The Wisconsin Marketplace Governor’s Awards recognizes “diverse-owned businesses,” including minority-owned, woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and nonprofits that support such businesses. Two of this year’s sixteen finalists come from Madison: WholeTrees Structures and Earthly Temptations.
Started in 2007 on an off-grid Wisconsin farm, WholeTrees Structures is a construction company that uses natural, unmilled timber for construction materials. The company’s About Us page cites the environmental benefits of unprocessed logs. “Trees are an incredible carbon sequestration product,” says Communications Manager Jocelyn Harmon, “when you use a whole tree, and you’re not fully engaging in a large amount of processing, you can sequester even more.”
Given the unusual nature of the materials, some clients have been hesitant to accept WholeTrees as a business partner. But Mrs. Harmon insists that unprocessed logs are easier to work with than many might think: “It’s challenging sometimes to get people to understand that it is not as difficult as one might think to work with our type of product. A lot of that is us knocking down those misconceptions.”
On the topic of natural materials, Sarah Branch began making natural products for her family and friends in the pandemic of 2020. After profound improvements in her health, she opened her business online: Earthly Temptation Wellness. Ms. Branch recounts, “Our business has been running for four years, but our retail location has been open for two years.”
The business focuses on new-age spirituality and wellness items, such as body oil, crystals, herbs and sage, and even services such as sound-assisted meditation. Ms. Branch takes pride in her contribution to the Madison community: “Success is literally just being open… [it’s] been a really great moment for us and a great moment for the community, just to have a safe place to go to learn about different holistic tools”
The winners will be recognized at an in-person awards ceremony on December 12 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.
Image courtesy: Steven Lilley via Flickr.
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