Rick Kessler

ELKHART, Ind. – Speaking to an audience of about 150 people Monday night at Ranger Distribution Inc.’s (RDI) impressive facilities in Elkhart, Ind., Dave Anderson challenged everyone to make their beds every morning. To get plenty of sleep the night before. To stay hydrated. To not leave dirty dishes in the sink.

Anderson is a leading international speaker and prolific author on personal and professional performance improvement and the message behind his challenge was this: How you do anything is how you do everything.

In other words, if you make it a habit to do the little things right, then you’re well prepared when it comes time to do the big things right.

“What you’re doing is you’re conditioning your mind to have a higher standard, to follow a process, to not cut a corner, to not do less than your best, to not make an excuse for doing less than your best,” he said. “Then you bring that well-trained mind into the workplace with you, and it’s already at a high point. You’re already expecting more from you. It’s already disciplined. You already feel good about yourself. So, when we can start to get those little things right, we condition ourselves to where, when we’re in a big arena where the stakes are higher, that we’re already all about excellence.”

This was the second year in a row Anderson spoke at Ranger Distribution (RDI) for the company’s third annual “Giving Without Expectation” speaker series, and his pull-no-punches message of personal accountability seemed to resonate with RDI employees and invited colleagues and partners from the RV industry.

“Well, I think the biggest thing that he likes to talk about as the ‘red belt mentality,’ so those who are hungry will work hard and do the extra things that aren’t necessarily expected of them, but are necessary to get the job done,” said RDI Chief Revenue Officer Brent Diver. “And if you can create a culture that is full of red belts, then as a group or an entity, you’ll excel.

“Our mission is to create a bunch of red belts within our organization,” Diver continued. “Culture is the most important thing to us – and has been since Day One – and we feel like we’ve been very successful in bringing forward the culture of positivity, the culture of accountability, and the red belt culture where we just continue to grind and achieve and outperform the market and enjoy the success that the others around us also enjoy.”

Diver, CEO John Curran and COO Rod Humphreys founded RDI in 2019. It was the three of them, two other employees, one truck and a 22,000-square-foot building. Fast forward to now, and RDI has 30 employees, five trucks and about 100,000 square feet under roof.

Humphreys recalled an early meeting when the group was working on the company’s formation. They were asked what they wanted RDI to be known for, and Humpreys said it took him a “millionth of a second” to come up with an answer.

“I want to walk into the bar to get a beer, have my employee sitting in there and have them look at us and be like, ‘I work at that company. It’s the best company in Elkhart to work at.’ That’s what I want. That’s what I want this company to be,” Humphreys explained.

While they didn’t want this article to appear as if RDI was perfect, they said it is their steadfast intention to continue to cultivate a workplace that will reflect Humphrey’s sentiment – which is why they brought in Anderson to deliver his motivational message.

“The theme of the night is ‘Giving Without Expectation’ and that’s what it is,” said Curran. “This is our thank you to our employees and everybody we do business with, whether it’s on the vendor side, whether it’s on the customer side. Thank you. Thank you for what you do. If we can make our employees successful, if we can make our vendors successful, if we can make our customers successful, then of course RDI is going to be successful.”

Motivational Message

The author of 16 books, most recently “Elevate Your Excellence: The Power of Dong Ordinary Things Extraordinarily Well” and host of the wildly popular podcast, “The Game Changer Life,” Anderson’s hour-long presentation was both a challenge and a reminder that the power to improve lies within ourselves.

Everyone belongs to one of four categories, he explained.

There are Undertakers, who are either have a negative attitude – “They’ve quit but they haven’t left.” – or are prima donnas who think the rules don’t apply to them. Either way, Anderson said, they are a toxin to others. The second group are the Caretakers, who only do just enough to get by. These people are capable of so much more, but they choose not to put forth the effort.

Playmakers are the third group, and they have above-average drive and show flashes of brilliance, but they lack the consistency – and the inner drive to fuel that consistency – of the fourth group, which are the Game-Changers.

