ABOUT US

EMS was established in Madison in 1933 by Carl Sutherland Sr. and his wife Magda. We are still family owned-third generation and we have since grown to over 90 employees and five locations.

We are committed to providing excellent on-time and quality electric motor repair services, solutions and new products to our customers. We also offer engineering services, predictive maintenance services, compressor repair and service, on-site repairs and panel building services.

1933
Electric Motor Service, now called EMS Industrial, Inc., was started in 1933 by Carl Sutherland Sr. and his wife Magda (Maggie). Carl got his degree in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and Maggie had an entrepreneurial spirit that was unmatched. They began the business by picking up electric motors from customers with their own cars and repairing them in their first shop located on East Wilson Street in Madison, WI. They served both local customers as well as helped support Detroit automotive manufacturers.

1979
Still named Electric Motor Service, Carl and Maggie built a new facility located on Wright Street in Madison, WI. The location allowed for better, faster customer service while expanding the business into new areas in an effort to help customers.

1998
Name was changed from Electric Motor Service to EMS Industrial, Inc.

2004
EMS Industrial, Inc. purchased Energetics, a business with locations in Janesville and Dubuque. EMS also purchased Dubuque Electric Motor Repair and merged it with the Energetics Dubuque location, forming the companies first world class operation in Iowa.

2005
EMS Industrial, Inc. built a new, state of the art facility in Madison, WI on Prairie Dock Drive.  The location features a drive in bay for customers, top tier technology and other aspects that aim to increase the customer experience.

2018
Currently EMS Industrial, Inc. has locations in Madison, Milwaukee, Janesville and Dubuque.

2020
We are pleased to announce that effective December 31, 2020, EMS Industrial, Inc. has acquired Badger Electric Motor. Both are family-owned Wisconsin companies who’ve been keeping businesses in the Midwest operating for decades. The compatibility with culture, aptitude, and geography make this an outstanding fit. 

With the acquisition of Badger Electric Motor, EMS Industrial now has five World Class Repair Operations to service all of your mechanical and electrical needs. We have operations in Madison, Janesville, Appleton, Milwaukee, and Dubuque, IA. EMS Industrial recognizes that the cornerstone of Badger Electric Motor’s success was their dedicated and loyal customers. Our new customers will now have the benefit of additional services such as predictive maintenance, UL 508A panel building, industrial air compressor service/sales, and over $2M of new product inventory. EMS offers an extensive inventory selection of motors, electrical components, and power transmission products. EMS also offers world-class field service capabilities, on-staff engineering services and more. Legacy EMS Industrial, Inc. customers will also benefit from this acquisition in multiple ways. Badger offers increased large motor repair capacity with EASA repair facilities in Milwaukee and Appleton. The addition of these repair locations allows us to provide superior service closer to many of our customers. The tenured and trained employee base at Badger, now EMS Industrial, look forward to solving your problems. Additionally, EMS Industrial customers will benefit by enjoying extra services such as servo motor repair and circuit breaker testing.

Electric Motor Service
Electric Motor Service
EMS Industrial Inc.