Madison
- November 1 -- Waukesha-based Generac Power Systems will add about 100 jobs
and begin making generators in Jefferson earlier than planned because of
increased business related in part to the East Coast superstorm.
Generac
President and CEO Aaron Jagdfeld said he wanted to start manufacturing
operations by Jan. 1, pending state approvals, at a Jefferson building that the
company originally intended to use mostly as a warehouse. Vacant for the past
three years, the building must be stocked with manufacturing equipment,
requiring some "pretty serious capital spending" by Generac, Jagdfeld
said.
To
prepare, the company already has made wiring and electrical changes in the
building and added lights better suited to manufacturing purposes. The site
also will need an electrical upgrade and fuel storage capacity for the testing
of products.
Without
the increased orders due to the storm-related power outages and some new work
making power washers that Generac recently picked up, limited manufacturing
would not have begun at the Jefferson facility until probably six to nine
months into 2013, Jagdfeld said.
Generac
already hired about 50 temporary workers this week to help with increased
orders at the company's Whitewater manufacturing plant. Some of those workers
will be offered permanent positions eventually, Jagdfeld said, and the 100 or
so new hires will be made in the next two months.
The
company plans to host two job fairs to help find workers, the first in about 30
days in Whitewater, and the second a month later in Jefferson. Details on the
job fairs are still being worked out, Jagdfeld said.
www.madison.com Wisconsin State Journal
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