Logging Safety

The National Timber Harvesting and Transportation Safety (THATS) Foundation has carried out an important mission since 1991 — promoting safe and professional practices across the timber harvesting and transportation industry. As a charitable 501(c)3 organization administered by the Forest Resources Association, THATS serves a workforce where safety awareness can mean the difference between life and death on the job. Yet for an organization built on forward-thinking safety standards, their digital presence had fallen dangerously behind the times.

Their existing website was outdated and not optimized for mobile devices — a critical shortcoming in an era when professionals in the field increasingly rely on smartphones and tablets to access information. Workers, industry partners, and stakeholders trying to engage with THATS resources on mobile devices were met with a frustrating, difficult-to-navigate experience that undermined the organization's credibility and reach.

Compounding the problem, the THATS team had no reliable way to manage their own content without submitting requests to a developer — a slow, costly, and inefficient process. Even more concerning, the organization had no analytics tracking in place, meaning they were operating completely blind with no insight into who was visiting their site, what content resonated, or how their digital outreach was performing. For a mission-driven nonprofit, that lack of visibility was a serious obstacle to growth and impact.

Stoute Web Solutions partnered with the Forest Resources Association to deliver a comprehensive digital overhaul for the THATS Foundation — one designed not just to modernize the website, but to empower the organization's staff for long-term independence and success. The project was scoped and delivered within an 8-week timeline, balancing efficiency with the attention to detail the client's safety-focused mission deserved.

The team designed and developed a custom, mobile-responsive WordPress website built from the ground up to reflect THATS's professional identity and serve its diverse audience across all devices. Every element of the design was crafted with usability in mind — ensuring that whether a timber industry professional was accessing resources from an office desktop or a mobile device in the field, the experience was seamless and intuitive.

WordPress was implemented as a robust content management system (CMS), giving THATS staff the ability to independently update pages, publish news, and manage resources without relying on outside developers. To ensure the team felt confident using the new platform, Stoute Web Solutions provided hands-on staff training tailored to the organization's specific workflows and content needs.

Finally, anonymous analytics tracking was integrated into the site, giving the THATS Foundation its first-ever window into audience behavior and content performance — a foundational tool for making informed decisions about their digital strategy going forward.

The impact of the redesign was immediate and measurable. By equipping the THATS Foundation with a modern CMS and providing thorough staff training, Stoute Web Solutions delivered a transformation that dramatically reduced the organization's dependence on outside technical support for routine content updates.

• 90% reduction in required content change requests submitted to developers
• Full mobile responsiveness achieved across all devices and screen sizes
• Anonymous analytics tracking implemented for the first time in the organization's digital history
• Staff fully trained and independently managing website content post-launch
• Project completed on time within an 8-week delivery window

The 90% reduction in content change requests stands as a testament to how the right technology — paired with the right training — can fundamentally shift how a nonprofit organization operates. THATS staff moved from being dependent on a developer for routine updates to confidently managing their own digital presence. With analytics now in place, the organization also gained the data-driven foundation it needs to better serve its safety mission and grow its reach across the timber harvesting and transportation industry.