Staff Report
Published March 17, 2011

Summerville biotech company ArborGen has partnered with Portland, Ore.-based GreenWood Resources, a global hardwood tree developer and manager, in a strategic alliance to collaborate on and increase tree resources in the Southeast.

Executives from both companies unveiled the partnership on Wednesday at the BioPro Expo in Atlanta. It is intended to help meet a growing demand for woody biomass from hardwood trees that have been grown for that purpose.

The collaboration is intended to increase the supply of hybrid and pure poplar tree varietals available to Southeast landowners, among other goals.

“Our companies possess complementary core capabilities and resources, which offer a unique opportunity for collaboration,” said ArborGen President and CEO Barbara Wells. “By utilizing our collective poplar science and forestry expertise with ArborGen’s platform of regional nurseries and products, as well as GreenWood’s management experience, we can work to fulfill the Southeast region’s need for biomass and meet the growing demand for wood, fiber and energy.”

ArborGen, a commercial provider of trees based on its biotech research and development, sold about 240 million seedlings in the United States, New Zealand and Australia in fiscal 2010.

GreenWood Resources, which is also an investment and asset management company, works to develop a hybrid poplar germplasm, as well as growing systems that make short-rotation, high-yield tree farms more efficient.

ArborGen’s regional nurseries and tree germplasm resources will be combined with GreenWood’s hybridization and varietal development program, as well as its expertise in management and tree farm operations.

“This partnership has been months in the making, and we are pleased that it has become a reality,” said Jeffrey L. Nuss, president and CEO of GreenWood Resources. “Uniting our resources will provide a highly competitive and sustainable source of premium woody biomass for the growing Southeast market. Along with this is a unique opportunity for markets to participate in the unfolding opportunities with GreenWood-managed tree farms.”