Month: April 2012

(April 24, 2012) -- More than 141 million Americans, or 49.4 percent of the U.S. population, participated in outdoor activities last year,  reflecting an increase of three million people compared to 2010 and continuing a five-year trend. In addition, Americans made a total of 11.6 billion outdoor outings in 2011, which is 1.5 billion more than the previous year. Annually, participants averaged 82 outdoor outings from hiking to biking, skiing to paddling.

(April 24, 2012) -- "This partnership allows Del City to provide its customers a convenient way to shop for their towing needs," said Hernandez. "With the addition of over 4,000 items including trailer hitches and accessories, there is a broad array of products for thousands of vehicles and numerous applications."

(April 24, 2012) -- “Many RV owners still buy their RV insurance policies with traditional auto insurance companies, many of whom do not provide specialized RV coverage,” said Derek Kartchner, with specialty insurance provider RV Insurance Professionals, a division of International Insurance Group, Inc.

(April 24, 2012) -- "The drop in sales volumes in February following a downwardly revised dip in January was disappointing and suggests downside risk to our forecast that consumer spending grew at a 2.5 percent rate in the first quarter of 2012," said Janzen. "Yesterday’s reported 2.2 percent jump in the volume of wholesale trade in February provided some offset to both today’s retail sales report and a weaker than expected manufacturing report in the month."

(April 24, 2012) -- The San Jose Mercury News reports that California's camping season is on the horizon, but choices for campsites among California's popular state parks are steadily decreasing, as the July closure date of many state parks draws closer.

(April 24, 2012) -- "AFC took a chance on me and my new business, and set us up with a small credit line. Through the ups and downs, AFC has been there for me and for my business, helping us to grow and be more successful. Starting out, it was just me. Now we have ten wholesalers working for Eurosport Auto and a large AFC credit line," said Barzegar.

(April 24, 2012) -- “Consumer confidence was virtually unchanged in April, following a modest decline in March. As was the case last month, the slight dip was prompted by a moderation in consumers’ short-term outlook, while their assessment of current conditions continued to improve," said Franco. "Overall, consumers are more upbeat about the state of the economy, but they remain cautiously optimistic.”

(April 24, 2012) -- Cummins Filtration, a division of Cummins Inc., today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its North Plant in Lake Mills, Iowa to the City of Lake Mills and donate the child care and fitness center facilities to the city. Cummins Filtration will lease approximately 35,000 sq. ft. back from the City of Lake Mills for the continued production of filtration media.

(April 24, 2012) -- "We are very excited to be announcing this major expansion of our high horsepower business, which is possible because of our strong growth in global markets," Linebarger said. "The high horsepower business is a growing part of Cummins and because of the demand for these products throughout the world we are able to add new high-skilled engineering and manufacturing jobs here in our home region."

(April 24, 2012) -- Representatives from the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA) of Canada are on Parliament Hill today to urge support for critical cross-border issues affecting the industry. The Government's 2012 Federal Budget has increased the value of goods travelers to the United States are able to bring back to Canada tax and duty free. This has serious implications for the competitiveness of the Canadian RV industry, which already has to compete with lower U.S. RV dealership prices.