Northern Forest Center
The Northern Forest Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that invests in people and communities across the 30-million-acre, four-state Northern Forest region (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York), delivering workforce housing, outdoor recreation, wood-products support, and community-forest stewardship through grants, impact investment, and technical assistance.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersConcord, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Northern Forest Center does
Northern Forest Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit regional development organization headquartered in Concord, New Hampshire, with field staff presence in 10 locations across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. Founded in 1997, it is the only organization exclusively focused on the 30-million-acre Northern Forest spanning those four states, where it serves approximately 2 million residents and works in a region with a $33 billion economy. Its mission is to invest in people and communities to secure regional prosperity and a resilient forest landscape.
The Center delivers its work through four interconnected program areas: workforce housing development (notably using TMBR mass-timber construction in projects such as the 28-unit Greenville, Maine development and the 9-unit Tupper Lake, New York Park Street building), outdoor recreation infrastructure (Bike Borderlands trail network now spanning 16 member collaborations, Ride With Gratitude campaign, small-grants programs), wood-products and rural-business support (Telling Your Forest Story workshop series, Feel Good Heat campaign generating 35M+ consumer touchpoints), and community-forest stewardship (climate-resilience planning across 8 community forests totaling 32,000 acres in the Androscoggin Valley network). The Northern Forest Fund operates as a dedicated impact-investment vehicle providing flexible capital to projects across the region, and the Center convenes regional peer networks including the NEK Collaborative and Adirondack Community Recreation Alliance.
The revenue model is a nonprofit blend of federal and state grants (USDA, USFS, NRCS, Northern Border Regional Commission, Restore New York, NY DEC Smart Growth, congressionally directed spending), impact-investment capital deployed through the Northern Forest Fund, and philanthropic donations from individuals, family foundations, and business members. GTM is community-led and place-based: staff engage directly with municipalities, nonprofits, and businesses, providing technical assistance, feasibility studies, project management, peer-network facilitation, and direct development of housing projects. Cumulative scale signals include 10,000 jobs supported, $288 million in capital secured or leveraged, and 259,219 acres designated for community benefit.
Northern Forest Center firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Northern Forest Center
- Legal name
- The Northern Forest Center Inc.
- Website
- https://northernforest.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Northern Forest Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that invests in people and communities across the 30-million-acre, four-state Northern Forest region (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York), delivering workforce housing, outdoor recreation, wood-products support, and community-forest stewardship through grants, impact investment, and technical assistance.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Northern Forest Center industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Rural Community Development Services
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Forestry (11531)
- SIC
- Forestry (800)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Forestry & Reforestation (BPAGAGAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Forest Management & Silviculture Services (Cruising, Planning, Compliance) (IMAMAAAD)
Keywords
Where Northern Forest Center is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Concord
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices11 records
Markets served
Northern Forest Center business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Grants and Federal Funding: The organization receives grants from federal agencies (USDA, USFS, NRCS), congressionally directed spending, and state programs to fund housing, recreation, and community development projects
- Northern Forest Fund (Impact Investments): The Center raises capital for its Northern Forest Fund, which provides impact-first investments to projects across the region. Returns are reinvested into the mission
- Philanthropic Donations: Individual donors, family foundations, and business members contribute to the organization's general operations and specific programs through the Give section of the website
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Northern Forest Center product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Northern Forest Center is a regional 501(c)(3) nonprofit that invests in people and communities across the 30-million-acre Northern Forest spanning Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It delivers workforce housing development using mass timber construction, outdoor recreation infrastructure (notably Bike Borderlands), community forest stewardship, wood products business support, and impact investing through the Northern Forest Fund. Core activities are funded via grants, federal appropriations, philanthropic donations, and impact investment capital deployed into rural community projects.
