Skip to main content

Cornhole popularity fuels family business

What began as a personal cornhole project has become a generational venture

share arrow printer bookmark flag

January 27, 2025

APPLETON – Cornhole has evolved from a backyard game into a popular sport – with some tournaments even being covered by ESPN. 

Over the last eight years, a small slice of this multi-billion dollar industry has been “tossed” in the direction of Skilled Cornhole – an Appleton-based, family owned and operated business, now in its second generation of owners, Stephanie and Tony Bishell. 

As the Bishells embark on a new year, they said Skilled Cornhole is poised for even greater growth.

The Bishells said the objective of cornhole is simple: toss fabric-sewn bean bags (or bags filled with resin or corn) onto an elevated board, aiming for a hole cut into the board at its far end, with points scored for bags that go into the hole or land on the board.  

As a game of skill and strategy, they said cornhole has been likened to horseshoes or shuffleboard, but much of one’s playability also depends on the way the boards and bags are made.

That’s one of the many things the Bishells said they – as well as Skilled Cornhole’s founders/Stephanie’s parents, Howard “Howie” and Nancy Wood – have learned, and why they make their boards and bags as they do.

Seed corn

Stephanie said about eight years ago, after Howie saw all the hype associated with the game, he decided to make a set of cornhole boards for himself. 

After some research, and once Howie got his supplies, Stephanie said he jumped right into making them.

“A friend of (my parents) saw it and said ‘That’s really cool – can you make me one?’” she said. “Then another person asked for one, and another, and another.” 

For the first couple of years,  Stephanie said her father made boards in his garage, with the neighbors becoming increasingly curious about the sanding and sawing noises, with several coming over to see what was going on. 

No doubt, she said, the attention helped spread the word. 

“Then Mom suggested the possibility of listing (the boards) for sale on Amazon Marketplace,” Stephanie said. “It really started rolling from there.”

In about their third year, she said Skilled Cornhole’s production moved from the garage into the basement, with the back entry hall and kitchen being used for sewing the bags.

Skilled Cornhole’s office and production space is located at 1500 W. Rogers Ave. Submitted Photo

Stephanie said her brother, Scott, eventually got involved in the business full-time, researching and ultimately upgrading the look and feel of the boards to higher-quality wood.

“He got them to change from using 2x4s for the wooden legs to one-inch pine,” she said. “It was really then that they started making professional-grade boards. That really upped their game and put them into a whole different level of board-making.”

By spring 2022, Stephanie said Skilled Cornhole had outgrown her parents’ home, so they rented office and production space at 1500 W. Rogers Ave., where they remain today. 

Kernels of change

For years, Stephanie said Skilled Cornhole’s boards were made on the family’s own CNC machine. 

However, the machine was older and undersized, which she said presented a production challenge compounded by the unavailability of quality wood during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Once demand increased, it would have been a 40-hour-a-week job just to cut the wood using that older CNC machine, and to try to find the wood on top of that was all just too time-consuming,” she said. “It didn’t make any sense. We ended up partnering with a lumberyard in Maine and that really helped boost the quality of our product.”

Stephanie said the lumberyard not only supplies the wood but also cuts Skilled Cornhole’s unique design on a tournament-quality board. 

The company then ships the boards to the Appleton shop, she said, where everything else is completed.

“As far as the wood goes, we still use a baltic birch (for the top and frame of the board), but now we use a three-fourths-inch baltic birch of a higher quality,” she said. “The wood makes a huge difference in the bounce of the bags, the long-lasting quality of the boards, the sound and even how the bags perform overall.”

Stephanie said Skilled Cornhole still uses vinyl or polyurethane wraps but has expanded to a UV finish.

“Our polyurethane finish on the boards is the one we started with, and it’s a great finish and works really well,” she said. “But it’s very fast and can also get kind of sticky, depending on the environment it’s in, like humid weather. So we also have a UV finish that is not affected by the environment. That’s nice because you don’t have to switch bags. Sometimes if the board is a little sticky, players will switch to a faster bag, but with the UV finish, they don’t need to.” 

Stephanie said they have also advanced to using a lacquer for board protection and the bags they make now use resin instead of corn.

All a-board

Stephanie said perhaps the biggest change was when Howie and Nancy sold the business to her and Tony, which happened in November 2023.  

Since taking over, the Bishells said they have been chasing a learning curve, as they had to not only learn the cornhole business but learn how to run a business – two very distinct things. 

The couple said learning the cornhole business has been the easy part, perhaps because they’ve been around it for years.

But to learn how to run a business in today’s marketplace, the owners said they’ve had to become quick studies – especially since they handle both manufacturing and retail. 

Stephanie a retired nurse and EMT, and Tony a former EMT who works maintenance jobs when not working at the shop, the pair said they’ve had to learn a multitude of jobs: graphic design, customer service, inventory control, carpentry, sewing, sublimation printing, accounting and bookkeeping, marketing and more.

Though the new tasks are a challenge, Stephanie said she definitely cherishes the new connections.

