Cullman's Wisco Industries, Inc. recently hosted the 2003 Farm-City Industrial Tour as part of Cullman County's annual celebration of the interdependence of the agricultural and industrial sectors.
    Over 40 citizens, business and industry leaders, and municipal officials were present for the tour, which took place November 5.
    The tour began with a short bus ride to Wisco Industries, located in Cullman Industrial Park II, and concluded with a lunch and tour at Cullman's Peinhardt Living History Farm.
   Wisco Industries is a company that specializes in metal fabrication and stamping.
     Based in Oregon, Wisconsin, where the company has a plant nearly identical to the Cullman facility, Wisco manufactures components for a multitude of applications, with many of the parts ending up in products from well-known companies.

    Wisco's huge presses fabricate such varied products as hinges, metal collars and bushings, housings and assemblies, and faceplates for telephone wall jacks. Components are shipped from Wisco's Cullman facility to manufacturers in the automotive,  home appliance, boating, refrigeration and plumbing industries among others.

     Wisco's customer base is as diverse as its product line. Parts manufactured in Alabama are shipped to various locations within the state, throughout the U.S., and to international customers in Costa Rica and other countries.
    Although the company primarily works with metals such as steel, brass and bronze, according to Production Control Manager Marie Nail, it is Wisco's goal to meet the needs of any customer.
    "We do a little bit of everything," Nail said. "If it'll fit into our press, we'll do it."
    "We're a custom shop," said Wisco Industries' Tooling Manager Donnie Pirkle. "We do a lot of OEM work."
    According to Pirkle, the company was founded 50 years ago in Oregon, Wisconsin. The home office has approximately 100 employees.
    The Cullman plant was opened in 1992, primarily to serve the company's many customers in the southeastern U.S. The Cullman branch has employed as many as 40 persons, but currently has 23 on the payroll.

    Nail said that while the plant has the capability of running three full shifts, it currently only runs first and second.
    Wisco, which is a certified ISO 9001:2000 facility, has metal presses that range in size from 60-ton  to 300-ton, which gives them a wide range of stamping capabilities. The company also has capabilities for progressive and standard tooling in both straight sided and OBI presses.

    Following the tour of Wisco Industries, the Farm-City Tour group was taken to the Peinhardt Living History Farm in Cullman for lunch and a tour of the museum and grounds.
    The Peinhardt farm, a working family farm and agricultural museum, is a favorite field-trip destination of many area elementary and middle school classes.
    The museum itself houses many relics from previous eras, including examples of the four types of horse-drawn carts that were once manufactured in Cullman County. Hand tools, farm implements and even cooking and dining utensils dating from the late 1800s to the 1960s are on display.
    In addition to the museum, the farm has on its premises a classroom and numerous learning stations where children and adults alike can learn about agricultural activities such as woodworking, blacksmithing, milling grain, the harvesting of crops and the preparation of food on a farm.

    According to co-owner Carol Peinhardt, over 2,000 school children visited the living history farm this year.
    The Peinhardt Farm is a member of ALHFAM, the Association for Living Historical Farms and Agricultural Museums.
    During the lunch at Peinhardt Farm, Gregg Hodges, whose family was selected as this year's City Family, spoke to the tour group members, praising the Farm-City program, the Peinhardt family and the people of Cullman County.
    "Let me first say a personal thank you to Farm-City," Hodges said. "This has been an honor beyond our wildest dreams."
    "Farm-City provides that education and discipline farms gave us years ago. It's a different world now, but the basics are still the same. Cullman is a pleasant place, rich in heritage ... I'm thankful we have a community that supports such a program."
     For more information about Wisco Industries, visit their website at www.wiscoind.com. To find out more about the Peinhardt Living History Farm, visit their site at http://www.prn-inc.net/peinhardtlivinghistoryfarm. To learn more about the Farm-City program, visit www.farmcity.org.