WINONA (AP) — Things didn’t start very promisingly for Badger Foundry. In just its second stockholders meeting on June 1, 1910, the directors had to take up a collection to help defray the cost of postage. The collection yielded 25 cents.

Not exactly an auspicious start, said current foundry president Angus R. Callender.

Yet the business climate for the 100-year-old Winona company seems remarkably better than those first few meetings.

The foundry, which was originally started in Racine, Wis., recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary with a tour for employees’ family and friends and a cookout.

Most Winonans have driven by the Mark Street plant. Few know what goes on inside. Still, Callender said, that doesn’t stop some from making assumptions — like the foundry must be a dark, dingy place, or that the smoke coming from the stacks must be laden with pollution.

Tour groups walked through the 135,000-square-foot facility that has a good amount of natural light, swept floors and fresh air constantly flowing through it.

Callender said most people can see the smokestack from the facility. Few people know it’s 99 percent steam.

Even fewer know about the pits of scrap iron in the back. More than 90 percent of the foundry’s iron comes from places like nearby Miller Scrap.

Old brake drums and engine blocks from Winona become part of the next industrial centrifugal air conditioner compressors for Trane.

Badger Foundry has more than 80 clients, yet like so many Winona manufacturers what’s being built inside aren’t everyday household products. However, the names are familiar — Caterpiller, Trane, Allison Transmissions.

The Winona foundry employs around 150 people currently. That number can vacillate to as many as 200, sometimes it can even dip below 100.

Regardless of numbers, Badger is becoming a rarity — not only for its length of business, but staying in business.