Word: winnebagos
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That was 13 years ago. Then the town's elders decided to fight the out-migration by bringing industry to Forest City. Today Winnebago Industries, the company a town created, has become the largest manufacturer of recreational vehicles in the U.S. Last month Winnebago, which is named for the surrounding county, placed a $30 million order with the Dodge Truck Division for chassis and engines to build $120 million worth of motor homes -self-propelled dwellings that combine the mobility of a car with some of the comforts of home. Such vehicles have grown increasingly popular among affluent...
High-Priced Toys. Although the company is called "Winnebago-a-Grow-Grow" by its corn-country boosters, its success did not come easily. The Forest City Development Committee, appointed by the town to woo industry, raised $50,000 by selling stock locally. With those funds, the committee refurbished an old pumpkin cannery and began making so-called camper coaches: portable dwellings that can be mounted on pickup trucks. The venture failed, and the factory was forced to close. Finally, John K. Hanson, a Forest City furniture-store owner, bought up the stock at a reduced price and reopened the plant...
...accounts for 80% of the company's sales. The smallest models, about 17 ft. long-or two feet shorter than a full-sized station wagon-sell for $6,500. The 27-ft. model sleeps six, has a bedroom and kitchen and is priced at $11,210. Last year Winnebago made some 4,000 of the 18,000 motor homes sold in the U.S., and Hanson expects the market for these "high-priced toys" to grow by at least 20% each year...
...Quitting. Both Hanson and Forest City have prospered. The once somnolent Main Street is bustling and not one shop is vacant. The town has a new airport, several supermarkets and no unemployment. Winnebago plans to add 600 more employees to its 1,400-man work force by next summer. The population has risen to more than...
...Winnebago...