In today’s episode, John sits down with Jesse and Ryan, lifelong friends and business partners who built Generator Power Systems (GPS) — one of Minnesota’s most respected generator installation and service companies.
GPS was born as a spin-off from Jesse’s family business, Jim’s Electric, founded in 1976. What started as a small electrical shop slowly transformed into a specialized generator company that now handles everything from residential standby units to large municipal and industrial backup systems.
The guys share their story of coming up in the electrical trade, learning the generator business just before Y2K, and eventually realizing they needed to treat the company like a real business—with processes, systems, a dedicated salesperson, and a marketing strategy.
This episode is packed with real talk about running a seasonal trade, managing a small team, balancing installs vs. service work, and why generator demand continues to skyrocket across the Midwest.