“Game-changers go all in every day,” Anderson said. “That doesn’t mean every day’s a great day or, if I’m an athlete, it doesn’t mean every game’s a great game, but it’s not due to the lack of me more consistently bringing eight key traits to the table. I bring more effort, more energy, more enthusiasm, more excellence, more passion, better attitude, more focus and more integrity consistently day in and day out.”

“I’m more consistently bringing those things to the table,” he continued. “That doesn’t mean it always converts to results right away, but I trust the process. I keep bringing it, I keep bringing it, and I start to see results – not always overnight, but certainly over time. Listen, I may not be as talented as the next guy. I may not know the right people, but I’ll outwork them. I’m hungrier than they are.”

Everyone belongs to one of these groups, and people typically will move from one group to another quite often depending on the day, the topic at hand or the stimulus affecting the mindset.

The key to moving into the Game-0changer category, he added, is to discover your “why”.

“The ‘why’ is what motivates you,” Anderson said. “Your ‘why’ is different than mine. There’s not a right ‘why’. There’s not a wrong ‘why’. And your ‘why’ will change throughout your life. Your ‘why’ answers these two questions: Why do I get up in the morning and why should anybody else even care?

“And if those reasons aren’t clear, if they’re not compelling, if they don’t make you do something today you wouldn’t do without it, you’re probably complacent and you might be successful, but you’re never going to be all you could possibly be,” he said.

The RVBusiness Featured Video is sponsored by Curt, a Lippert Brand.

The post Ranger Distribution Speaker Offers Motivating Challenge first appeared on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.

ELKHART, Ind. – With about 425 family, friends and colleagues looking on, members of the 2024 class were officially inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame Monday, Aug. 19, at the Northern Indiana Event Center in Elkhart, Ind.

The five inductees from the RV industry included: Don Clark, Grand Design RV, Elkhart, Ind.; Terry Elias; Triple E RV, Manitoba, Canada; Phil Ingrassia, RV Dealers Association, Fairfax, Va.; Jeff Rutherford, Airxcel, Elkhart, Ind.; and Brian Wilkins, Wilkins RV, Hornell, N.Y.

And the five inductees from the manufactured housing industry included: Charlie Hemphill, Clayton Homes, Morristown, Tenn.; Sam Landy, UMH Properties, Freehold, New Jersey; Kamal Shouhayib, Choice Properties, Troy, Mich.; Nathan Smith, Flagship Communities, Fort Mitchell, Ken.; and Todd Su, Advantage Homes, San Jose, Calif.

Preceding the induction ceremony was a state of the Hall of Fame report, the highlight of which is that the organization, after facing a $930,000 deficit in 2012, is now boasts a $22 million net worth. In addition, Phase I of the 36,000-square-foot Convention Center expansion is complete, and future plans include a re-imagining of the RV museum.

Following that, Dana Nelsen, publisher of RV News, was honored with the Darryl R. Searer Spirt Award for, in part, his “loyalty, volunteering for well over a decade as a board member, an executive committee member.”

Then it was time for the inductions, and each inductee, during their acceptance speeches, offered heartfelt thanks to their spouses, families, friends and colleagues for helping support and shape their careers.

• Prior to co-founding Grand Design with brothers Ron and Bill Fenech in 2012, Don Clark was president of Dutchmen RV and successfully led the turnaround of the THOR Industries subsidiary. His experience also includes being part of the owner/management team that helped drive Keystone RV Co. to become the largest towable manufacturer in the world. Most recently, Clark has led Grand Design RV to become one of the fastest growing RV manufacturers in the history of the industry.

During his acceptance speech, Clark said he felt “humbled and undeserving,” and then shared a story about a time his son, Austin, learned the impact the RV industry can have on people.

“We all have customers who are passionate for our lifestyle. We have customers who are passionate for opportunities to travel and build relationships and build memories with their family and friends,” Clark said. “What an awesome industry that we have an opportunity to serve. We actually can make a difference in people’s lives, lives. I’m just as enthused and excited about this industry 40 years later as I was on my first day of the job. We’re all blessed.”

