CEM Machine, Inc., was formed by Mark Robinson and Richard Mayo in April, 2000. Previous to the formation of CEM, Richard Mayo had been a successful manager of international pulp and paper equipment sales, and Mark Robinson had been the chief engineer for various large pulp & paper industry equipment manufacturers.

In May, 2000, CEM purchased an 80,000 ft2 (7,400 m2) metal-working machine shop in the village of Carthage, New York. CEM also purchased a number of new, used, and reconditioned metal-working machines, thus equipping the new factory with the necessary equipment for quality large wood chipping machinery manufacture, specializing in large industrial wood chippers, microchip wood processors, woodyard/chip mill production quality improvements, and large scale machine work.