Grain Surfboards named Enviro Hero of 2007 by ESM

Grain Surfboards was recently given an ESM EMMY by Eastern Surf Magazine and we’re super proud to be named Enviro Hero for 2007 in their recent issue. Here’s the rest of the article with a scan of the article as well.

“With everyone and their sister lining up to claim “green” status in 2007, it was hard to separate the real enviro deal from the growing hoard of eco-johnny-come-latelys. And while plenty of East Coast companies (including Homegrown Foam and Greenlight Surfboard Supply) stepped up to fulfill the growing need for environmentally friendly products, Mike LaVecchia and his company Grain Surfboards garnered attention for different reasons: Mike started handcrafting wooden surfboards purely for fun (after several years involved in snowboard design and boatbuilding); he was a relative newcomer to surfing; he lived in the frigid isolation of Maine; and he didn’t get into the biz with any real hopes of success. In fact, it wasn’t until an Associated Press article (focused on Clark Foam’s shutdown) ran about Mike’s efforts that he received any business at all. Once word of Grain’s efforts got around, so many orders arrived that the company was forced to expand.

LaVecchia and his team of builders get Grain’s wood from a nearby family of growers, who harvest their stock of cedar and spruce at a sustainable pace. And aside from a milling machine and power sander, all of Grain’s work is done with hand tools. National attention from NPR and the AP helped LaVecchia’s cause, but his company remains a local force employing local workers; they just so happen to operate within an increasingly profitable international market. Hailing from their secluded pocket of the East Coast, Grain Surfboards and Mike LaVecchia were an easy choice for our Enviro Hero of 2007.”