Wisconsin Mill Set to Reopen Under Logger Co-Op Ownership

A chip mill in Shawano County, Wisconsin, is set to reopen after being closed for about a year following its purchase by a logger-owned cooperative, WXPR reported (12-26-25).

The chip facility is the first such property in the US to be purchased by Timber Professionals Cooperative Enterprises, a logger co-op. Although located in Shawano County, the mill’s reopening is expected to affect timber markets across Wisconsin’s Northwoods, where mills in Park Falls, Wisconsin Rapids, and Duluth have closed over the past five years.

The mill will be revitalized with an $800,000 loan from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program.

Commenting on the loan, Wisconsin State Director for Rural Development Andrew Iverson said:

“We want to see the timber industry grow. There’s been a lot of challenges with the timber industry, but it’s a big part of Wisconsin history. It’s a big part of our environment. It’s about forestry health. It’s about supporting local rural communities and then providing America with American made products.”

Henry Schienebeck, executive director of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, added:

“Transportation is a big cost, so the more mill capacity we can have at a local level, that reduces transportation, it brings the cost of raw material down, and it helps, overall, to keep the industries that are there operating.”