Dreisilker Celebrates 65 Years of Motor Repair

Friday, May 1^st 2020 marks the 65^th anniversary of Dreisilker Electric Motors, Inc. Dreisilker first began as the American Dream of Henry and Margaret Dreisilker, who emigrated from Germany in 1954. Henry’s hard work and ambition helped him land his first job at a small motor repair and appliance business. He purchased the business a short time later and founded Dreisilker Electric Motors. Early on, Margaret assisted Henry with running the business by winding small stators and completing the bookkeeping.

From the beginning, Henry strived to perform high quality repairs and fast service. He took on special work that other motor shops did not want or could not do, such as repairing European motors for printing presses and machinery. As the business grew, Henry focused on hiring quality craftsman and investing in new, state-of-the art machinery and techniques. This machinery included a dynamic balancing machine, a new lathe, and most importantly – a new stripping machine. The stripping machine helped Dreisilker to stand apart from the competition, because it allowed Dreisilker to strip motors of their windings without damaging the motor frame, laminations, or the motor’s overall efficiency.  We stand behind our unique MotorSafe repair process and we’re proud to return each motor back to OEM specifications or better.

In addition to excelling in quality motor repair, Henry also wanted Dreisilker to be known for selling quality new motors and accessories. He started Dreisilker’s counter sales with the idea of supplying the best available products, including fan blades, belts, pulleys, starters, relays, and tools. Henry stressed that Dreisilker’s stock levels were right so that our customers could pick up what they needed, when they needed it.

Henry Dreisilker behind the counter in 1964

Upon Henry’s retirement in the mid-1990s, Leo Dreisilker took over the business and he continues the emphasis on high quality repairs, accurate and precise rewinding, MotorSafe stripping, precision balancing, thorough testing, and advanced varnishing methods. Like Henry, Leo stresses the importance of supplying quality products at our branches that serve HVAC and mechanical contractors, commercial properties and school districts throughout the Chicago, IL and Atlanta, GA areas. Collectively, our counter sales representatives have over 215 years of electric motor experience, which gives them the knowledge to help our customers select the right replacement motor for almost any application. In addition to Dreisilker’s branch locations, our customers are also able to take advantage of ordering motors online or live chatting with our motor experts to get help cross referencing motors or answering technical questions.

Leo & Sheila Dreisilker at our 60th Anniversary Celebration

Leo’s vision of Dresilker is for us to help our customers improve reliability, increase their uptime, and help save energy. His son and daughter, Matthew and Lynn, also share his vision and joined the family business in 2013. Matthew, Certified Reliability & Maintenance Professional (CRMP), is Dreisilker’s resident engineer and provides technical motor expertise to our customers. Lynn works in a number of different capacities, including HR, Technology, and Marketing. While Leo, Matt, and Lynn all share the Dreisilker family name, many Dreisilker employees feel like they’re also part of the family because the average tenure is 15 years with the company.

Matt & Lynn Dreisilker at the SMRP Conference in 2019

While we wish that we could celebrate our 65^th anniversary in person with all of our customers and vendors, we must adapt to the current circumstances as we have many times before. The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly changed how everyone is doing business and Dreisilker is doing its part to keep its employees, customers, and vendors safe. Hopefully sometime soon, we will be able to have an open house and invite everyone into our repair shop to celebrate the many years of motor reliability and expertise. For now, we wish everyone health and safety and we thank everyone for their support over 65 years.