Briggs & Stratton moving more operations to Auburn

Company laid off about 160 workers in Wisconsin

An inverter generator is just one of Briggs & Stratton’s many products.

Briggs & Stratton Corp., a small engine company based in Wisconsin but with operations in Auburn, will move more of its operation to Alabama as part of some changes it is making.

The company on Friday announced the layoffs of about 160 workers at its plant in the Milwaukee area and said this weekend in a statement that some of the affected operations will move to Auburn.

“Throughout 2023, we will transition home standby and engine component production from Wisconsin to other existing Briggs & Stratton facilities,” the company said. “Home standby production will move to our existing facility in Auburn, where we already have lines producing these products. Engine component production will move to our existing facility in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.”

The company went on to say the changes will result in cost savings.

“The transition allows us to consolidate production into facilities that manufacture similar Briggs & Stratton products, which will minimize freight costs, streamline processes, allow us to build products faster and more quickly respond to customer needs.”

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Briggs & Stratton has both an engine plant and a 400,000-square-foot distribution hub in Auburn. In 2021, the company invested $9.4 million to add employees and new equipment at the engine plant, which builds the company’s V-Twin Vanguard engines.

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