Hemp Voices: James Forbes, Tiger Fiber Hemp
James Forbes, co-founder of St. Louis-based Tiger Fiber Hemp
I work directly with our farmers to ensure high success rates of growing the hemp fiber crops in which our business is dependent on. This involves seed selection, agronomy programming, in-season consultation, harvesting strategies, and logistics to get the crops to our processing facility. I also am deeply engaged in sales, marketing, PR, outreach, education, plant operations, sweeping floors, equipment maintenance, ordering pizza, and industry advocacy.
The thing that draws me the most to hemp, specifically industrial hemp, is the potential to be a net positive for people and the planet to curb CO2 and GHG emissions. What motivates myself and team Tiger Fiber to pursue the hemp building sector is the ability to help develop a truly sustainable construction industry, as the world looks to build out more new living space to be the largest in the history of humanity over the next 30 years.
What was a win for your company in the past year?
The biggest win for Tiger Fiber was scaling up our operations to process and sell enough hemp material into the construction industry to support our regional farming program.
What is something about hemp building/construction/processing you didn’t know a year ago?
Something I didn't know a year ago was how complex the supply chain truly was. It cannot be understated how difficult it is to grow a hemp fiber crop that meets the broad demand for "builder grade" hemp materials, how different each processor’s inputs and outputs were, and how challenging it is to meet demand.
What challenges does the hemp building industry face that it must overcome in the next five years?
Consumer awareness and education is in my opinion the single largest challenge to widespread adoption of hemp building materials. If I walk down the street and ask 100 people "what they think about hemp building materials," 99+ out of 100 will automatically assume we're talking about psychoactive cannabis. After an exhausting conversation describing the environmental and performance characteristics of hemp homes and building materials, people's eyes light up with excitement … but it is challenging finding the energy to educate everyone we come across.
Contact: james@tigerfiberhemp.com
(314) 804-2422