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Growing Vortex feels right at home in small Barneveld, Wis. community

Vortex started as Wild Birds Unlimited in Madison in 1986, then moved to this new facility (above and below) outside Barneveld in Iowa County in 2018. (Photos by Tim Eisele)

The fit seems just right for Vortex, a once-small Wisconsin company that has grown substantially but still feels comfortable in a small town in an outdoors-loving state.
The maker of high-quality optics is on the outskirts of Barneveld, an Iowa County town with a population of about 1,400 that sits 30 miles west of Madison. The complex is adjacent to the 1,000-acre prairie owned by the Nature Conservancy and nearby Southwest Wisconsin Grassland and Stream Conservation Area. Mickella Nofsinger, Vortex associate marketing communications manager, led a tour of writers attending the Outdoor Writers Association of America annual conference in Madison on a behind-the-scenes tour of the huge facility.

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