6th Annual 2025 Conference 
Date: September 26, 2025
Great Woods Companies,
Bennettsville, SC
(Hosted by Bob & Cindy Lussier)

The Carolina Women In Timber organization proudly hosted its 6th Annual Conference
bringing together over 50 attendees—for a day of connection, recognition, and empowerment in the timber industry.

We began the conference Thursday for a Social Evening Event, which was a smash hit!
Over 30 guests, men and women attended! This gathering proved to be more than just “networking.”
It was a wonderful group of people such as coworkers, colleagues, friends, family, that made the time to connect, mingle, chat and have some much needed fun with each other!
Wonderful connections were made and some fantastic conversations were had!

John Rano was our amazing bartender and also surprised us by being the feller buncher operator on the logging job we would see the next day! – yes, you heard that right! Kudos to him for jumping in and serving our group!

This social event lasted longer than we ever expected and more attended than we planned for! A complete success!

On Friday, the conference kicked off with individual introductions, allowing each attendee to share their background and role in the industry. This set the tone for a highly interactive day, where networking and relationship-building were front and center.

A networking rotation encouraged attendees to rotate and meet new faces, fostering deeper connections across the room. This was followed by a roundtable discussion, where thoughtful questions were posed to each participant, sparking meaningful conversations and shared insights.

We had 4 guest speakers, Jennifer Goodnow, Nadaya Butler, Simone Handfield, and Brandy Gammon.
Other special guests included Jessica Johnson of the Southern Loggin'​ Times, Olivia Black with Olivia Black Photography, and Scott Dane, Executive Director of the American Loggers Council.


Scott Dane , Executive Director of the American Loggers Council honored each attendee with an ALC Challenge Coin—a symbol of camaraderie and recognition for outstanding contributions. He emphasized the ALC’s commitment to supporting women working for or contributing to this industry, an industry that we all love, stating that women bring invaluable perspective and strength to the industry’s future.

We presented our 2nd scholarship to Skylar Deaton, a junior in Forest Management at North Carolina State University. We also presented our charity donation to We Are Sharing Hope SC an organ and tissue donation program for the state of South Carolina.

We enjoyed an amazing catered lunch from Rebecca at McArthur Farms!

The highlight of the day was visiting a logging site presented by Bob Lussier where the ladies got to watch and learn about a skidder, feller buncher, and a chipper. Ladies were offered an opportunity to get up in the machine and learn about the controls and what it takes to operate these machines.
Founder Lori Walker even got to fell a tree!