 • Terry Elias, CEO of Triple E Recreational Vehicles and Leisure Travel Vans, a Canadian RV manufacturing company located in Winkler, Manitoba that was established in 1965. He also is President & CEO at Lode King Industries, one of Canadas largest manufacturers of commercial highway transport trailers.

Elias recounted his time advancing the greater good of the industry through the Canadian RV Association (CRVA) and RV Industry Association (RVIA), and was pleased that two of his sons, Ryan and Mike, are continuing that legacy. Ryan Elias, the president of Triple E, is on the RVIA board while Mike, director of sales and marketing, is a CRVA board member.

“I’m very pleased to see the advancement of our family being continued to be involved in the RV industry North America-wide,” he said. “This journey in the RV industry has been very rewarding and have cultivated many relationships in ministry. Being on the association, our dealers and the supplier group.”

• Phil Ingrassia has been the president of the RV Dealers Association (RVDA) since 2012. Before that, Ingrassia served as the association’s vice president for communications starting in 2002 after having joined the RVDA staff in 1996. In that capacity, he supervised the association’s membership, industry relations, market expansion and communications programs. He also served as RVDA’s staff liaison to the Go RVing Coalition. In addition, Ingrassia is the past chair of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) and is a member of the organization’s board of directors.

Ingrassia shared a story about his son, Tony, being asked whether he’d follow in his father’s footsteps to work for the RVDA someday.

(I’ll never forget the look on his face. ‘Wait, what?’” Ingrassia said. “But as I started to think about it, and we’ve heard that here tonight, it’s not an odd question to ask at all. The RV business truly is built upon family from the customers who enjoy the units, to the dealers that sell them, the manufacturers and suppliers that build them. There’s a strong sense of family that serves as the life and blood of this industry.”

• Jeff Rutherford has enjoyed a long and successful career in the North American RV industry. Following eight years as vice president of Carefree of Colorado and nine more years as the company’s president, Rutherford joined Airxcel in June of 2013 assuming role of chief operating officer. He was promoted to president in 2015, and was named chief executive officer the following year, succeeding company founder Mel Adams who retired following a 25-year tenure. In November, Rutherford moved on to become chairman at Airxcel. In addition, Rutherford is the past chairman of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA).

During his time on stage, Rutherford said upon reflecting on his career the one thing that kept coming back to him was “gratitude.”

“I’m very grateful to the many mentors I have, but most particularly to Mel Adams. Mel taught me how to provide life-changing opportunities for my team. And that’s meant a lot to me, and it’s meant a lot to many people that I’ve worked with,” Rutherford said, who went on to thank his colleagues, RVIA and customers as well. “And most importantly, I’m grateful to my family, my wife, my children, their first visit to Elkhart Indiana, where I spent so many nights over the last 30 years. They supported me during the challenging times, and they were there to celebrate the many, many successes that occurred throughout my career. So, I’m very grateful.”

• Brian Wilkins is the third-generation owner of Wilkins RV Inc., headquartered in Bath, N.Y. His experience with the RV industry started at an early age, having worked in his family’s dealership after school. In 2004, he acquired the family dealership from his father, and has grown the single-location business to seven storefronts, all in New York. Wilkins served as chairman of the RV Dealers Association (RVDA) in 2016, and in 2022 he received RVDA’s James B. Summer award, the highest honor the association presents. He has a long record of serving RVDA, having also served as chairman of the Mike Molino RV Learning Center Program Oversight Committee, as a member of the Tech Certification Board, and as a member of RVDA’s board of directors and board of delegates.

Wilkins said he was “extremely proud” to be a third-generation owner of Wilkins RV. He acknowledged the previous generations inlcuding his mother, Patricia, who died in 2013, his father, Ron, who was in the audience.

