Tecumseh Powered America’s Snowblowers — Then Wisconsin Lost the Engine Factory

For decades, Tecumseh engines powered snowblowers, lawn equipment, generators, pressure washers and other machines across America. But the small-engine story behind the Tecumseh name was deeply rooted in Wisconsin. In New Holstein, engine manufacturing stretched back to the Lauson tradition of the 1890s. Tecumseh acquired Lauson in the 1950s, expanded through Power Products in Grafton, and built a small-engine business that became especially familiar on snowblowers. Then the economics changed. In 2007, Tecumseh announced the closure of its New Holstein manufacturing facility, affecting roughly 320 workers. The company said it had increasingly outsourced components and certain small engines to lower-cost countries including India, Brazil and China. Federal trade-adjustment records later connected New Holstein job losses to increased imports following a production shift abroad. That same year, Tecumseh Products sold its entire Engine & Power Train business. This documentary follows the Wisconsin workers, the engines, the factory closures, the sale and shutdown of the engine business — and the surprising fact that Tecumseh Products itself did not disappear. The company continued as a global refrigeration and air-conditioning compressor manufacturer, while parts of the old engine legacy survived through replacement parts, tooling and the return of the Lauson name. If you enjoy original documentaries about American factories, workers, towns and the industries that built everyday life, subscribe to When the Work Left. #WhenTheWorkLeft #Tecumseh #AmericanManufacturing