Wildland Cooperative: New Beginnings on The Bluff

BY JEFFREY FIJOLEK 

PHOTOS BY MADDISON FOLEY

Ask a farmer how many jobs they do each day and they will likely rattle them off one by one. The same can be said about winemakers. And brewers. And artists. 

There's nothing easy about entrepreneurship, but up on Green Bluff, the folks at Wildland Cooperative are approaching their new business the only way they know how—together.

Michael Townshend is no stranger to Green Bluff–his family owns the eponymous winery whose tasting room occupied the current Wildland Cooperative location until moving to a new facility near Chief Gary Park in Spokane earlier this year. Michael and his wife, Vanessa Swenson, have spent the last five years working at Townshend and managing the family's adjacent Green Bluff Tree Farm, which originally belonged to the Huckaba family and was one of the first properties to grow Christmas trees on the bluff over 70 years ago.

“Since we began running the tree farm, we always kind of thought there was a disconnect between the land component and what we were doing as the primary business. We weren’t growing grapes or anything up here,” says Michael. “The whole idea of the business that we’re starting up here is that it still has a connection to Townshend and the wine, but we’re drawing a new connection back to the land.”

Incorporated in the fall of 2021 and opening to the public in February of this year, Wildland is part winery, part brewery, part farm, part artisan market and part community meeting space. If it sounds like a lot of different projects, it is, but guided by their mission to preserve natural resources and give back to the land around them, Wildland has structured itself for long-term success by inviting in stakeholders and offering them a chance to have ownership in this unique business opportunity. Wildland is a worker-owned cooperative with Michael, Vanessa and their friend Jake Losinski as the first three owners, but their roster is growing.

“Coming from that family business standpoint, I think Michael and I know that ownership carries a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of opportunity, and we’re just pretty excited to share both,” adds Vanessa. 

The cooperative term can be applied to a number of different business structures which can cause some confusion. Around the region, there are several different examples of cooperative businesses and no two are alike. Main Market Local Food Co-Op in Downtown Spokane is a grocery store owned by a roster of more than 5,000 consumers. LINC, the Local Inland Northwest Cooperative, is a worker- and farmer-owned organization committed to implementing and improving sustainable growing and business practices in the region.

"We really wanted to start it as a cooperative model, and we've modeled a lot of what we do after the Grain Shed," says Michael of the South Hill bakery and brewery. "Joel Williamson is a good friend of ours and has been a champion of co-ops in Spokane and this whole movement. I think it's a great vision for a more equitable society and a way to really try to democratize traditionally non-technocratic power structures and allow people to express themselves more."

Despite starting himself as a seasonal worker on the Christmas tree farm, Jake knows that bringing more owners into the cooperative is a big commitment, but the team has developed a process to make sure that everyone can work together for the benefit of Wildland. 

"We're not hiring kids back home from college looking for summer jobs. It's professionals who want to do this and make their mark. I don’t think we would hire someone if we didn't foresee them eventually becoming an owner," Jake says.

The three founding members put out a call for potential employees and currently have a few on their way towards ownership status.

"We don't quite have the right term for it—it's not really a trial because you're fully paid and benefited and everything—but the first 500 hours you work in some ways is your 'sweat equity'. Then at the end of those 500 hours, we bring you in, have a look and see if it's a good fit, and then the existing worker-owners vote and say 'Yeah, you're in.' And at that moment, they are an owner, just like the three of us. One person, one vote, one share. It doesn't matter how much money you've put in, you're part of the structure."

The group admits that the cooperative model isn't for every situation, but it isn't entirely dissimilar to the family business structure that Michael had been a part of with Townshend. 

There has been some speculation about the relationship between him and his brother, Brendon, now as the Wildland team makes updates and improvements to the longtime Townshend tasting room on the Bluff; Michael says that it's always tough working in a family business, but their relationship is stronger than ever after these changes. "My brother is really excited about the ways the winery can have a positive impact regionally,” he adds.

Michael says that the winery has undergone tremendous growth in recent years, acquiring B Corp certification, establishing itself as a recognizable brand across the region, and producing great quality wine at a reasonable price point.

“We had all of these dreams of a fully reusable bottle program, but they would be very hard to implement on the scale that Townshend was already at," says Vanessa.

Scaling back in order to grow forward plays into the long-term plans for Wildland Cooperative, but they are already offering wine, beer, art, and farm-fresh produce in addition to operating the Christmas tree farm.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have this canvas to start on. And it's not even a blank canvas because we still have an established Christmas tree farm and name and place and amazing buildings,” Michael says. "We've got seven acres that we're truly trying to use for regenerative farming and about 20 acres of Christmas trees, but we have a vision in the future of doing some form of conservation and rewilding."

Michael and Jake say hotter summers and fires across the region have led them to question the Christmas tree farm a bit.

"These baby trees aren't surviving because it has been so hot in the summer and we don't have enough water going into them. But why are we using water to grow a largely ornamental crop that brings joy to people, but for a short amount of time? If we have this limited resource in water, we want to focus on using it to grow food and that's something I'm really passionate about," says Michael.

The group loves being a part of the Green Bluff community and how it invites people from Spokane to experience and celebrate the agriculture of the region, but by not focusing on one single area, Wildland can serve as a year-round destination.

"I like beer, I like wine—and that's critical to the operation—but it's pretty clear that the farming is what we have to do to give us legitimacy right away. That part is really important to me."

Wildland has been taking some of their art, produce and wine to the Thursday Market in South Perry as a way to get their name out into the community and invite folks to visit the new space on the Bluff, and everyone is anticipating a busy harvest season.

"This fall we are honestly just going to try to survive. We'll do just fine, but we're going to be tired. The winter will be a great time for us to recenter. We really only started this project in February. It has been a whirlwind and this year has gone by so fast," Michael says.

While Wildland has gotten off to a quick start, all the owners take a 20-30 year approach when it comes to their progress and projects. In addition to introducing the reusable wine-bottle program, Wildland would also like to install solar panels in order to power their brewing operation once they get their new seven-barrel system set up later this fall. 

“Everyone here knows how to do every job, which is pretty neat. Everyone can run the bar and knows how to make themselves very busy on the farm. They can be involved in the wine,” adds Jake. “If someone says ‘Hey, I want to start a seed bank. I want to have dairy cows. I want to make this kind of beer. I want to do x,’ it’s all an option. We always say ‘if the co-op wills it’ which is kind of a funny phrase, but that’s what I think is really cool about this setup.”

As Michael, Vanessa and Jake add to their roster of owners, they have also started developing more relationships in the community, hosting live music and trivia up at the farm, and partnering with local nonprofit organizations.

"We all believe in the cooperative model, but there’s a lot of ways that can go. There’s a lot of learning about yourself and learning about how to interact with people. I think it’s a much better model than having a top-down boss, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. The whole point is longevity—that people can be equipped and educated as they continue to grow,” says Jake. “I think there's a desire in the community for something like this, and I think that it just generally fits who we are. We get tired sometimes, but we're really excited about it."

For more information, visit:

Wildland Cooperative  8022 E Green Bluff Rd Green Bluff, WA 99005 

Related Stories