The HBI Presents at the Montana Hemp Summer Summit and the Tennessee State Fair. Upcoming Presentations for Colombia with ASTM and at the International Hemp Building Symposium.
By Jacob Waddell
HBI President Presents at Montana Hemp Summer Summit 2023
Hemp industry experts gathered for the Montana Hemp Summer Summit in Great Falls, Montana in late July. This invite-only event brought together players from different levels of the hemp supply chain to discuss progress in the industry. IND Hemp acted as gracious hosts to the over 150 participants of this year's event which took place at the University of Providence and included tours of hemp fields and IND Hemp's seed and fiber processing facilities. Presenters at the summit covered topics from farming to processing to end products uses of hemp.
HBI President, Jacob Waddell, spoke on a hemp building products panel with Cameron McIntosh from Americhanvre and Tai Olson from US Heritage Group. The panel moderator, Eric Hurlock from the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast, led the discussion ranging from where the industry is to efforts to create a better future for the hemp building industry. Each expert reviewed their recent activities and plans for the future. McIntosh discussed the industry from the builders' perspective, laying out what the current capabilities of the industry are and what that means to the hemp farming and processing sectors. Olson reviewed what he has seen with his decade worth of experience in the industry with US Heritage, which is responsible for some of the first permitted hemp-lime structures in the country, and the US Hemp Building Association's efforts to create commercial guide specifications for hemp-lime. Waddell discussed how all the progress in the industry can be utilized to improve affordable housing and how use of these materials in affordable housing could show how the hemp building industry could move from one off builds to large scale developments.
The event was a great connector amongst different levels of the industry. Each aspect of the hemp ecosystem is crucial to the success of the industry as a whole and the unifying of these different parts helps us all to thrive. Thank you to the IND Hemp family for another invigorating event in beautiful Montana.
HBI Speaks About Hempcrete to the Tennessee State Fair 2023 with the Hemp Alliance of Tennessee
On a sweltering afternoon in Lebanon, Tennessee, as ice cream sandwiches were handed out to fairgoers of the Tennessee State Fair, hope for the future of the building industry was discussed. Jacob Waddell was presenting on the benefits and future of hemp-lime buildings in Tennessee at the Turners Evans Building. Waddell spoke on behalf of the Hemp Building Institute (HBI) and the Hemp Alliance of Tennessee (HAT). The audience was educated on the wide range of hemp building products before they were taken for a deeper dive into hemp-lime and how these materials could benefit everyone. Waddell then highlighted the need for better quality affordable housing and how hemp-lime could provide healthier sustainable affordable housing options. Attendees seemed particularly interested in the health benefits of hemp-lime.
Upcoming International Presentations
The HBI will be presenting in two upcoming international events.
In September, HBI President Jacob Waddell will be presenting on the behalf of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), PROCEMCO, and the Colombian Ministry of Commerce to educate participants on the status of the hemp building industry and how Colombia can benefit.
In October, Waddell will be presenting at the 11th International Hemp Building Symposium presented by the International Hemp Building Association (IHBA). The symposium will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands on October 10th and 11th and will bring together hemp building industry professionals from around the world. If you can't make it to Amsterdam or prefer to learn about progress of the hemp building industry from the comfort of your own home, this year's event will be hybrid. Register today.