Product overview
Northern Forest Center is a regional, multi-sector non-profit organization operating across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York that offers a portfolio of interconnected programs focused on community development, outdoor recreation, and forest stewardship. Its core offerings include the Northern Forest Fund (an impact investment vehicle for housing and community projects), housing development using mass timber construction, the Bike Borderlands mountain bike network collaborative, community forests initiative, and various marketing programs like Telling Your Forest Story and Feel Good Heat campaign. The organization does not offer a unified technology product but rather delivers mission-driven programs through community partnerships, grants, and direct project implementation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Northern Forest Fund: Impact investment fund providing capital for community development projects across the Northern Forest region.
- Feel Good Heat
- Bike Borderlands
- Ride With Gratitude
- Telling Your Forest Story
Products and services
- Northern Forest Fund Impact investment fund that provides capital for community development projects across the Northern Forest region, including housing development, downtown revitalization, and historic preservation projects. Returns are reinvested into the mission.
- Housing Development Program Direct development of middle-income workforce housing using mass timber construction, including apartment buildings and residential redevelopments in Maine, New York, and Vermont communities. Includes due diligence, pre-development assistance, and full project implementation in partnership with municipalities.
- Bike Borderlands Mountain bike trail network collaborative working with regional partners to build, maintain, and promote mountain biking opportunities across the Northern Forest region, now expanding to 16 member networks.
- Community Forests Initiative Program supporting communities in acquiring, managing, and stewarding community forests for local climate resilience, recreation, and ecological benefits across the Androscoggin River watershed, including peer network facilitation with eight Community Forests totaling 32,000 acres.
- Telling Your Forest Story Online workshop series and marketing program helping wood products businesses develop brand narratives that incorporate their forest-origin story into marketing strategies.
- Feel Good Heat Campaign Consumer marketing campaign promoting modern wood heat to residential consumers and small business owners across Vermont and Maine, generating over 35 million consumer touchpoints.
- Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation Symposium Annual regional symposium bringing together outdoor recreation leaders to build strategies that amplify community, economic, and health benefits of the outdoor recreation sector.
- Small Grants Programs Mini grant programs supporting outdoor recreation projects, youth access to outdoors, and community recreation initiatives across the Northern Forest region, including Adirondack Community Recreation Alliance grants exceeding $15,000 for trail, signage, and amenity projects.
Quantifiable outcome
- 10,000 jobs supported and $288 million secured or leveraged for regional development
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Northern Forest Center
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Northern Forest Center technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Northern Forest Center partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Northern Border Regional CommissioncoreCo-host of the 2024 Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation Symposium with the Center, bringing together 180 leaders from across Maine, NH, VT, and NY to build regional strategies for outdoor recreation economic development.
- TMBR (Timberbuilt)coreChicago-based mass timber construction system provider used for workforce housing developments in Greenville, Maine (28-unit Spruce Street project) and Tupper Lake, NY. The innovative construction technology enables faster building timelines for affordable housing projects.
- UNH Cooperative ExtensioncoreExtension state specialist Steven Roberge works with Center staff to help Community Forests update management plans to incorporate climate resilience practices. Collaborative partner in the Androscoggin Valley Community Forest climate network.
- Society for the Protection of New Hampshire ForestsminorPartner in Amicus Brief supporting White Mountain National Forest management plans, joined by Appalachian Mountain Club, NH Wildlife Federation, Audubon Society of NH, and other conservation organizations.
- Appalachian Mountain ClubminorPartner in coalition supporting science-based forest management, part of diverse group including wildlife, recreation, and forest products organizations.
- State Outdoor Recreation OfficescorePartner organizations including Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Vermont Outdoor Recreation Industry Development, and NH Outdoor Recreation Industry Development collaborating on the Outdoor Recreation Symposium.
- Adirondack Community Recreation Alliance (ACRA)coreAlliance the Center facilitates and participates in, awarding mini-grants for recreational connectivity projects in Adirondack communities. Total grants exceeding $15,000 for trail, signage, and amenity projects.
- Village of Tupper LakecoreMunicipal partner for Park Street redevelopment project, providing support for workforce housing to help revitalize the community.
- Town of Elizabethtown, NYcoreMunicipal partner for Hale House redevelopment creating 5 units of workforce housing in historic 1818 building.
