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About Colburn Power & Recreation

Kohler Generator Parts Authorized Dealer

We are the largest Kohler Generator Parts Authorized Dealer, and we provide worldwide sales and support for Kohler's Residential, Commercial, Industrial, RV and Marine generators. Specifically, we are a factory trained Kohler Generator Sales, Service, Parts and Warranty Authorized Dealer for Kohler Power Systems, and we are an Expert Dealer for Kohler Engines.

Our Story:

Throughout the 90's, Chris Colburn was employed by the worlds largest generator manufacturer of the era. Responsible for a fast moving inventory of 400+ generators ranging from 10kW to 850kW, Chris had to convert the standardized inventory units into order-specific units that were being sold. For instance, he would take a stock 8000Lb 600kW 240/120V 60Hz generator and re-strap the main winding leads to produce 480/277V in addition to changing the main breaker panel, add a water jacket heater, install a PMG kit, and install and configure a Woodward electronic governor controller with a magnetic speed pickup, and of course hardwire a battery charger, install auxilliary dry contact sets, and other 'options' that were selected. Needless to say, at the volume of nearly 1,200 units a year, Chris' exposure to generators inside and out exploded. Promotions lead him to Parts and Technical Manager for USA, South & Latin America, and the Carribean, as well as Dealer Technical Trainer for their dealer service schools (not to mention organizing and putting on the Dealer Service Schools as a whole). Chris became one of only a few people in the US that truly learned and understood the generators from top to bottom, and actually got into the conceptual, physical and theoretical attributes of generators.

In 1999, Chris' technical knowledge led him to start a circuit board repair company for emergency and standby power generator controls. Also in 1999, Chris accepted an opportunity in the Marine industry with the worlds largest yacht and performance boat manufacturer. Over his ten years of tenure representing three brands within the company, his Management and Director title responsabilities included management of their Customer Service, Dealer Service, Parts, Warranty, Quality Engineering, Dealer Training, and Product Literature groups. With those responsibilities came product risk assesment and the legal obligations such as litigation mitigation and product recall management. Again, lots of exposure to not only the products, but applicable business in general, including worldwide travel with his upmost responsabilities being the reputation and function of the brands he represented.

By 2008, fuel prices were all over the board, layoffs were spreading, and consumer confidence was near rock bottom, but the circuit board repair portion of our business was in full force internationally. Chris still worked in the marine industry and Deanna was working to grow the generator parts and circuit board repair company.

On May 8, 2009 Southern Illinois was hit by a 80-100mph straight-line wind storm that caused major power outages thoughout the surrounding areas. While still in the marine industry and having knowledge of upcoming plant closures, Chris was home from work due to the storm threat when the storm hit. Literally minutes after debris stopped hitting his house, Fabick Cat called Deanna on her cell phone and requested assistance (due to the unfortunate timing of their Labor Union Strike). Knowing of Chris' knowledge of the equipment, Fabick CAT asked us to go to the Williamson County EMA building right away because their generator did not start, and the police and media were all there trying to meet for a storm assessment plan. Thankfully, Chris had the Emergency Management Association's generator running in minutes (faulty low oil pressure sensor). In response to our rapid successful response and positive past relations, Fabick Cat awarded us all of their contract work in Southern Illinois, which included all of the unit-down service calls and inspections for all the Verizon Wireless and Motorola cell phone tower generators in Southern Illinois (460 generators) plus many other generators used by companies ranging from cable providers to surgical centers, which included Kohler®, Olympian®, Onan®, CAT®, and Generac® generators. The strike lasted 10 months, and provided the stepping stones necessary for Chris to migrate out of his employed Director position and into the business owner's seat at Colburn Electronic Controls, LLC dba Colburn Power & Recreation.

We acquired our current two acre Marion, IL facility in October 2010. It was one of the several local full service RV Repair facilites that call upon us for Onan® RV generator subcontracted repair. We acquired our second facility on an additional three acres in November of 2014 to function exclusively for our Kohler Generator and Colburn Power Systems business. We continue gaining momentum with our Generators sales, service, parts, and warranty and RV service, parts and accessories, and warranty. We are now a Factory Warranty Service Center for the leading brands of equipment in our industries, including Magnum Energy® (alternative energy solutions such as battery inverters, solar panel inverters, and wind turbine inverters), Kohler Power Systems®, Kohler Engines®, Dometic®, Norcold®, Suburban®, Atwood®, Kipor®, Kubota®, ASCO®, Lippert® (LCI®), Power Gear®, Kwikee®, HWH®, Aqua-Hot®, Hotstart®, Woodward®, Parallex®, Deep Sea Electronics®, AC Delco®, All Power®, Interstate® and many more!

Our Philosophy:

Quality, deliverables and cost are the most important elements of "service" according to our customers and dealers, and therefore our business philosophy is built upon the same three key principles:

Always perform the following steps, and get them right on the first attempt by using standard operating procedures in order to protect our customers and dealers from any wasted time or cost:

Understand the needs and utilize validated solutions
Utilize quality parts and workmanship that will stand the test of time with a warranty
Get it where it needs to go when it needs to get there

Our Business:

We realize our outstanding customer satisfaction does not indicate we are doing an outstanding job. To us, it only indicates that we are at least doing what we are supposed to do and what we are expected to do. Our customers have given us a strong reputation to live up to, and we are committed to continually surpass their expectations.

We specialize in repairs, sales, parts and conversions that span the power and recreation industries. We are also a significant supplier and advanced technical support solution for other generator, HVAC, and RV service facilities around the world ranging from RV and residential to industrial and military equipment. We bring custom power and parts solutions across application segments, so for example; we can install, service and warranty solutions for a particular customer's business, home, yacht, RV, horse trailer, and conversion vehicle.

Our business is service, and we maintain a high standard of quality, reliability, and value at an economical cost by providing a full array of inclusive services. Word-of-mouth and consumer satisfaction has driven the majority of our market to us, and we are postured well to continue on our path with continued growth.

Our Goodwill:

We have seen the devastation of widespread power outages and offer our support to those in need. When disasters strike, we often release programs that support our consumers, dealers, and the power generation industry. These goodwill programs offer circuit board repairs at or below our cost. We promise to understand your urgency, and we will start working on your equipment as soon as we receive it. Ranging from hurricanes and winter storms to Ground Zero on 9/11, our goodwill gestures have helped many in need and will continue to do so.

Our Growth:

Our persistence has won over varieties of resistance, and we owe it all to honest business practices that focus on our philosophy and outstanding customer service. These elements built the foundation for our customer and dealer confidence, and the reputation of our company as a brand, and they have translated to remarkable growth year after year. As we continue to grow, we are committed to stick to our roots and focus on our key principles that have helped us earn our relationships and our reputation.

Our Promise:

Our promise to our dealers and customers is simple. We will provide world-class customer service, quality and delivery at a cost you could only expect from a local small business.

Other OEMs:

Colburn Electronic Controls, LLC dba Colburn Power & Recreation ("CEC") nor colburnpower.com represent, express or imply any warranties, actions, opinions, companies, brands, logos or trademarks of the control panel, generator or circuit board manufacturers in anyway whatsoever. FG Wilson®, CAT®, and Olympian® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, and neither Colburn Power & Recreation nor colburnpower.com are in anyway whatsoever affiliated with these registered names, trademarks, logos or their respective owners.