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31 ISSUE TWO the early 1980s, Kern focused on ways to navigate into new markets by anticipating economic and social trends. Within a year, Generac shifted into the industrial market, challenging international giants such as Caterpillar and Kohler. Kern’s new designs, willingness to change and diversify, and ability to see the big picture kept the company moving forward. “In today’s world, there are many factors that have to come into play for any idea to be successful,” he says. “The goal is the much broader understanding of how your thought processes, your ideas are going to fit into the world that you’re looking at and anticipate what’s coming over the horizon.” Through the 1990s, Generac adapted and expanded. Partnerships with major retailers such as The Home Depot pushed Generac products into American hands at an increased rate. Strategic business moves led the company deep into the industrial market, while the Y2K computer scare spurred unprecedented demand for private generators. “You certainly have to have a pretty broad understanding of what’s taking place around you,” Kern says of engineering in the global economy. “What are the markets you’re looking at, what are the issues involved, what are the economics? You can’t do it in isolation. That’s how we kept the company competitive.” Development of the multiple generator system (another innovation of Kern’s), the Bi-Fuel generator, low sound and fuel emission systems, and movement into the technical training field brought Generac to the top of its field in 2006. After 47 years, the Kerns sold Generac and shifted their focus to the work of The Kern Family Foundation. If you ask him today, Kern will tell you that cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset in today’s increasingly technical, diverse world is more important than ever. “Based on my experience, technical engineering training is not the beginning and end all,” he says. “Our version of entrepreneurial activity is not what most people think of – starting your own business – but it is preparing students so that they can think entrepreneurially whatever environment they’re in.” FEATURE