Partnerships in Forestry: Virginia

Ron Jenkins, Executive Director, Virginia Loggers Association

VLA is a 501 C 6 trade association designed to bring your Voice to those in all government and private sectors. VLA serves our forest products industry, emphasizing loggers while also supporting forest products mills to keep them healthy and strong.

VLA has a Voice in Congress through personal contacts and membership to the American Loggers Council. VLA is an active member of the ALC, and therefore our VLA members reap benefits provided by ALC too. Significant discounts are available through several large global companies.

Our mission is to serve as a collective Voice for our industry. We accomplish this through our activities at all levels of government that are focused on healthy businesses, fewer regulations, low taxes, and pro-business policies.

Forestry Mutual Insurance and VLA have a special bond with a common interest, ensuring that our members operate safely all the time. We work together to emphasize safety through training! Through a long-standing contract agreement, we work together on common goals. Forestry Mutual Insurance provides membership in VLA when business owners decide to become policyholders for workers’ compensation. Because of Forestry Mutual, VLA now has 195 members whose membership dues are paid by our partner.

Thomas & Thomas, Accountants for VLA, have estimated that membership dues are 98% tax-deductible. However, they also recommend you check with your accountant advisors about your specific situation.

VLA is very active on the political level and especially at the local and state levels. VLA has a political action committee for state representatives to which members can also make financial contributions. The three-member PAC committee carefully considers candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, House of Delegates, and Virginia Senate before making any campaign contribution. VLA seeks candidates who are pro-business and support legislation that allows growth without over-burdensome regulations. VLA members are actively working on local ordinances, such as the current efforts to seek county adoption of the new law authorizing them to exempt personal property taxes on forest harvesting equipment. We have been active on many transportation issues such as hauling weight, bridge closures, and truck prohibitions.

Our members continually work with local, state, and federal officials to build trust and binding relationships that positively impact our business owners.

VLA was active on recent state legislation, including the 90,000 hauling weight permits, flashing lights authority, and the latest forest harvesting tax exemption. These positive changes in Virginia laws have created a safer and more competitive environment for Virginia business owners.

We are actively seeking passage of the Safe Routes Act (HR 2213 to authorize the states’ legal maximum weights on interstate highways and much more at the federal level. This work is done through our membership in the American Loggers Council. Passage of the Safe Routes Act will create safer roads for everyone. VLA adamantly supports moving as much commercial transportation to our interstate highways as possible.

VLA Members in Washington DC 2019

VLA Board & Members with Representative Abigail Spanberger (CD7), VA Secretary of AG & Forestry Bettina Ring, & VA State Forester Rob Farrell January 25, 2021 (From Right to Left Kirk Richardson, Judd Smith, Carmen Smith, C. K. Greene, Secretary Bettina Ring, Frank Myers, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, Vance Wright, State Forester Rob Farrell, Thomas Evelyn, Binky Tapscott, Brandon Widener, Buck Morris, Ricky Allen, Donnie Reaves, Joel Matteson, & Ron Jenkins.

VLA publishes five newsletters each year and uses social media such as the website (www.valoggers.org), Facebook, Twitter, and email distribution. VLA attends most SHARP Logger training and brings attention to the industry and business challenges and opportunities.

We work with Virginia Tech and great organizations to provide training at no charge. For instance, we schedule special safety workshops around Virginia, bringing attention to safety, best management practices, and current industry issues.

VLA enjoys the benefits of having a General Counsel onboard representing association business. In addition, Setliff Law also provides counsel and legal services to individual VLA members at discounted rates. Setliff Law is a widely respected law firm with attorneys covering many areas of business, especially transportation.

We enjoy a family-type annual conference at great places every year (except 2020 due to COVID19). Great speakers and incredible networking opportunities are closely associated with this fun family atmosphere.

VLA has an active board with members invested in the industry covering all the Commonwealth of Virginia. A handful of logging business owners started VLA on a shoe-string budget and had plenty of faith that logging businesses needed their own representation in Virginia’s General Assembly and the national level.

They knew that loggers had special legislative and regulatory issues facing them that forest landowners and mills did not regularly deal with.

The VLA board remains strong and represents individual business owners covering the Commonwealth of Virginia. Many current board members helped create the board in 2002 and stay active today.

Membership has grown thanks to the relationship with Forestry Mutual Insurance and the active leadership of the VLA Board of Directors.

VLA business is administered by an Executive Director and his wife, who volunteers for many duties such as VLA’s magazine assistant editor, VLA Facebook, and annual meeting activities.