Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfeld says the current political environment is dysfunctional and hurting business.
Generac, which manufactures back-up generators, has added 400 jobs thanks to strong demand that Jagdfeld attributed in part to things like the freak snowstorm along the East Coast this fall.
Still, he told the “UpFront with Mike Gousha” show that it’s hard to expand even further because of the uncertainty that exists politically. Jagdfeld said the economy and political environment are inseparable, adding how “simple things like tax planning” become difficult in times of uncertainty.
“How do you do tax planning when you don’t know what next year’s tax code will look like?” he asked.
“That uncertainty is creating, I think, a lot of pause for companies like Generac in terms of taking that next step, that next step off the cliff in terms of what we want to do in the future.”
Jagdfeld said the company is also running into trouble filling skilled positions, such as welders.
While entry level positions have been easy to fill, Jagdfeld said “regrettably once you get up the skill train … it gets a lot tougher to hire.”
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