Announcing the Pacific Northwest Fiber Connect!
Hello and thank you for being here!
Our mission here at PNWFC is, at its core, to unite the natural fiber industry and revitalize a robust, accessible, and regenerative regional fiber economy within the Pacific Northwest region.
We aim to foster opportunities for people and organizations in WA, OR, and ID to connect and collaborate over regionally produced natural fibers throughout the entire line of production, from the ground to garment. Our organization encourages the development and success of fiber producers, processors, and fiber related enterprises as well as natural pigment and textile systems and soil and ecosystem health.
Read on for a better understanding of what that means for our community members.
Our Journey to the Present
PNWFC is the brainchild of a growing collective consciousness around locally, ethically sourced natural fibers. While the trend towards regional fiber production and processing has been growing for years, the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic made plain the gravity of a strong regional supply chain. This marked a turning point for many businesses in which a common interest for a more cohesive and collaborative community was reinvigorated.
One concept for cohesion began as a senior capstone project by Hannah Paquette (Olympia, WA) at The Evergreen State College in 2022. She began the Olympia Regional Fiber Resource Directory as an educational resource originally intended for students to locate internships and potential jobs in the local fiber industry; however, feedback from the greater fiber community indicated that such a resource was widely wanted and needed. She made motions to expand the directory into a public resource relevant to the entire Pacific Northwest Region not only connecting students to work, but also promoting and connecting regional fiber producers, mills, and businesses. Along the way, she met Jolene. The two partnered up to expand the PNW Fiber Resource Directory together, with a focus on education and outreach.
Jolene Quaintance (Belfair, WA) began her journey into fibers at Soundview Fiber Mill. She quickly developed a passion for fiber preparation and processing, resulting in her participation in the annual shearing school at the WSU Extension Program in 2023. Working directly with fiber animals and fleeces, she was inspired to explore the relationships between farming, fiber grading, skirting, and waste. Accordingly, she made the jump later that very year to found The Wandering Ewe Fibers - one of the few pelleting mills in Washington State. If you know Jolene, you know she is a zealous supporter of our regional fiber community and economy. She strives to continuously learn, grow, and create lasting relationships with all those who love fiber in hopes that by working together, we can all find community and success.
Another concept was originally conceived in 2013 by Kelly Bell (Mossyrock, WA), known as Cascadia Fibershed. The idea ‘incubated’ for a decade before Kristen Buchanan (Castle Rock, WA) reignited the project and pivoted her entrepreneurial career and organizational development skills toward a field she is passionate about. Kristen brings over twelve years of learning design, business development, and program operations & strategy to Pacific Northwest Fiber Connect. She has guided growing companies and nonprofits to create amazing people systems, learning programs, and cultures that scale while supporting humane and compassionate relationships with their communities. In 2014, she founded Edify Education Design, a consultancy that architected and delivered on-boarding programs for companies. In 2020, she evolved her company into Edify, a software startup for which she raised $2.5 million in venture funding and served over a hundred companies as they on-boarded new software engineers.
These projects found each other in late-2024 and chose to merge ideas, forming Pacific Northwest Fiber Connect in January 2025.
Here and Now
Currently, the PNWFC project is in the ‘seed’ stage but if you are reading this, you must have found our website. Welcome.
For now, our website simply contains the ‘bare essentials’ such as our mission, purpose, events we will be attending, and the opportunity for you to get involved by signing up for our newsletter. You can expect our website to grow and change often in the coming years and signing up for the PNWFC newsletter will keep you updated on our progress and developments.
Here are some resources coming soon to our website:
The PNW Fiber Resource Directory:
Locate fiber related goods, services, and programs within our region
Promote local producers, processors, retailers, artisans, learning centers, related organizations, and events
Share relevant business development opportunities and resources with our fiber community
Community Calendar of events and workshops within our region
Membership Signups: coming fall 2025. Here’s a sneak peek at some membership benefits:
Representation at events and social media highlights
Post on a job board and classifieds board
Discounted tickets to paid PNWFC events
We are currently a volunteer-led project that is in administrative status on the road to nonprofit status. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work on fine tuning our business plan and developing the above-mentioned foundational resources in order to best meet the needs of our community.
And with that said, that’s all we have to share for now. Please take some a few minutes to explore our website and sign up for our newsletter. You can look for us at regional fiber events this year - keep checking our website to find out which ones (or better yet, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll save you the trouble).
Thank you for your support and stay tuned for future happenings.