Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast announces staff changes and additions following regional expansion

AUGUSTA, ME – The Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC) expansion beyond Maine is now well underway, and the organization has announced staff changes and additions to ensure the quality of representation and benefits offered to its members remain consistent and strong throughout the region.

PLC Member Services Manager Jessica Clark, an 8-year veteran of the organization, has been promoted to Deputy Executive Director for Membership & Operations.

Ben Grant of Waterville has been hired as the PLC’s new Deputy Executive Director of Legislative & Public Affairs. Grant has more than a decade of experience in legislative and public affairs, most recently as Senior Legislative Aide for the Republican Office in the Maine House of Representatives. He previously served as Director of Public Affairs for Dirigo Partners of Cumberland, ME, a legislative aide in the Maine House, and as Acting State Director of StudentsFirst, a nonprofit organization based in California. Grant was also a self-employed blueberry harvester owner and operator for two years prior to starting his professional career.

Grant is a 2010 graduate of Thomas College in Waterville, ME, where he earned a B.S. in Sport Management with a Marketing Concentration. He has an extensive understanding of legislative affairs, advocacy, and communications. He may be reached at (207) 688-8195 or ben@plcloggers.org.

Renee’ Wright of Skowhegan has been hired as the PLC’s new Membership Services Coordinator. Wright has more than five years of experience in office management, safety roles, and rental operations management for a heavy equipment dealership in Skowhegan, where she worked frequently with logging contractors. Prior to that she worked as a park ranger at Lake George Regional Park in Skowhegan.

Wright is a 2019 graduate of Unity College in Unity, ME with a BS in Conservation Law Enforcement. She may be reached at (207) 688-8195 or renee@plcloggers.org

“Ben and Renee’ have excellent qualifications for the roles they are taking on, and Jessica is a proven and valued member of our team,” PLC Executive Director Dana Doran, said. “Their contributions will be critical to the PLC’s success as it enters a new chapter representing loggers and forest truckers throughout the Northeast.”

The staff additions and changes for the logging and forest trucking association follow the PLC’s expansion in early October, which began with contractors from the state of Vermont becoming eligible to join the PLC and marked the biggest step for the organization since it was founded by loggers in Maine in 1995.

The new PLC staff members will be based at the PLC’s office in Augusta. Additional staff will soon be added in Vermont as part of the expansion.

Founded by loggers who were concerned about the future of the logging and forest trucking industry, the PLC has grown steadily to become a regional trade association which provides independent logging contractors and truckers in the Northeast a voice in the rapidly changing forest products industry. Board membership consists of only loggers, making it an organization that is run by loggers on behalf of loggers.

Learn more about the PLC at www.plcloggers.org

Ben Grant

Renee’ Wright