“It’s exciting and a lot of fun, and meeting all the people we do is always such a blessing,” she said. “The cornhole community, especially around here, is just phenomenal.”

Also in the last year or so, the Bishells said they have rebranded Skilled Cornhole, designed a new logo and continued to do R&D to learn how to improve their products and processes. 

As part of that R&D, the couple said they’ve researched other companies’ boards to see how to make their own better. 

The owners said they’ve also spoken to plenty of cornhole players – including those who play in leagues or just in their backyards – to get their thoughts. 

“We pride ourselves on listening to customers, so we can give them exactly what they’re looking for,” Stephanie said. “That plays a big role in our (workmanship).” 

She said she also recently invited a particularly avid player to come in and talk to her and Tony about the new things that have evolved with different fabrics, and how bags made with those fabrics throw and perform. 

“We don’t have time to throw as much as some of these players do, but we take any chance we can to educate ourselves, listen and get feedback to constantly improve (and stay on top, if not ahead of, the game),” she said. “We’re constantly striving to improve ourselves and up our own game, so to speak.”

The burgeoning popularity of cornhole, Stephanie said, has led to plenty of opportunities for the business, as she and Tony strive to hone in on those opportunities, especially with larger companies. 

She said Skilled Cornhole has grown due to sales comprised mainly of individual custom orders, but in recent years, they have also fulfilled orders for “larger companies and organizations, such as Oshkosh Corp., Johnsonville Brats, Chick-fil-A, Toys for Trucks, the Timber Rattlers, even the Wisconsin DNR, to name a few.” 

“(Larger organizations) might order one or two (boards) for their company or a tournament, or they may order larger quantities for customer incentives or employee appreciation,” she said, while emphasizing gratitude for the smaller orders that made the company what it is today. “But we also know we need to get larger orders, and that’s a lot of what we want to focus on this year.” 

Giving a toss

Between Tony, her parents and herself, Stephanie said they are a family with big hearts who enjoy giving back. 

Because of this, she said Skilled Cornhole donates many boards, bags and accessories to Valley Packaging Industries, which hosts an annual cornhole tournament to raise funds for developmentally challenged individuals. 

“I have a son who is autistic, so for me, that’s a big deal,” Stephanie said. “We donate a lot of boards, bags and other things to them to help grow that program.”

Stephanie said they also work with veteran organizations.

Tony and Stephanie Bishell. Submitted Photo

“We also do a lot of stuff for the veterans, because my dad’s a vet, so we work a lot with the different veterans groups to try to help build up their groups,” she said. “On Tuesdays at the local Legion, there is a cornhole league that my parents play in. We help with that and get them things when they need them.”

Stephanie said they’ve also donated to other causes, such as St. Jude’s, Vince Lombardi Cancer Society and even private fundraisers for individuals affected by illness, fires and the like. 

Skilled Cornhole, she said, also has a monthly “budget” for donations and a general willingness to help anyone who asks for it.

Still in the bag(s)

Even with Howie turning 90 years old this year and Nancy having turned 82 this month, Stephanie said her parents are still active in the business.  

She said her father does a lot of the sewing of bags, some R&D and comes up with new ideas for products. 

“He’s a very creative individual and has created several different products of ours that are some of our better sellers,” she said.

Meanwhile, Stephanie said her mother helps with customer service and does other odd jobs around the office or shop, including some of the day-to-day tasks that need to get done when the owners don’t have time. 

Stephanie said her mother also helps with child care to free up her schedule for business-related tasks and to run the business full-time.

“They love still being involved, and we love having them involved,” she said of her parents. “It helps keep them young and active, too, which is another reason why we want them to stay involved.” 

A ‘hole’ lot of goals

Pretty much anything and everything cornhole-related can be found at Skilled Cornhole, Stephanie said, and if they don’t have it, they’ll try their best to help customers find what they want somewhere else.

“We pride ourselves on having a very quality product – comparable, if not better than, some of the top boards in the country currently,” she said. “We aren’t just boards and bags. We have other accessories and can do custom bags and boards.” 

Skilled Cornhole also has an area where people can come and practice the game, Stephanie said, free of charge. 

“We have quite a number of people who come and practice, especially before a tournament,” she said. “We want people to know they can come and use that space. Some people even come as a family and just have a fun night of throwing. That’s really cool.”

The Bishells said their short-term goal is to increase their visibility – letting people know who they are and what they do. 

“We would like to increase sales so we can expand not only the retail area but the entire business,” Stephanie said. “Our hope is to become more involved in the community, start cornhole in the schools and local colleges, incorporate the sport in assisted-living facilities and even in therapy – both physical and psychological areas.” 

Other long-term goals, she said, include expansion of a venue to allow area clubs and leagues to play all year long, and an expanded retail area focusing on custom products.

Skilled Cornhole is a work in progress and will continue to evolve, Stephanie said, just like its products.

Visit skilledcornhole.com to learn more.

TBN
share arrow printer bookmark flag