Generac Holdings Named Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Finalist Amid Major Manufacturing Expansion

Wisconsin accolade highlights Generac’s manufacturing momentum

Generac Holdings is earning state recognition as it scales manufacturing and product development in Wisconsin, reflecting a sustained shift toward resilient and clean-energy solutions. The company is named a finalist in the Mega Category of the 37th Annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards, announced in Waukesha on Feb. 20, 2026, underscoring 65 years of local investment and innovation. Generac’s chairman and CEO Aaron Jagdfeld says the designation reflects continued commitment to the state’s manufacturing community and the company’s role in building energy technologies deployed worldwide.

Generac frames the finalist status around a string of 2025 advancements that expand both product breadth and factory capacity. The company reports more than 4,800 employees across ten Wisconsin locations, including six manufacturing facilities, and points to a major upgrade of its residential product line that tightens integration across its ecosystem to give homeowners greater control amid rising grid instability and energy costs. Generac also launches a Commercial & Industrial high-capacity generator line aimed at hyperscale, colocation, enterprise and edge data centers, targeting the growing power needs driven by artificial intelligence workloads.

Investment in discrete manufacturing capacity is central to the company’s narrative as it opens a 345,000-square-foot facility in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, described as its most advanced plant to date. The Energy Technology division is advancing distributed generation with PWRmicro, a new microinverter designed to maximize solar energy capture while easing installer deployment. Generac says these initiatives position it to meet accelerating global demand for resilient power and integrated clean-energy solutions and that it plans continued hiring and expansion in 2026.

State program context

The Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year program, now in its 37th year, recognizes firms for innovation, philanthropy, technological advances, customer satisfaction and job quality. Generac’s finalist status is presented as validation of the company’s contributions to those areas across the state and in its global markets.

Market commentary (unrelated to award)

Separately, media commentary highlights large historical swings in Generac’s share price during the COVID period and subsequent years, noting volatility and varied analyst views. That market discussion is distinct from the company’s manufacturing and product developments emphasized by the Wisconsin award.