SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Texas Recreational Vehicle Association (TRVA) is set to launch its 50th Anniversary Convention this weekend, Aug. 16-19, at San Antonio’s La Cantera Resort & Spa. Dealers from across the state will gather to celebrate this milestone event along with representatives from finance, insurance, supply, service & repair, and manufacturing who support the industry throughout the state.
Twenty-two dealer groups are planning to participate this weekend, and they operate ninety-five dealerships in the State of Texas. In 2023, these dealers were responsible for registering $1.582 billion in new, used, and consignment recreational vehicles in the state. That figure represents 56% of the total registrations made to Texas residents during 2023. Add in the service/repair and parts business these companies represent and anyone can see the potential in who will be gathered for a long weekend in San Antonio.
Significant changes have swept over the state since 1974 when most dealerships were owned by families who were venturing into unchartered territory by engaging in their own independent business. Today, much of the RV industry in Texas is controlled by multi-location dealerships, many of which are owned by large corporations. However, independently owned dealerships continue to serve their niche markets across the state as the sole proprietorship has certainly not gone away in this vast state.
Born as an outgrowth of the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA) in 1974, RV dealers grew restless being simply a committee within TMHA, so they pooled their resources, drafted bylaws, filed the necessary paperwork, and chartered their new
nonprofit trade association. From those somewhat humble beginnings, the industry has grown to represent perhaps the most prosperous environment for RV business in the U.S.
Ron Hoelzer, Lloyd’s Trailer Sales, Orange, Texas, was elected the association’s first president and he remained active in the industry until 2022 when he sold his dealership and retired. Mr. Hoelzer is very much in touch with the association today.
“…We were just a bunch of independent-minded son-of-a-guns who wanted to chart our own destiny, and I was either unlucky enough to serve as the first president or it was a blessing, and in the long run it was certainly a blessing…” Hoelzer commented recently.
Serving in the association’s current volunteer leadership role is President Steve Spearing, Crestview RV Superstore, Selma, Texas. Spearing leads the TRVA Board of Directors which represents all segments of the RV industry in the state. Spearing’s roots run deep in the industry for as a teenager his father decided to stop selling firewood from the front yard of his Oklahoma home when he became general manager of Tulsa Camper Sales.
Spearing has said, “…those were good days for my twin brother and me even though chopping and stacking wood for my father wasn’t all that much fun. We found working around the RV dealership in 1971 was more enjoyable and here I am all these years later still engrained in the RV business…”
The convention will feature seminars from different perspectives of the industry including updates from RVDA, RVIA, safety practices, training, marketing, RECT, and panel discussions, among those of interest. Perhaps tops on dealers’ lists will be presentations by the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Daniel Avitia, and Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner Senior Financial Examiner Eric Fincher. Mr. Avitia heads the 800-employee state agency that licenses and regulates the RV industry. The OCCC regulates the financing of RVs in the state and Mr. Fincher represents those professionals who audit dealers every four years.
There will be ample networking and social time for attendees with two evening receptions, a golf tournament, a skeet shooting event, a business casual President’s Dinner, a three-night hospitality suite, an annual dealer-only meeting, and all culminating in the Annual Membership Meeting which closes out the convention. The President’s Dinner will feature a salute to the association’s 50-year history and to the past presidents who have led the organization for five decades.
Vendors to the industry continue to graciously contribute funds as sponsors of the annual convention for without such underwriting the event would be difficult to produce. TRVA’s Executive Director Phil Elam commented, “…our sponsors are important to the viability of the convention and although there are too many to list in this press release, they will all be suitably thanked during our convention and have been mentioned in email blasts to the industry in the promotion of the convention on numerous occasions…”
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