- Town of Gorham, NHcoreMunicipal partner for Community Trail Hub development, with NBRC grant of $280,000 for property acquisition and recreation improvements.
- Pennsylvania Wilds Center for EntrepreneurshipminorKeynote presenter at Outdoor Recreation Symposium sharing expertise on rural outdoor recreation economic development model.
- Aspen Institute Community Strategies GroupminorCo-executive director Chris Estes presented at Outdoor Recreation Symposium on community strategies.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Northern Forest Center competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Open Space Institute: New York-based land conservation organization that actively partners with the Center (e.g., funding Community Forest climate-resilience work in the Adirondacks). Directly comparable on forest and community-programming activities in New York.
- New England Forestry Foundation: Regional nonprofit working on forest management, stewardship, and conservation across New England. Direct peer on community-forest technical assistance and climate-resilient forestry programming.
- Appalachian Mountain Club: Regional outdoor recreation and conservation nonprofit operating across the Northeast with similar community-forest advocacy. Center has partnered with AMC in coalition filings on White Mountain National Forest management plans.
- Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests: Established 1901 regional conservation nonprofit focused on New Hampshire forests and community stewardship. Directly comparable as a long-standing state-level forest/community conservation organization with which the Center has an active amicus-brief partnership.
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust: State-level land trust operating in Maine on land conservation and community stewardship. Most direct peer in the Center's home state on the conservation/community-forest side of the mission.
- Vermont Land Trust: Vermont-based land conservation nonprofit addressing rural community and working-landscape issues comparable to the Center's mission within its four-state footprint.
Broad incumbents
- The Trust for Public Land: Large national nonprofit doing land conservation and community-parks work overlapping with the Center's mission. Broader portfolio but commonly partners on regional land-protection deals in the Northeast.
- The Conservation Fund: National conservation nonprofit working on forest-conservation, community economic development, and land-protection projects. Comparable integrated conservation-and-economy portfolio but at national scale.
- Rural LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation): National nonprofit with a dedicated Rural program providing capacity-building, capital, and technical assistance to rural community development—directly comparable to the Center's rural-community capacity-building work at national scale.
Emerging players
- Pennsylvania Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship: Regional rural-economic-development organization in Pennsylvania that presented alongside the Center at the 2024 Outdoor Recreation Symposium. Comparable model using outdoor recreation as rural economic driver in a different geography.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Northern Forest Center social profiles
Digital presenceNorthern Forest Center financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Northern Forest Center leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Northern Forest Center funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Northern Forest Center M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Northern Forest Center
What does Northern Forest Center do?
Northern Forest Center is a regional 501(c)(3) nonprofit that invests in people and communities across the 30-million-acre Northern Forest spanning Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It delivers workforce housing development using mass timber construction, outdoor recreation infrastructure (notably Bike Borderlands), community forest stewardship, wood products business support, and impact investing through the Northern Forest Fund. Core activities are funded via grants, federal appropriations, philanthropic donations, and impact investment capital deployed into rural community projects.
Is Northern Forest Center a public or private company?
Northern Forest Center is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Northern Forest Center founded?
Northern Forest Center was founded in 1997. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Northern Forest Center based?
Northern Forest Center is headquartered in Concord, United States, in the North America region.
How does Northern Forest Center make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Grants and Federal Funding is the primary driver. The others are northern Forest Fund (Impact Investments) and philanthropic Donations.
Who are Northern Forest Center's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Open Space Institute, New England Forestry Foundation, Appalachian Mountain Club, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Vermont Land Trust. Broad incumbents are The Trust for Public Land, The Conservation Fund and Rural LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation). Pennsylvania Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship is listed as an emerging player.
Does Northern Forest Center have an API?
No public API is recorded for Northern Forest Center.
What industry is Northern Forest Center in?
Northern Forest Center's product category is Rural Community Development Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAGAD, Forestry & Reforestation, with a secondary code of IMAMAAAD, Forest Management & Silviculture Services (Cruising, Planning, Compliance). Its NAICS code is 11531 and its SIC code is 800.