Building the Next Economy With WholeTrees

Amelia Baxter Envisions a Stronger Future for Forests and Communities

Amelia Baxter believes that the 21st century built environment is filled with opportunities for trees.

In 2007 Baxter co-founded WholeTrees to develop and sell products and technologies that would scale the use of round timber—a byproduct of sustainable forest management—in commercial construction, increasing forest revenues and offering green construction markets a new material for the 21st century. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company is a Certified B Corporation.

Baxter has led project teams with more than $2 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture research grants working toward the commercialization of the tree’s natural engineering. By raising equity investment for her company, attracting national executive talent and pinpointing nascent urban markets for trees as structure, she has participated in the growth of a truly conscious and regenerative company.

LIFT Economy is part of the community of Certified B Corporations. Learn more about this growing movement of people using business as a force for good, and sign up to receive the B the Change Weekly newsletter for more stories like this one, delivered straight to your inbox once a week.

Here are a few highlights from the conversation with Baxter:

• How WholeTrees provides an ecological, economic, social and aesthetic benefit.
• Why she comes from a place of heart as well as a place of necessity to attract great staff and business culture to WholeTrees.
• How the character and inner work of company leaders ripples throughout the organization.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm with a mission is to create, model and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life.

B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.

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Building the Next Economy With WholeTrees was originally published in B the Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Source: B the Change