In his basement in January of 1973, Robert Elwood Larsen started a small company to design and manufacture specialized electronic and electrical control systems for local machinery manufactures. He named this new company Elwood Electronics and owned it as a sole proprietorship.

In July of 1974, the business moved to a rented building at 1351 Washington Ave. in Racine, Wisconsin. Shortly after this move, Elwood entered the micro-computer area of electronics and applied it to the industrial market. Elwood developed the hardware and the operating system software for what was to become known as System 76 (1976 being the year the unit were first shipped). Over the years many of these systems have been installed.

In 1977 the Elwood Electronics Company, Inc. was incorporated in the state of Wisconsin and in 1978 began the development of a new computer for the industrial market, known as the Mini Micro III. The Mini Micro III has enjoyed spectacular success and has been updated over the years to incorporate many new technologies.

In June of 1983 we purchased the Hydraulic Products Division of Rexnord. The business became the Elwood Hydraulics Company, Inc. The following year Elwood also purchased the Press Division from Rexnord. This division was merged into Elwood Hydraulics.

In early 1986, both Elwood Electronics and Elwood Hydraulics moved to its current location at 195 West Ryan Road, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

In 1992, the two corporations were merged into the Elwood Corporation, which now consists of 5 groups, Electronics, Fluid Power, Press, Coil, and Autotron.

In 2001, Elwood purchased the Gettys Group from the Danaher Corporation. This group manufactures AC "brushless" Servo, DC "brushtype" servo and standard step motors. These motors are used in many different applications, including hand-held medical devices, slot machines, global positioning systems and many types of factory automation and motion control equipment. Elwood Motors (formerly Elwood-Gettys) is also known for its special Explosion-Proof and Food-Grade AC motors.

Between 2001 and 2016, the Elwood Corporation achieved significant organic growth.

In 2015, after 42 years, Robert Larsen decided to retire. He sold the business to Kinsale Capital, a private equity group. Although the company changed ownership, it was important to him that Elwood continued to operate under the same management- as it still does today. Elwood continues to service its customers and prosper.