I grew up delivering newspapers, mowing lawns and later selling mowers. Simplicity, Gilson, Ransomes, Ariens, Bolens. So many brands over the decades, many powered by small gas engines manufactured in Wisconsin.
This animation illustrates brand names over time [beta].
I was somewhat surprised to learn that Honda is now selling an electric lawn mower, having stopped offering gasoline mowers in 2023.
My neighbor continued:
“I just bought it, replacing my 15-year-old electric lawn mower. It’s great.”
The industry is shifting toward technologies where previous advantages no longer guarantee success.
Then, in early September 2026, a bolt of lightning appeared connecting Brillion, Wisconsin and Osaka, Japan:
“There are moments in the life of a family business when you have to make brave leaps the earlier generations never could have imagined because you know, in your heart, it’s right for all the people depending on you. This is one of those moments.”
I have wondered about this when using my Ariens snowblower to clear away winter snows. Effective? Yes. Reliable? Mostly. Dated by 2026 iPhone standards? For sure.
Ariens has long manufactured snowblowers and lawn mowers in its home, Brillion, Wisconsin, and a few other locations. Engineering, bending metal and assembling components.
Founded in 1912, Yanmar makes “industrial equipment, from small and large engines, agricultural machinery and facilities, construction equipment, energy systems, marine, to machine tools and components.”
Dan Ariens continues:
“The industry we are in is changing faster than at any point in its history. Autonomous equipment, battery-powered products, artificial intelligence and global supply chains are transforming what customers expect and what it takes to compete. We have watched our industry consolidate around us, and we made a choice: move boldly with the right partner, or risk falling behind.”
“Yanmar is that partner. They are a family business, founded over a century ago in Japan, with the same commitment to quality, craftsmanship and long-term thinking that our family has always stood for. When we sat across from them, we felt like we were talking to people who understood us—not a corporation looking for an acquisition, but a family looking for a partner.”
“… Of course, we do expect there will be some changes to achieve the advantages we hope to realize. We commit to you that as this partnership develops, we will keep communicating openly and we will always put this community first.”
Are we equipping our children to “achieve these advantages”?
43.2% of Brillion’s 4K–3rd graders, 123 students, scored below the 25th percentile on the 2024–2025 early literacy screener. The Wisconsin average: 37%, or 97,414 students.
Yanmar’s US headquarters are north of Atlanta. Georgia and Wisconsin students score about the same in NAEP 4th grade reading: 215 and 214 in 2024.
PISA reading: US vs. Japan
US vs. B-S-J-Z (China)
We have reinvented ourselves before. But this time, the world isn’t waiting for us to catch up. It is essential that the business community act quickly to make sure that our current and future generations are well equipped to compete and win globally.
Essential literacy and math skills are the place to begin, now.
