Kohler Company To Start Making Portable Generators

November 20 -- Kohler Co. will start making portable generators next year, joining competitors like Generac Holdings Inc. and Briggs & Stratton Corp. that already make both standby and portable generators.

The privately held Kohler-based company has made standby generators, but not portable ones. That will change in January when it formally unveils a line of portable generators that range from a 2-kilowatt inverter to a 12.3-kilowatt gasoline generator, the company said Wednesday.

The line will also include trash pumps and water pumps.

“Today Kohler offers a complete range of generators up to 3.2 megawatts that are relied upon in myriad applications: construction, telecom, residential/light commercial, industrial, mobile and marine,” said Manny Rumao, senior product manager, in a prepared statement. “Adding portable generators helps us further meet our customers’ needs for clean, efficient and dependable power.”

Generator demand has increased nationwide in recent years in the wake of devastating storms like Superstorm Sandy.

Generator manufacturers say that demand for portable generators spikes immediately after such storms, then demand for home standby generators jumps for several months afterward. The move by Kohler allows it to play in both spaces.

Jeff Engel          www.bizjournals.com