This week, Oregon Business & Industry (OBI) and Here is Oregon announced Freres Engineered Wood’s Mass Ply panels as the winner of the inaugural Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest. Freres Wood’s President, Rob Freres, along with Vice President of Operations, Kyle Freres, and Vice President of Sales, Tyler Freres, accepted the award at OBI’s annual Vision Oregon Event, one of the state’s most important gatherings of business and civic leaders. This year’s event took place on October 25 at the Portland Art Museum.

“We are grateful to be recognized for our innovative Mass Ply panels as the winner of The Coolest Thing Made in Oregon competition,” says Rob. “Freres Engineered Wood has prioritized sustainability and innovation for more than 100 years, and we are very proud of the contributions Mass Ply has already made to the mass timber movement. We hope awards and acknowledgements like this will help people recognize wood as the most sustainable building product available and illustrate how engineered wood products protect our beloved forests for future generations.”

OBI and Here is Oregon partnered together in 2023 to launch the inaugural Coolest Thing Made in Oregon competition as a celebration of Oregon’s manufacturing sector. Oregon is among the national leaders in per-capita manufacturing output, with thousands of manufacturers and more than 200,000 employees. Freres Wood is a leading manufacturer in the state, recently recognized in OBI’s 2023 Manufacturing & Innovation Roadshow. Today, Freres Wood is honored once again, this time as the winner of The Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest for their state-of-the-art Mass Ply panels.

Freres Wood began developing Mass Ply in 2015 as a sustainable alternative to traditional building materials. These veneer-based, engineered wood products are far superior in terms of strength and thermal performance than concrete, steel and even other mass timber products like cross-laminated timber. Additionally, Mass Ply not only generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than its competition, but engineered wood products actually retain carbon, representing a dramatically smaller carbon footprint.

Today, Freres Wood’s patented Mass Ply products are rapidly becoming a staple in the global engineered wood products marketplace. Thanks to its versatile and reliable design, Mass Ply can be used in a variety of different applications, such as columns, beams and of course panels. They have been selected as a core building material for impressive structures like Canada’s massive Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre and even Port of Portland’s new, eye-catching PDX Terminal.

For more information about Freres Engineered Wood and Mass Ply products, call 503-891-2121 or visit www.frereswood.com.

About Freres Engineered Wood Products
Freres Engineered Wood, formerly Freres Lumber Co., Inc., has a 100-year history of innovation in the wood products industry, beginning in 1922 when T.G. Freres started a small sawmill in Oregon’s Santiam Canyon. Today, Freres’ operations include finished plywood, lumber, veneer and structural composite lumber, Mass Ply products, biochar, and a cogeneration facility that supplies renewable power for the local area. Known for being traditionally innovative, Freres is deeply committed to its community and to sustainable forest management practices. The company uses 100% of the wood it processes throughout its three operations—Freres Engineered Wood Products, Freres Timber and Evergreen BioPower LCC—and six wood products facilities. Freres provides family wage jobs to nearly 500 employees. For more information, visit www.frereswood.com or call 503-859-2121.