NORTHERN INDIANA — The Goshen News recently published its annual look at the business community in the area, including a look at the RV industry that remains “cautiously optimistic” about its outlook. Titled Northern Indiana Business (previously Partners in Progress), the News also looked at the housing and farming industries as well as the Elkhart County economic outlook overall.
RV Industry Association (RVIA) spokeswoman Monika Geraci told The Goshen News that the RV industry was “cautiously optimistic” about the state of the industry while keeping a “close eye” on the tariff situation. Geraci shared with the News many of the same statistics that were shared at the RV Industry Power Breakfast, hosted May 8 by RVBusiness at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, including that RV owners are using their RV’s 50% more than they did in 2021 and that the demographic study showed RV owners are younger and more diversified with the median age now at 49 years old.
“There’s been a catalyst and transformation in the RV industry over the past five years. RVs have become more mainstream in travel. They’re more prevalent in commercials — hotels and truck ads pulling RVs. RVs have solidified as mainstream travel and that bodes well for the future of the industry,” Geraci told the News.
The Goshen News also spoke to Shipshewana’s Sunset Park RV, which increased its facility and production tenfold with the acquisition of Riverside RV in LaGrange, giving the manufacturer an additional 155,000 square feet. That extra facility has given them the room to increase production, have space for overflow parts, add two new lines and space for lamination in the future.
Something that will be an asset to RV manufacturers in the area is having a place where their customers can comfortably stay while their units are being repaired as well as another facility for rallies. That is currently in the works with the development of North Trace RV Resort in Syracuse. The resort-style RV campground is being built close to the Kosciusko-Elkhart County lines by Steve Showalter of Showalter RV in Nappanee. They broke ground in the fall and plan to have two phases of development, with hopes to have phase one open in 2026. Phase one will include 82 campsites, a welcome center, event center, fitness center, dog park and playground. Showalter told the Goshen News that despite the fact that Elkhart County is the RV capital of the world, there are not very many RV campgrounds.
The Goshen News also included data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on employment, wages and spending, including:
- The unemployment rate in the US for the period of March 2024-March 2025 grew from 3.9% to 4.2%, while unemployment decreased in Elkhart County from 5.2% in 2024 to 3.6% in 2025. Unemployment also decreased in the cities of Elkhart and Goshen in that time period.
- Average weekly wages (all industries) for the 3rd quarter of 2024 for the US was $1,394 and for Elkhart County, $1,138.
- The average annual spending per category in 2023 was fairly close between the Midwest and the country as a whole. Those living in the Midwest spent $22,123 annually on housing, ($25,436 US); $12,517 on transportation ($13,174 US), $9,627 on food ($9,985 US), $6,588 on healthcare ($6,159 US) and $21,720 on all other items ($22,526 US).
- Changes in employment by industry sector showed little to no change in most industries from March 2024 to March 2025 with a drop in manufacturing, which was the largest sector at 60.8 (numbers in thousand)—it was down by -0.8 in 2024 and grew to -1.3 in 2025, trade, transportation and utilities was at 20.2 and dropped from -0.2 in 2024 to -1.0 in 2025 and leisure and hospitality at 7.0 dropped from -0.2 to -2.8. Growth occurred in mining, logging and construction at 4.3 from 0.1 in 2024 to 2.4 in 2025, professional and business services at 9.7 grew from 0.5 to 5.4 and the biggest growth was in the information sector at 0.6 thousand grew from 0.1 to 20.0 in 2025.
- Average hourly wages in May of 2024 in the Elkhart area was also close to the country at large with “all occupations” paying an average hourly wage of $27.41 ($32.66 US), buyers and purchasing agents were paid $35.36 an hour ($39.29 US), Mechanical drafters $31.73 an hour ($35.59 US), Sheet metal workers were paid $29.80 an hour ($31.78 US), electronic equipment installers & repairers, motor vehicles $28.82 ($24.16 US), industrial truck and tractor operators were paid $21.97 per hour ($23.00 US) and cabinetmakers and bench carpenters were paid $20.76 per hour ($22.82 US).
Overall, despite a lot of uncertainty in the country and the state, the economic and job outlook in the area, at least for now, is steady and diversification was cited as the key to success, regardless of industry.
The post ‘Goshen News’ Looks at N. Indiana Business, Including RVs first appeared on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.