Small Towns,
Big Companies
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24 "Company Towns"
You know the saying: Good things come in small packages. Well, we think these 24 towns would like to tweak that a bit to say, "Good things come from small places." Each of these small American towns are the home of a large popular company.
Click through our gallery as BloggingStocks profiles 24 well-known companies and their hometowns to see where these big names in business got their small-town start.
First Up: Lebanon, Tenn.More Popular Features:
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Cracker Barrel
Hometown: Lebanon, Tenn.
The tiny town of Lebanon is east of Nashville and most famous as the home of Cracker Barrel. The 550+ restaurant chain offers comfort food and nostalgia as an alternative to the hordes of fast-food options clogging the highways.
Cracker Barrel has been embroiled in controversy through the years, first with gay rights groups and then with claims of racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Eighty Four, Pa.More Popular Features:
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84 Lumber
84 Lumber
Hometown: Eighty Four, Pa.
Even though the unincorporated area in Washington County is only 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, it is a decidedly rural, mountain town. Just off Route 70, the town was chosen so the lumber company could serve its particular tri-state area: Pa., W.Va. and Ohio. The naming might seem like a chicken-or-egg situation. In fact, the company is named after the town, though the origin of the town's name is disputed to this day. Both have taken it on the chin with the current housing slump.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Hershey, Pa.More Popular Features:
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AP
The Hershey Company
Hometown: Hershey, Pa.
Chocolatetown, or Hershey, is not surprisingly the home of The Hershey Company, the largest manufacturer of chocolate in North America. It is also the home of Hershey's Chocolate World, a kind of visitors center, mall, and theme park all rolled up into one sweet package.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Freeport, MaineMore Popular Features:
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AP
L.L. Bean
Hometown: Freeport, Maine
There really was an L.L. Bean, and the mail-order clothing and recreation equipment company he founded in 1912 can still be found in Freeport, Maine. This former port and mill town is known today for its outlet malls, including L.L. Bean, of course.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Waterbury, Vt.More Popular Features:
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AP
Ben & Jerry's
Hometown: Waterbury, Vt.
Ben & Jerry's ice cream empire may have begun in a converted gas station by two friends who took an ice cream making correspondence course, but today it is a global phenomenon, with a reputation for environmentally friendly and socially conscious practices. It's hard to imagine something like that springing up anywhere but in Vermont.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Bentonville, Ark.More Popular Features:
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Wal-Mart
Hometown: Bentonville, Ark.
How ironic that the world's largest public corporation, so reviled for its effect on small towns across the nation, should itself be headquartered in a small town. Bentonville, Ark., was the site of Walton's Five-and-Dime, from which the Wal-Mart empire arose.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Easton, Pa.More Popular Features:
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AP
Crayola
Hometown: Easton, Pa.
While the Crayola Crayon empire has continually sought to enhance its offering and involvement in the creative arts by expanding, experimenting, and inviting innovation, its home town of Easton, Pa., has sought to remain true to and thoughtful of its heritage, even while trying to attract tourists.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Battle Creek, Mich.More Popular Features:
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David Zalubowski, AP
Kellogg Co.
Hometown: Battle Creek, Mich.
While today it is the home of Kellogg Co., at one time Battle Creek, Mich., was home to 42 different cereal makers. No wonder it's also known as Cereal City. Today, Kellogg's, maker of Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies, is the number one cereal manufacturer in the United States.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Springdale, Ark.More Popular Features:
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AP
Tyson Foods
Hometown: Springdale, Ark.
Sometimes referred to as Chickendale, or the Chicken Capital of the World, Springdale, Ark., is located in northwest part of the state, on the Ozark Plateau. Springdale is also the home of Tyson Foods, the largest meat producer in the world, and one of the 100 largest companies in the United States.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Oshkosh, Wis.More Popular Features:
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Oshkosh B'Gosh
Hometown: Oshkosh, Wis.
Founded in 1895, it's probably the most well-known namesake of its home city. Although manufacturing operations have been moved away, it still maintains its corporate headquarters there. It began as a manufacturer of sturdy clothes for working people, most especially it's trademark overalls, but eventually expanded its children's clothing line, which would become the company's mainstay. Oshkosh has a population in the range of 65,000 and covers over 24 square miles.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: El Dorado, Ark.More Popular Features:
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AP
Murphy Oil
Hometown: El Dorado, Ark.
