this provolone: Instead of the
curds being manually stretched,
it goes through a cheddaring
process that does it for them.
The specialty cheese is
available at Market of Choice
for $16.99 a pound, a standard
price for most of the Beaver
Classic cheeses.
“We’re not an affordable
cheese, but we have no busi-
ness being affordable,” Frojen
said. “It’s an excess agricultural
commodity as a result of educa-
tion. We’re not making to pro-
duction needs. We’re teaching
students how to make cheese
and run a processing plant.”
She said the job is 90 per-
cent cleaning and 10 percent
glory.
“The excitement is the pas-
sion,” she said. “A lot of people
end up being stewards because
they took a job at the grocery
store, then they catch the pas-
sion. Watching them interact
with my students is amazing.
The learning on both sides is
critical.”
The creamery has been part
of the university since the be-
ginning but in the 1950s it was
shut down out of concerns it
would compete with the pri-
vate dairy sector. It reopened in
2010 with a donation, and came
out with its first cheese in 2012.
At the time, the cheese was
called Beaver Classic, but over
the years that has expanded to
be the brand. Now, they have
eight lines of cheeses, from
classics such as original ched-
dar and Swiss to Pinot-, cider-
and porter-soaked cheddars.
The milk comes from the
dairy herd of around 125 cows,
and the program has 20 stu-
dents.
“We could not be more ex-
cited about this opportunity,”
Lyn Ryse, Market of Choice
vice president of marketing,
said. “I don’t know of any other
retailer in Oregon, or anywhere
in the country, that’s doing any-
thing like this. There’s really
nothing more rewarding than
actually making the cheese,
bringing it into our stores and
offering it to people who will
take it home and enjoy it, then
have them come back and tell
us how much they loved it. It
really is satisfying.”
Beaver Classic provolone is
sold exclusively at the 11 Mar-
ket of Choice stores in Oregon.
“For Christie and me, the
reason we match so well is the
passion that this means to us,”
Frojen said. “This is what stu-
dents and stewards are catching
and that surpasses anything
else. I encourage people to
eat and think outside the box.
Do something that scares you,
eat something that scares you.
That’s how they’ll find if this is
for them.”
Oregon FFA, Les Schwab work together to ‘Drive Away Hunger’
Les Schwab Tire Centers
of Oregon has partnered with
Oregon FFA in a “Drive Away
Hunger” Initiative to help raise
as much food as possible for
those in need.
The initiative will take
place during October.
Many Oregonians today are
suffering from food insecurity
and worry about where their
next meal may come from.
Since 2008, the Oregon Food
Bank has seen the demand
for emergency food boxes in-
crease by 44 percent. During
October, while the Drive Away
Hunger Initiative is happening
you may see FFA members
across the state doing a variety
of service activities to raise as
much food and funds as pos-
sible. Be on the lookout for
activities and collections hap-
pening throughout your com-
munity.
You are encouraged to
drop food donations at any
Les Schwab Tire Center, Wil-
co Farm Store, Grange Co-op
Store or your local FFA chap-
ter. Collection bags are being
distributed to subscribers of the
Capital Press, East Oregonian,
Wallowa County Chieftain,
Hermiston Herald, and Blue
Mountain Eagle newspaper, or
you may pick up a collection
bag at your local Les Schwab
Tire Center, Wilco Farm Store
or Grange Co-op Store.
In addition to nonperishable
food, the FFA is seeking farm
and ranch crop donations. If
you would be willing to donate
a portion of your food crop,
please contact your local FFA
chapter or Christa Towery with
the Oregon FFA Foundation, at
ctowery@oregonffa.com.
Hood River’s harvest season. This
old-fashioned fall festival brings to-
gether more than 120 vendors offering
local produce and food products, plus
arts and crafts, wine, cider and beer
tastings. Held along the scenic Hood
River waterfront, this is the Columbia
River Gorge’s biggest celebration of
the region’s incredible fall bounty. Web-
site: http://hoodriver.org/harvest-fest/
highly motivated food system stake-
holders, how can we bring more locally
produced foods into mainstream mar-
kets and strengthen the economics of
small- to mid-sized farms? This one-
day conference will explore, through
an economic lens, ways to cultivate
a local food economy to create jobs,
invigorate small farms and businesses
and keep precious dollars in our Idaho
communities. Hosted by the University
of Idaho Extension, the conference is
made possible with a Western Sustain-
able Agriculture Research & Education
(WSARE) grant. Cost: $45 Website:
https://idahofood2018.eventbrite.com
Capital Press
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Index
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Calendar
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on the
home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Submit
an Event.” Calendar items can also be
mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway
St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 or emailed to
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Saturday, Oct. 6
Oregon’s Bounty. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Oregon State Capitol, 900 Court St.
NE, Salem, Ore. This event focuses
on the importance of agriculture in the
state and brings a little bit of the farm to
the front steps of the Capitol. Website:
https://bit.ly/2QmtO9m
Thursday, Oct. 11
Intro to Pasture Management.
5:30-7 p.m. OSU SOREC Extension
Building Auditorium, 569 Hanley Road,
Central Point, Ore. Through under-
standing the biology of pasture plants
and grazing behavior or livestock, you
can improve the productivity of your
pasture and reduce weed problems. In
this introductory course, you will learn
to identify important forage species,
evaluate soil fertility needs, and imple-
ment rotational-grazing management
techniques to maintain productive
pastures in southern Oregon. Gordon
Jones, professor at the OSU Southern
Oregon Research and Extension Cen-
ter, will offer this class. For information:
lee.s@oregonstate.edu or 541-776-
7371 Cost: $15 Website: http://bit.ly/
JacksonExtAgriculture
Friday-Sunday
Oct. 12-14
Hood River Valley Harvest Fest.
1-6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Satur-
day, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Hood Riv-
er Event Site, North of Exit 63 off Inter-
state 84, Hood River, Ore. Celebrate
Thursday, Oct. 18
Balancing Profitability and Access
in Local Food Systems. 8:30 a.m.-4
p.m. The Riverside Hotel, 2900 W.
Chinden Blvd., Boise, Idaho. In a state
that comprises big ag, small ag and
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