Umbrellas
Clarence Shaler got his start in Waupun making umbrellas, including a new kind of umbrella he invented, along with golf clubs and other clever products.
Made in WaupunDoing Business
Start or grow here
Build something that belongs in Waupun.
Bring your idea to a community that roots for its own. Waupun pairs helpful city support and regional partners with neighbors who show up for the businesses they love.
Your next move
From first question to open door.
Starting or growing a business in Waupun is a team effort. The City of Waupun and Discover Waupun work side by side to help you go from first idea to grand opening, and to keep growing long after.
The City of Waupun provides a development guide, a clear project-start process, property information, permits and connections to local and regional financing.
Discover Waupun is your partner in downtown economic development. Guided by the Main Street Approach, we help entrepreneurs and property owners find the right space, connect with funding and technical resources, understand the local market and map out next steps. We also work to fill vacant storefronts, support the businesses already here and bring new investment downtown.
Once your doors are open, we keep helping you thrive by promoting your business, telling your story and connecting you with customers and the community.
Your road to opening day
Five stops to open for business.
Tap each stop along the way. Reach the end and watch the sign flip!
1. Get guidance
Start with a conversation. Connect with development partners, guides and technical help, beginning with the City’s get-started resources.
Start with the City ↗2. Explore funding
Review local, county, state and federal assistance pathways and incentives that can help your plan take shape.
Review incentives ↗3. Find a location
Explore available properties and development opportunities around Waupun.
See available properties ↗4. Roll up your sleeves
Line up licenses, permits and applications, then get to work making the space your own.
Find permits ↗5. Open your doors
Flip the sign, welcome your first customers and get listed in the business directory.
Visit the directory →Made in Waupun
A history of innovation.
Long before startups and storefronts, Waupun was a place where big ideas took shape. Umbrellas, tire patches, hemp, the “tune-up” and the rivets that helped win a war all have roots right here.
Tire patches
Fed up with flat tires on one of Wisconsin’s first automobiles, Shaler invented a vulcanizer for tire patches. It made him a millionaire.
Made in WaupunHemp
Matt Rens, “America’s Hemp King,” opened his first hemp mill just north of Waupun. Wisconsin soon led the nation in hemp, and its fiber went to the U.S. Navy.
Made in WaupunRislone and the “tune-up”
The Shaler Company launched Rislone, one of the first automotive additives, and later coined a phrase drivers still use today: the tune-up.
Made in WaupunRivets
National Rivet came to Waupun in 1928. During World War II, virtually all aircraft rivets for the American war effort came through its Waupun plant, which still runs today.
Made in WaupunYour big idea
Waupun has always been a place where good ideas get built. Yours could be the next chapter.
Tell us your idea →