TJ Semanchin

Coffee has been part of TJ Semanchin's working life since the mid-1990s, when he was living and studying in Central America. What drew him in was not the beverage but the institutions around it: Latin American farmer cooperatives, sustainable agriculture, and the economics of rural communities that depend on a single export crop.

He co-founded Wonderstate Coffee in Viroqua, Wisconsin in 2006 and still serves as a co-owner and leader of the company. Wonderstate roasts on solar power and buys through long-term relationships with cooperatives, and TJ has spoken publicly about the mechanics of that model — how price, pre-financing, and multi-year commitments actually change what a producer organization can do. The company has been profiled nationally for its approach to equitable sourcing.

TJ has also become one of the more articulate voices in specialty coffee on the trade conditions facing roasters and growers alike, appearing in national business and public broadcast coverage to explain how tariffs and commodity price volatility land on both ends of the supply chain.

He stays in the work, as he puts it, because it is the best vehicle for social change he can think of — and because it tastes good. He serves as a director of On the Ground.