Welcome to Eau Claire!
Eau Claire is Wisconsin’s ninth largest city and home to our corporate headquarters. Our founder, Owen Ayres, grew up here, and nearly 100 of our 265 employees are based here.
A few fun facts about our hometown:
- Baseball legend Hank Aaron played for the Eau Claire Bears in 1952, a notable year on his way to his 1954 major league debut.
- John Menard, founder of the Menards home improvement chain, is an Eau Claire native, as is his son Paul Menard of NASCAR fame.
- National Presto Industries, Erbert & Gerbert’s, and Silver Spring Foods are all headquartered in Eau Claire. (Silver Spring horseradish is the No. 1 retail brand in the United States.)
- Grammy-winner Justin Vernon of the indy-rock band Bon Iver grew up in rural Eau Claire and still lives just outside of town.
- The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has won the prestigious DownBeat Magazine Award for best college jazz ensemble in the nation six times. The men’s ice hockey team won the 2013 NCAA Division III title. English Professor Max Garland is Wisconsin’s current poet laureate.
- Eau Claire hosts the U.S. National Kubb Championship. Kubb, otherwise known as “Viking chess,” is, well, different.
Eau Claire is also home to many Ayres projects, including the Clairemont Bridge Rehabilitation, Eau Claire Phoenix Park, JAMF Software Office Design, Keystone Retail Center, and UW-Eau Claire Central Campus Design. The water tower pictured with this post also was designed by Ayres Associates. (You can find many more of our Eau Claire projects in the projects section of this website.)
We’re proud of Eau Claire and proud to have contributed to its growth and development. You can find out more about our hometown here.
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