Kohler can’t find the time to slow down

Wade Kohler has heard the same thing his whole life, “slow down.”
But, Kohler and his wife Susan have one speed — fast.
Wade Kohler worked at Createc Corporation for 22 years. But after working there for years he finally saw an opportunity to start his own business.
“I was just in the right place at a right time,” he said.
One of Kohler’s customer’s from Createc asked him for help with his old wood pallets, which were expensive to take to the landfill but took up too much space elsewhere.
“That’s when the egg started to crack,” he said.
He started Pioneer Packaging in 2002, and was able to keep his job with Createc for another 10 years.
Susan Kohler kept working her full-time job too, allowing the couple to invest in the new business rather than spend its profits. The company grew quickly, and now manufactures pallets from a variety of materials.
“I try to offer my costumers the buffet of pallets,” Wade Kohler said, who sells pallets that are composed of recycled and new material.
He said he knew it was time to start his own business when the former Createc, which was locally-owned, was sold to Sonoco Protective Packaging.
“The 22 years I worked (there), I learned a lot,” he said. “I wasn’t taught a lot, I learned a lot.
“I reached a point were I didn’t want to work for someone else. If I was going to work for someone else it was going to be myself.”
Around the same time the Kohlers saw an opportunity to expand their business.
The pallet business generates massive quantities of wood waste. At the beginning they gave the waste away to mulch companies. It seemed like a win-win, because the wood waste was gone and the mulch companies received free materials.
But there are a lot of confined feeding operations in the area, and they need animal bedding. So in 2012, Pioneer went into the animal bedding business.
The wood waste that was once given away is now put into a machine that grinds it into chunks ideal for animal bedding.
The Kohlers also have transportation and warehousing businesses to haul and store their materials products.
Wade Kohler believes his wide range of products and services make Pioneer stand out.
“Most companies try and focus on one or two things and we try to focus on 22 things,” he said. “And we try to do those things as good as anyone, I think that is what leads to our success.”
His goal is for Pioneer to keep growing. And he hopes one of his children will eventually take over, allowing him to move on to new projects.
“I’m always looking and looking for the next big thing,” Kohler said. “But at the same time I would take bigger steps, I would love the opportunity to take bigger steps knowing one of my kids would be able to have the opportunity to take it from that point and grow another plant.”
He said he’d do even more if he could find more than 24 hours in a day.
“When I get this much going on, then time is the enemy,” Kohler said.