Business View Magazine | April/May 2022

183 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 Clintonville Mun Primed with potential I magine a bend in the river… lush, beautiful Wisconsin trees hanging over the sun-dappled water, and rich fertile soil. That was the sight that met Norman Clinton and his family when they first settled along the banks of the Pigeon River. Established in 1855, Clintonville is a small town in rural Wisconsin with a long industrial history. It is the birthplace of four-wheel drive technology when in 1909 Otto Zachow and William Besserdich founded Badger Four Wheel Drive Automotive, which would later become FWD. Clintonville is also the birthplace of Wisconsin Central Airlines that ran commercial passenger service from 1948 until 1966. The robust manufacturing presence continues today in Clintonville with Seagrave Fire Apparatus, the longest-running fire apparatus manufacturer in the United States. The city has numerous parks and lots of recreational opportunities such as boating, fishing, golfing, hiking, and sports – all accessible by flying into the Clintonville Municipal Airport (CLI). The city-owned general aviation facility