Great Lakes Mass Timber Collaborative Awarded Wood Innovation Grant 

A new U.S. Forest Service wood innovation grant will enable Dovetail Partners, MassTimber@MSU (Michigan State University), and Team Pennsylvania to accelerate the next phase of the Great Lakes Mass Timber Collaborative (GLMTC). The multi‑state effort advances mass timber markets, manufacturing capacity, and forest‑health‑aligned wood products across the region. The GLMTC, founded in 2024 by MassTimber@MSU, brings together leaders from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York to build a coordinated regional mass timber economy. More than 100 participants convened in April 2026 to mark the release of the GLMTC’s Regional Vision, outlining priorities for supply‑chain development, manufacturing expansion, workforce training, and project‑level technical assistance. 

“The Regional Vision reflects the knowledge, goals, and analysis of people across the mass timber chain—from forests to manufacture to research to buildings—in all eight Great Lakes states,” says Sandra Lupien, director, MassTimber@MSU. “This wood innovation grant enables us to start implementing that vision on the ground by identifying priorities in forests and matching them with opportunities in products and construction.” Lupien founded, and will continue to lead, the Collaborative into its next phase. 

As the Collaborative’s fiscal sponsor, Dovetail Partners provides administrative and financial oversight, as well as staff expertise, to support implementation of this regional strategy. 

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities is strengthening the Great Lakes region’s mass timber ecosystem through a $300,000 matching commitment that complements the $300,000 grant. Together, this $600,000 investment enables Dovetail, MassTimber@MSU, Team Pennsylvania, and GLMTC partners to advance coordinated supply-chain mapping, provide technical assistance for emerging mass timber projects, assess manufacturing expansion opportunities—including hardwood mass timber products—and develop shared tools and case studies that reduce barriers to adoption. These efforts position the Great Lakes region to lead a national transformation in sustainable construction and forest-aligned economic development.

To read the complete Regional Vision from GLMTC, visit canr.msu.edu.