Urban Wood Network

What Urban Wood Network does

Urban Wood Network (UWN), legally Urban Wood Network Inc., is a U.S. nonprofit corporation founded in 2017 to unify and grow the urban wood utilization industry. Its roots stretch back to the early 2000s Emerald Ash Borer response in the Midwest, when arborists, sawmills, municipalities, and government stakeholders began informally collaborating to divert urban trees from chipping, burning, or landfill into higher-value lumber and finished goods. The organization operates a web-based membership platform that combines a searchable Member Directory organized by industry category and U.S. region, an Online Marketplace for buying and selling urban wood products, state-specific chapters (Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin), and a content library including the Urban Wood Toolkit, a member-exclusive marketing kit, educational webinars, and publications on lumber drying, municipal case studies, and urban wood in the built environment.

Revenue is generated through income-tiered annual membership subscriptions (Business/Industry, Advocate/Nonprofit, Student tiers) with automatic renewal, fee-based educational webinars and training programs, corporate sponsorships (including Wood-Mizer and 1% for the Planet), and grant funding from the USDA Forest Service and CAL FIRE's Urban and Community Forestry Program via a Proposition 68 grant. The board comprises volunteer industry leaders spanning communications, cabinet manufacturing, university extension, forestry services, eco-education, and architecture, reflecting the organization's coalition-based model. In 2019, UWN absorbed the membership of Urban Salvaged and Reclaimed Woods Inc. (USRW), more than doubling its base and consolidating the two principal industry groups.

The organization self-positions as the leading international body for the urban wood industry, leveraging US Forest Service data to frame its environmental thesis: roughly 12.7 million metric tonnes of urban logs are chipped, burned, or landfilled annually in the U.S., representing 5.7 million metric tonnes of forgone carbon sequestration and the equivalent of 154 million trees of carbon offset potential if just 20% were captured. Its competitive narrative rests on network effects across the full urban wood supply chain rather than proprietary technology or financial scale.

Name

Urban Wood Network

Legal name

Urban Wood Network Inc.

Website

https://urbanwoodnetwork.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Urban Wood Network is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 2017 that operates a membership-based directory, online marketplace, and educational platform connecting arborists, sawmills, suppliers, manufacturers, municipalities, and designers to divert urban trees from waste streams into higher-value lumber and finished wood products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Wood Industry Network & Marketplace

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Tree Care & Arborist Services (BPABADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Forestry & Logging Equipment (IMAHACAK), In-Woods Comminution & Size Reduction (Chippers/Grinders) (AFAMAJAF)

Keywords

• Urban wood utilization
• Wood products manufacturing
• Lumber marketplace
• Municipal forestry
• Industry membership network

Headquarters

HQ city

Crystal Falls

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees collected from businesses, industry members, advocates, and students. Business/industry members select income range that matches business generated from urban wood annually. Membership renews automatically on anniversary date.
2. Educational Programs and Webinars: Fee-based educational webinars and training programs for urban wood industry professionals, including topics on business development, marketing, and technical skills

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Urban Wood Network operates a nonprofit membership-based industry network that connects arborists, sawyers, wood suppliers, manufacturers, design professionals, municipalities, and advocates across the United States and Canada. It delivers value through a member directory, an online marketplace for urban wood products, educational webinars, publications and toolkits, and industry events. Its stated mission is to encourage the sustainable use of urban trees through the production and sale of lumber and other wood products.

Product overview

Urban Wood Network operates as a membership-based network platform that connects urban wood industry professionals across the supply chain. The core offerings include an Online Marketplace for buying and selling urban wood products, a searchable Member Directory organized by industry categories (Log/Tree Suppliers, Tree Removal, Wood Producers, Kiln Services, Wood Suppliers, Wood Users, Professionals, Advocates, and Students) and geographic regions (Northeastern, Southeastern, and Western), and various educational resources including the Urban Wood Toolkit, Comprehensive Urban Wood Marketing Kit, educational webinars, and publications on urban wood utilization in the built environment and municipal case studies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TREES FIRST: Registered trademark owned by Urban Wood Network Inc.
• WOOD NEXT
• URBAN WOOD NETWORK

