There could be no more fitting day than Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, for HempWood® to be named the “2024 Coolest Thing Made in Kentucky!” This online voting, bracket-style tournament allowed Kentuckians to choose the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Kentucky from among the thousands of world-class products manufactured in the Commonwealth.
The award, presented by the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers and Kentucky Farm Bureau, was handed off to HempWood® founder Greg Wilson by U.S. Senator Rand Paul in Murray, Kentucky on Monday.
HempWood® flooring is manufactured in Murray using fiber hemp grown within 100 miles of Calloway County for this specific purpose. It is renewable, sustainable, and USDA Certified BioBased. HempWood® contains no VOCs and is non-toxic. The farmer-leaders of the Kentucky Soybean Board are pro-HempWood® because it contains approximately 13 percent soy. Soy flour is used in the adhesive formulation rather than traditional chemicals which often include formaldehyde.
“We have invested checkoff dollars into helping the folks at HempWood® fund research to include more soy flour in their adhesive formulation,” said Kentucky Soybean Board Chairman Barry Alexander, who farms in Christian County. “The new uses category is one of the most promising things I think we can put our soy checkoff dollars into, and I am particularly interested in uses that include soy meal and soy flour. The United Soybean Board, where I serve as one of Kentucky’s three directors, has put a lot of money into uses for soybean oil over the years, and as those uses have taken off and become commercialized and mainstream, we need to focus on using other soy components to keep up with the demand for soybean oil. This product is a great example, and I am glad to see HempWood® being so successful.”
For more information on soybean farming in Kentucky, visit KySoy.org. To learn more about renewable, sustainable products from HempWood®, visit HempWood.com.
