December
22 -- Waukesha-based Generac Power Systems Inc. hired more than 200 people,
revamped some of its manufacturing facilities, made two major acquisitions, and
introduced several new products over the course of the past year.
In
recognition of those accomplishments, Generac is the BizTimes Best in Business
Corporation of the Year for 2014.
“We’ve
more than doubled the size of the company in three years’ time,” said president
and chief executive officer Aaron Jagdfeld.
“We continue to grow as a company, and this year we spent time playing
catch up, building up infrastructure and staffing appropriately.”
Generac,
which held a few job fairs this year, hired 50 to 100 professional and
technical positions in southeastern Wisconsin and 100 to 150 production-related
positions at its Whitewater and Oshkosh facilities. In total, the company
employs approximately 3,400.
Despite
no recent major power outages or catalysts, Jagdfeld said Generac’s residential
business has grown due to new products like the 22-kilowatt Guardian Series
generator, which is the market’s largest air-cooled home standby generator, and
the lightweight PowerPact automatic home standby generator.
Generac
has also focused on building up business through the acquisition of Bismarck,
N.D.-based MAC Inc., a mobile heater manufacturer, as well as the acquisition
of some assets of Kearney, Neb.-based Pramac America LLC, a manufacturer and
distributor of portable generators and water pumps. The former offers Generac
new opportunities in the oil and gas markets, and the latter expands the
company’s reach in retail markets, according to Jagdfeld.
Meanwhile,
Generac has improved and modernized its manufacturing facilities through the
implementation of multi-million dollar digital manufacturing lines.
Upgrades
to the company’s facilities in Whitewater and Eagle are in different stages of
completion, and the Jefferson facility is expected to begin going digital in
2015.
“The
new manufacturing plants are about a higher level of sophistication and improving
working conditions, quality and automation,” Jagdfeld said. “All of those
things are more indicative of where manufacturing is heading in the longer
term.”
As
for 2015, Jagdfeld said he has an aggressive plan to keep Generac growing
through a combination of organic and acquired growth.
“Going
more global is definitely in our sights. Ninety percent of our sales are in
North America right now, but our next legs of growth will come from
international expansion, additional acquisitions, and trying to find new
products and spaces where we want to be involved,” he said. “We will continue
to grow like a weed, and we’re looking forward to 2015. There are a lot of good things ahead for us.”
Hilary Dickinson www.biztimes.com
