There was a tiny little blurb in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week about the Chippewa Valley’s own National Presto Industries, Inc. The locally based company just got $99.4 million in “add-on award” money from the Department of the Army. The money pumps up an existing contract with Presto to $133 million in Army Bucks.

Presto, as you probably know, makes more than deep fryers and Pizazz pizza reheaters. They also make disposable diapers and (pretty big) bullets. I’m not exactly sure what wing of the company will get the money, but Presto says they expect even more money to be awarded later this year to its AMTEC Corp. division down in Janesville for an order for “40 mm systems” – basically ammunition for grenade launchers. From 2000 to 2008, AMTECH has won $553,082,664 in government contracts (yet unfortunately, still needed to lay off some employees last year).

Normally, I’d just kind of giggle about how Presto’s website has a picture of a Belgium waffle at the top of every page while they own a high-velocity grenade makin’ factory. But what with the Eau Claire School District’s budget crisis, it’s hard to not feel bitter in a “the Pentagon should hold a bake sale to buy a fighter jet” kind of way.