It's Your Oregon: Max Holfert

Max Holfert graduated from PSU with a degree in Natural Science. He has worked as a commercial fisherman, in the construction industry, and as a drafter at a local design firm. He currently owns and manages Building Forward LLC, a small green remodeling/building company in Portland. He is starting the MBA+ program at PSU to learn how to more effectively promote sustainable business models.

Max works hard to protect the environment as an individual and as a business owner. As an individual, he rides his bike whenever possible and makes informed decisions about how to use his purchasing power for food and other consumer goods. As a business owner, he advocates the use of environmentally friendly building products and techniques, as well as separating all of his company’s construction waste and taking it to the appropriate recyclers in an attempt to minimize any debris bound for the landfill.

Max is interested in learning and spreading knowledge about a variety of environmental issues, including salmon habitat, waste management, and reducing the energy demand of our society. As a science student, a former commercial fisherman, and an advocate of a diet high in healthy delicious seafood, Max has a unique understanding of the importance of salmon to marine and freshwater ecosystems as well as their economic importance and their place in culinary art culture.

Max appreciates Oregon for the great environmental diversity present here. “I love everything about Oregon,” he says, “from the coast, to the wine country, to the Valley, to Portland, to the Cascades, to the desert, to the Wallowas, Strawberries and Steens. I hike, fish, camp, snowboard, and raft here every year.” He applauds OEC as a “good organization that helps me to better understand the issues that affect the state I call home.”