Grants total $1.5 million

The U.S. Forest Service has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to various research companies and institutions conducting a total of 23 projects designed to keep local wood businesses competitive and sustainable.

The maximum grant amount is $100,000 and all recipients are required to match federal funds, dollar for dollar.

Other grants went to:

• Agri-Tech Producers LLC, Columbia, S.C., $100,000

• Allison Tree Care Inc., Verona, Wis., $43,000

• Architectural Woodwork Institute, Potomac Falls, Va., $92,000

• Concord University, Princeton, W.Va., $58,860

• Conway & Robinson LLC, Sharpsburg, Ga., $79,100

• CuddleBug Firewood & Forestry Products, Campbell Hill, Ill., $15,000

• Haywood Community College, Clyde, N.C., $77,522

• Itasca Economic Development Corp., Grand Rapids, Minn., $50,000

• Maine Forest Service, Augusta, Maine, $76,879

• Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Brunswick, Maine, $50,000

• National Network of Forest Practitioners, Athens, Ohio, $100,000

• North Carolina State University, Raleigh, $96,874

• National Hardwood Lumber Association, Memphis, Tenn., $25,000

• Penn State University, University Park, Pa., $89,500

• University of Minnesota-Duluth, $89,500

• Upper Peninsula Resource Conservation District, Marquette, Mich., $48,700

• Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association, Rutland, Vt., $42,647

• Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America, Philadelphia, $78,441

• Young Furniture Mfg., Bow, N.H., $100,000