WholeTrees

Changing how we build: WholeTrees Structures innovates for a greener future

Forests, strategy, hard work fuel firm’s growth

One day in 2007, Amelia Baxter—who worked in the areas of regional food systems and food security in the Chicago area—walked into an open house for a nonprofit group that had built a new facility in Rockford, Illinois.

Baxter, who specialized in business development and strategy, was instantly struck by the sophisticated, sensual use of trees as structural and aesthetic elements in the building.

Amelia Baxter, CEO, WholeTrees Structures

“I saw this beautiful use of lower-value timber used as structural columns and beams, and it was being done in a way that wasn’t at all like the Northwoods or Adirondack,” she said. “It was being done in a modern way, paired with big glass walls and concrete.”

Baxter met the architect, Roald Gunderson, and wound up moving to his 134 acres of forest in southwestern Wisconsin.

“I started growing food there, but I had this background in organizational skills and raising funds, launching strategy, and guiding people,” she said. “And he was getting more attention around the use of lower-value forest thinnings from managed forests. He also knew the engineering data from the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison.”

With those backgrounds, they co-founded WholeTrees Structures, now headquartered in Madison, to provide unmilled structural timber along with design and engineering services for construction projects. They began with three residential projects.

Awareness helps grow the bottom line

The firm’s early growth was powered by a $2.5 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that helped differentiate the firm with architects, build awareness, and aid with research and development. The architectural world started to take notice, realizing that WholeTrees was doing something more sophisticated with round timber than they’d considered in the past.

“We partnered with the Forest Products Laboratory. We grew revenue. And we moved from residential to only commercial work,” Baxter said. “We then had a suite of intellectual property that demonstrated we could grow bigger than anyone had before.”

The company raised private investments in 2014 and 2018, and Gunderson stepped away from the company’s operation in 2016. But WholeTrees continued to grow. “We really learned how to sell this product line to architects, and which architects to sell to,” Baxter said. “Since 2016, we’ve grown revenue every year.”

Since 2016, the company has averaged 32% annual growth. In 2024, Whole Trees recorded $5.1 million in sales and projects it will exceed $6 million in 2025.

In 2024, WholeTrees received a $1 million investment from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, which will help the company grow its sales force and expand its nationwide production capabilities.

Today, the woman-owned B Corp has a total of 35 employees at its headquarters, a fabrication facility in Westby, and a facility in Maine. It sources timber from around the nation, using 3-D scanning and inventory management tools.

The firm’s success earned it the 2024 MARKETPLACE Governor’s Award for Outstanding Diverse Business of the Year.

Environmental ethic pairs with Wisconsin’s hardworking reputation

The use of timber has obvious aesthetic benefits, but it also offers structural and environmental benefits that are gaining increasing appeal.

“We have lower amounts of energy inputs and the highest amount of carbon sequestration in our product,” Baxter said. “We are also strong and very durable. There are buildings that were built 1,400 years ago that are supported by structural round timber.”

WholeTrees has been involved with projects nationally at educational institutions, parks, zoos, commercial spaces, interiors, and event venues.

The company’s signature project is the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, a two-story structure that uses exposed whole-tree columns and round-timber joists and girder trusses. Photo by Kleine Leonard Photography

One of the company’s signature projects is the new two-story Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, a 24,000 square-foot building which uses exposed whole-tree columns and round-timber joists and girder trusses. It has been estimated that the museum’s timber structure has sequestered 350,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.

The project, which was aided by a $250,000 Community Development Investment Grant from WEDC, was recognized with the 2023 Structure of the Year Award from Structure Magazine.

“We want to see higher buildings built with solid timber,” Baxter said. “As with the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, we want to see solid structural timber where you can trace the material back to regional forests.”

Baxter said Wisconsin, with its culture of hard work, has been a perfect place to grow her business.

“We get to be flashy and work on the coasts, but we get to be Midwestern in our head-down-and-get-it-done mentality,” she said. “We’ve noticed that there is a quiet, subtle support for persistent, incredibly hardworking businesses to grow here. And they just keep growing.”