Montgomery, Bruce P. (1994). Briggs & Stratton Corporation. In Paula Kepos (Ed.), International directory of company histories, Vol.8 (pp. 70-73). Detroit, MI: St. James Press.

***Briggs Library call number: Ref HD2721 .D36 1988 v.8***
***An excerpt of the text of this article is presented below.***

"Briggs was succeeded by Charles Lyons Coughlin, a fellow electrical engineering student who had known Briggs at South Dakota State College. Coughlin had joined the company in 1910, but left in 1918 for the Ladish Drop Forge Company. In 1923, he rejoined Briggs & Stratton as vice president and general manager. He became company president in 1935, and later chief executive officer and chairperson in 1970." (p.71)

"Coughlin's leadership brought Briggs & Stratton rising profitability. Net sales more than doubled from $40 to $90 million between 1953 and 1959. By 1965, sales volume had risen to a record $105.1 million. Briggs & Stratton's profitability stemmed from a conservative approach in sticking with its two principal lines of manufacturing, the production of small air-cooled gasoline engines and the production of automobile parts." (p.71)

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