Ted Mandt
Time period/Baraboo: 1902-1991
Submitted by: Targe MandtIn
In 1929, Ted and his brother Matt purchased a Baraboo creamery complete with wagons drawn by horses which knew their routes. They operated Gem City Dairy for over 30 years, with Matt taking on production responsibilities and Ted taking on customer service and public relations. Both loved horses.
Several years later, construction of a defense plant south of town created a boom but then big declines in employment when the facility was deactivated after World War II. In 1946, the Mandt brothers and many citizens invested in the new Baraboo Industrial Expansion Corporation, which was formed to bring jobs to Baraboo. Ted was the unpaid president of this new group, a job he held for two decades.
While he was named Baraboo Man of the Year in 1964 for his many civic activities, Ted’s proudest accomplishment was his involvement with the success of the expansion corporation. Seventeen new companies in 17 years – Northern Engineering, Flambeau Plastics, and Hagen Manufacturing are three of the companies that created many new jobs in Baraboo.