Products and services

• Urban Wood Network Membership Tiered annual membership for businesses, nonprofits, students, and individuals in the urban wood industry, with dues scaled to organizational revenue. Includes directory listing, marketplace access, and member benefits.
• Online Member Directory and Marketplace Web-based directory listing members across the U.S. and Canada, paired with a third-party marketplace where members list and sell urban wood products.
• Urban Wood in the Built Environment Educational publication focused on the use of urban wood in architecture and design applications.
• Urban Wood Utilization: Municipal Case Studies Educational publication presenting case studies of municipal urban wood utilization programs, intended for government and forestry audiences.
• Urban Lumber Drying Educational publication addressing drying techniques for urban lumber, targeted at sawyers and manufacturers.
• Urban Wood Toolkit Toolkit resource supporting urban wood utilization efforts by members and partners.
• Comprehensive Urban Wood Marketing Kit Marketing kit providing promotional resources to support urban wood product sales and industry outreach.
• Educational Webinars Webinar-based educational programming covering urban wood topics, offered to members and the broader industry.
• Industry Events and Conferences In-person and virtual events bringing together urban wood professionals for networking, education, and industry advancement.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12.7 million metric tonnes of urban wood waste can be diverted annually if industry grows
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• 1% for the PlanetminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUWN partnered with 1% for the Planet as part of fundraising efforts. The partnership offers unique marketing opportunities to celebrate both for-profit and nonprofit businesses doing good work. Participating businesses can designate donations to UWN through the program to continue strengthening UWN, building networks, and promoting members' work.
• USDA Forest ServicecoreOthersInitial funder of UWN through a grant. The website is funded in part by a grant from the USDA Forest Service. Collaboration of public, private, and state and federal stakeholders emerged from this partnership.
• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)coreOthersFunded through CAL FIRE's Urban and Community Forestry Program via Proposition 68 grant awarded to Urban Salvaged and Reclaimed Wood Inc. (USRW). Website funded in part by this grant.
• Wood-MizerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Urban Wood Network providing equipment and support for the urban wood industry.
• For the PlanetminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor organization supporting UWN's environmental mission and initiatives.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Wood-Mizer: Wood-Mizer is a leading manufacturer of portable sawmills and is an active UWN sponsor. It is comparable as a key enabling participant in the urban wood supply chain — without Wood-Mizer equipment and similar providers, UWN members could not economically process urban logs into lumber.

Broad incumbents

• Arbor Day Foundation: Arbor Day Foundation is a large nonprofit focused on tree planting and urban forestry. It overlaps with UWN on the urban forestry/urban tree stewardship side and engages many of the same municipal and arborist stakeholders, though its emphasis is on planting rather than utilization.
• American Forest Foundation: American Forest Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization working on forest stewardship and family forest landowner engagement. It shares UWN's nonprofit model and urban/working forest crossover, though focused on conservation rather than wood-product supply chain.
• Sustainable Forestry Initiative: Sustainable Forestry Initiative is a nonprofit sustainability organization that manages certification standards for forestry and chain-of-custody. It is comparable to UWN as a nonprofit advancing sustainable wood practices and could serve as an analogous standards/certification partner for urban wood.
• National Hardwood Lumber Association: NHLA is the trade association for the hardwood lumber industry, providing grading rules, education, and member services. It is comparable to UWN as a wood-industry member organization but serves the broader hardwood sector rather than specifically urban wood.
• WoodWorks: WoodWorks is a nonprofit educational initiative promoting the use of wood in non-residential and multi-family buildings. It is comparable to UWN as a mission-driven wood industry organization providing technical resources, education, and member services, though its focus is on building applications rather than urban wood sourcing.
• Forest Products Society: Forest Products Society is an international nonprofit serving the wood products research and professional community. It overlaps with UWN in advancing wood utilization knowledge and connecting professionals but focuses on technical research rather than urban-sourced supply chains.

Direct peers

• Reconsidered Goods / Urban Lumber Co-op (type entities): Regional urban lumber cooperatives and reclaimed wood businesses represent the direct operating peers of UWN members. They share the urban wood utilization thesis — recovering urban trees for lumber — and compete/coexist with UWN members in the same supply chain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-wood-network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Wood Network