Wisconsin 275
Wisconsin 275
BizTimes Media

Aaron Jagdfeld

Manufacturing
President and CEO
Generac  |  town of Genesee

Aaron Jagdfeld was named president and chief executive officer of Generac in 2008 and has since led it to become one of the fastest-growing manufacturers in the state. The Town of Genesee-based maker of generators has roughly 9,600 employees company-wide, a little over a third of whom are based locally. Thanks to strong demand for its residential home standby generators in recent years, Generac is on target to do more than $5 billion in net sales this year.

Education: Bachelor’s, University of Wiconsin-Whitewater

Hobby/passion: “I’m a nerdy ‘AFOL,’ which stands for Adult Fan of Lego. I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s putting together Lego sets and building just about anything I could think of. I spent an enormous amount of time as a kid building and the creativity that it sparked was amazing. Today I still enjoy building.”

First car: “A 1981 Mercury Capri with T-tops. I bought it used when I turned 16 and drove it all the way through college putting more than 200,000 miles on it.”

Toughest business challenge you’ve ever faced: “The transition from a founder-owned and -led company to a private equity owned and operated company. Our founder, (the late) Bob Kern, sold the company to a New York private equity firm in late 2006, and it took our team and me personally some time to adapt to a completely different approach to business.”

As you enter your office, what would you choose to be your walk-up or theme song: “AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck.’ I can’t think of a better song to help get me energized about the day ahead!”

BIZEXPO | EARLY BIRD PRICING | REGISTER BY APRIL 15TH & SAVE

Stay up-to-date with our free email newsletter

Keep up with the issues, companies and people that matter most to business in the Milwaukee metro area.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.

No, thank you.
BizTimes Milwaukee