Building a Fiber Processing Mill
Twisted Strait Fibers is currently pursuing a Membership and Capital Campaign to obtain the financing needed to build a cooperatively owned fiber processing mill. Our goal is 300 members and at this time we have 76. Your membership is essential in helping us reach our goal so if you are not one of the 76, please become #77 by joining us today.
Mill Grant Money
You are reading this on a website that was paid for through a grant awarded to us from Washington Coast Works. We competed with 15 other applicants on the Olympic Peninsula to prove that our triple-bottom-line (society, economy, and environment) would benefit more people and our environment than the other applicants. On this site, we are already promoting our members and selling their products. We have applied for a Federal Rural Development Grant that would assist us with the membership campaign and help us promote the website. So, even though the process is slow, we have much to be optimistic about.
State-of-the-Art
Our ultimate goal is a state-of-the-art fiber processing mill located on the North Olympic Peninsula that is owned and governed by its members. We have our eyes on a computer operated, self-contained washing system made in New Zealand and will purchase the rest of the equipment (picker, carder, pin drafter, spinner, skein winder, and cone winder) from a company in Italy. We will locate the mill somewhere on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Local Mill Service
We want to provide a service to our local fiber producers and fiber artists, help promote their products, create our own line of locally branded products, and generally promote the benefits and utility of using protein-based fabrics. We want to preserve our local farm land and encourage more people to become fiber producers. Our vision is broad in scope but it also focuses on the importance of your membership.
Mill Status
Why a Cooperatively Owned Fiber Processing Mill
Acooperative, or co-op, is just like any other business that buys and sells products and/or provides a service. In the State of Washington, Twisted Strait Fibers is considered a not-for-profit Corporation. The difference between a cooperative and other forms of business is that a cooperative is owned and governed by its members rather than by investors. Its members are those people who economically benefit from the operation of the [...]