How does a company show its commitment to the community in which it's located? In the case of Murphy Oil, it offers the El Dorado Promise: It will pay college tuition (up to $6,000 a year) for all qualifying El Dorado high school graduates, as long as they maintain at least a 2.0 GPA.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Pittsburg, TexasMore Popular Features:
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Pilgrim's Pride
Hometown: Pittsburg, Texas
Pilgrim's Pride, the largest chicken producer in the U.S., is still based in Pittsburg, Texas, the same location where it was founded more than 60 years ago when founder Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim gave away free chicks when he sold chicken feed as a way to expand the market for chicken feed.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Forest City, IowaMore Popular Features:
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Winnebago
Winnebago Industries
Hometown: Forest City, Iowa
The fortunes (or misfortunes) of the large company so often come back to the town where it is located. For example, higher fuel prices this summer mean fewer Winnebago sales, which in turn means lay-offs of workers in Forest City, Iowa. But Winnebago and Forest City have adapted to unfavorable conditions before and survived.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Lakeland, Fla.More Popular Features:
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AP
Publix
Hometown: Lakeland, Fla.
Lakeland, Fla., is home to Publix, the largest employee-owned supermarket chain in the U.S. Publix facilities can be found all over Lakeland, including the bakery plant, with its aromas that can make passersby very hungry.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Kohler, Wis.More Popular Features:
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Kohler Company
Kohler Company
Hometown: Kohler, Wis.
Kohler, Wis., was a true company town, a planned community that included single and two-family homes, a school, a village hall, and dormitory housing for unmarried workers. The company's philosophy of making its plumbing fixtures well-crafted and beautiful was reflected in its design for the community, which included plenty of green space.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Monroe, Mich.More Popular Features:
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AP
La-Z-Boy
Hometown: Monroe, Mich.
Monroe, Michigan, sometimes known as Floral City, was home to Floral City Furniture, which grew to a furniture empire making more than a billion dollars a year -- La-Z-Boy. Who knows where the company might have gone if they had named their iconic recliners the Slack-Back instead?
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Bloomington, Ill.More Popular Features:
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State Farm Insurance
Hometown: Bloomington, Ill.
State Farm, the largest insurer of cars and homes in the U.S., and Bloomington, Ill., its hometown, both share Midwestern values. In fact, State Farm was founded because farmers were getting a raw deal on car insurance from big city insurers. Also, Bloomington is home to two universities, so it makes sense that most of State Farm charitable giving goes to education.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Midland, Mich.More Popular Features:
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AP
Dow Chemical
Hometown: Midland, Mich.
Dow Chemical is one of the largest chemical companies in the world, making consumer and industrial products that touch the lives of Americans every day. And Midland was a true company town, which helped it survive the end of the logging era. Today, both Dow Chemical and Dow Corning are headquartered in Midland.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Austin, Minn.More Popular Features:
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Hormel Foods
Hometown: Austin, Minn.
There are not many towns that would want to be known as "Spam Town" but Austin, Minn., doesn't seem to mind. That's because the town is home to Hormel Foods, maker of SPAM, as well as Dinty Moore, Jenni-O, Chi-Chi's, and many other products.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Sidney, Neb.More Popular Features:
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Cabela's
Hometown: Sidney, Neb.
Founded in 1867 by the Union Pacific Railroad, Sidney, Neb., is known these days as the headquarters of Cabela's, retailer of hunting, fishing, and outdoor gear. As much tourist attractions as retail stores, Cabela's locations are known for their cavernous showrooms. The 75,000-square-foot Sidney location includes a 3½ acre pond.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Corning, N.Y.More Popular Features:
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AP
Corning
Hometown: Corning, N.Y.
Corning Inc. not only is a classic, feel-good American success story, but also represents a signature corporate transformation story of the digital age. Unlike other towns with a large corporation, Corning, N.Y., manages to retain its small-town charm while still offering ample cultural attractions.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Orrville, OhioMore Popular Features:
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J.M. Smucker and Co.
Hometown: Orrville, Ohio
Few companies and their hometowns are so thoroughly entwined as J.M. Smucker and Orrville, Ohio. A Smucker's jam-making factory is located in the center of town, and the company is well-known for its local charitable contributions, as well as regularly being ranked one of the best companies to work for.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Avery Island, La.More Popular Features:
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McIllhenny Company (Tabasco Sauce)
Hometown: Avery Island, La.
The McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco, the world’s most famous hot sauce, is now in its fifth generation as a family-run business. Some of the peppers used in Tabasco sauce production are still grown on Avery Island, La., where the company is located.
· Full Company/Town Profile
Next: Lowell, Ark.More Popular Features:
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J.B. Hunt
J.B. Hunt
Hometown: Lowell, Ark.
J.B. Hunt, the largest publicly owned trucking company in the U.S., was once a local rice hauler in Lowell, Ark., where the company is still headquartered today. Today its 18,000 trucks can be seen on highways throughout North America.
· Full Company/Town Profile
More: Poof! Vanishing CompaniesMore Popular Features:
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Top 25 Disappearing Acts
Now that you've taken a virtual tour of small towns that are home to large companies, check out our list of Top 25 Memorable Companies That Have Vanished. If you remember E.F. Hutton and RCA, you'll enjoy this trip down memory lane.
Next Gallery: Companies That VanishedMore in Money & Finance: