Logger Co-op Launches Wisconsin Chip Mill

A precedent-setting milestone was marked in Tilleda, Wis., with the launch of the United States’ first chip mill owned and operated by a logger cooperative—a major step forward for collaboration and sustainability in the forest products industry.

The new facility was acquired by Timber Professionals Cooperation Enterprises (TPCE), a co-op founded five years ago to strengthen the long-term viability of logging and trucking businesses across the region. The group, composed of loggers and haulers, collectively raised $418,000 to purchase the mill and have future plans to expand its concept.

“Because it’s the first of its kind in the country, there were a lot of hoops we had to go through to figure out what it all looked like legally and logistically,” TPCE President, Dennis Schoeneck, says. 

Initially, the mill will produce primary chips for a nearby pulp mill, but TPCE has broader ambitions for its 50-acre site.  “In the long run, we have a lot of goals with our 50 acres,” Laura Delaney, TPCE’s liaison, says. “As a cooperative, we want to expand into producing different products beyond pulp chips.”

The new chip mill represents not only a win for Wisconsin’s timber economy but also a blueprint for how logger co-ops nationwide can build stronger, more resilient markets in the years ahead.