The dilemma has even drawn the attention of singer Jimmy Buffett, who was in the Caribbean nation as part of his own relief effort.

Laura Timm, director of corporate communications for Wauwatosa-based Briggs, recently spent four days in Haiti checking on the status of the generators and touring the ravaged nation. She met Buffett, whose hit songs include “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” in the lobby of her hotel in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and told him of the reason for her trip.

The following morning, Timm received a phone call saying that Buffett wanted to speak with her again. He told her he was on his way to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti for a meeting and said he would mention Briggs & Stratton’s plight.

“I knew that I was entering a country that was beyond poor, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw when I got off the plane,” Timm said. “It was a total state of chaos and devastation.”

The Jan. 12 earthquake left more than 200,000 people dead and an estimated 1 million without homes................read more