Manufacturer looks at possible business in Forks

Forks City Council news
Forks Forum

02 September @ 11:47:26

Forks, WA - An exciting new venture was the topic of discussion at a recent city council meeting.

Xylon Biotechnologies out of Canada has been interested for quite sometime in our town of Forks for bringing its manufacturing plants to the area.

As explained by Dr. David Jones, founder of the company and creator of the new technologies that are in use by the company, Xylon’s mission is to go into the coastal forests here in North America and look for chemicals:natural chemicals that have usable purposes.

Jones further explained that in the same fashion that aspirin was originally derived from a willow tree, he has found some 130 different compounds in our western red cedar trees that can be harvested and used to create other consumable products.

Xylon would like to bring their manufacturing here to our area and in the west instead of it going to other places like the East Coast and overseas. They figure if the products derived from their technologies are going to be sold in America, they should be manufactured in America too.

The council was very interested in the possibilities that this company might bring to our economy and what other valuable resources that a venture with Xylon might hold for our future.

In other news...

The council approved a request by Diane Schostak of the Chamber of Commerce to help provide the funds necessary to reprint the Forks color brochure. The brochure costs approximately $10,000 to print enough to distribute for 3 years, but because of tourist interest in our area we’ve gone through that amount in about 19 months. The brochure contains many beautiful pictures of the West End and helpful information for those interested in our unique area.

The council also approved an internship program to start in the near future for three areas of City Hall. City of Forks internships will be aimed mostly at college age students, but open to responsible and interested high school students as well. For more information you can contact Molly Sarrazin at 374-5412.

The final report came from Pat Soderlind, Events Coordinator, who said that overall the Feast of Forks was well attended, especially drawing in many tourists passing through the area. Interested parties can contact Soderlind at City Hall to either be a member of the planning committee or to get information for next year’s event. Hopefully there will be more citywide participation and support for this growing tradition.