“Dad, I stand up here tonight knowing full well that this very well, for a good reason, could be you or Grandpa Stan. You two paved the way for me, and for that, I’m very thankful. To you, specifically, I thank you for the opportunity provided, the trust that you had, and the wisdom and the experience that you passed on to me. This honor is much yours as it is mine,” Wilkins said.

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The 2024 Forest River Owners Group (FROG) International Rally is underway this week at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds and for Bob Byrne it’s very much a bittersweet affair.

This is the final FROG rally for Byrne as the club’s president, a position he has held for 13 years. Come November, Byrne and his wife Cindy will step aside. Rennie and Beth Roberts, who have been learning the ropes for a few months now, will be succeeding the Byrnes.

“We’re looking forward to the next chapter, but we are certainly going to miss the wonderful friendships we’ve made. We’ve had great adventures. The company has treated us wonderfully and we’re very grateful to Pete (Liegl, Forest River president) and the entire Forest River team for the opportunities we’ve had,” Byrne told RVBusiness.

The 2024 FROG Rally features about 380 coaches and 750 people – 40% of whom are first-timers – along with about 50 vendors, 65 seminars, eight tours around Amish country, a couple of nights of live entertainment, and, according to Byrne, “a lot of great opportunity to come here, renew old friendships, make new ones, learn about your RV, and just sharing friendship.”

Byrne was busy setting up for that night’s dinner banquet, but he took a few minutes to graciously reflect on his time as the FROG president.

“More than anything else, I’m going to miss the people,” he said. “We have made wonderful friendships. We’ve had great adventures with a lot of the members of FROG. We’ve had opportunities to travel extensively to work with a lot of the members if we’re not hosting a rally and helping others set up. I did an estimate the other day that, in the 13 years, we have probably either organized and hosted or helped others organize and host on FROG’s behalf somewhere upwards of 225 to 250 events, maybe a little over that.”

His thoughts then took him back to one of the very first events that took place after he became president, which was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. in March of 2012.

“This was before we were online with our registrations. Everything was mailed in and out, and we planned on taking 25 RVs with us. We ended up taking 76,” he said. “We needed to have three buses. It was a little bit like herding cats, but it was a great start and we figured if we can pull this one off, we’re going to be okay.”

Lastly, Byrne also shared the first time he found out he was going to become the president of FROG.

“I was sitting in my boss’s office, Jeff Rowe (Forest River’s human resources director), filling out some paperwork, and this guy stepped into the doorway and he said to Jeff, ‘Have you had him measured yet for the spandex frog outfit?’ And I turned and said, ‘Any pattern that needs this much spandex ought to be illegal.’ And Jeff said, ‘Oh, there’s somebody I’d like you to meet. This is Pete. He’s the president of the company.’ So it was an auspicious start,” Byrne said with a laugh.

In fact, Byrne had high praise for Liegl and his support for FROG over the years.

“We are very appreciative to Pete and to all of his management team, but not only the managers, but up and down the line,” he said. “We have worked with so many of the customer service people, the service techs, the salespeople. You go out here on the grounds and you see all the service work that’s being done and all of the goodwill that’s being spread, building relationships between the customers and the company, and we are very grateful to have had an opportunity to be a part of that.”

As far as his successors – and with Beth Roberts busy setting out desserts at each table behind him – Byrne also had nothing but the highest expectations for the Roberts, a Delaware couple who have been RVing for about 40 years.

“They have been key members of the FROG team and the Rally team for the last 12 years,” Byrne said. “They have organized and hosted events on their own. They’ve helped us with some of our remote rallies, so they’re bringing a good, strong background. But most of all, most important in my mind, they are extremely respected by the folks who are key to the organization, leaders in a lot of the setup work. I think that’s going to serve them very well, and it’s a well-earned respect.”

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GOSHEN, Ind. – Easily recognizable with its striking matte green-colored full-body paint, Keystone RV has launched a special edition of its Cougar fifth-wheel in which proceeds of every sale will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

Known as the Hero Edition, the unit will make its public debut at America’s Largest RV Show in Hershey, Pa. Fittingly, the show’s opening day is Sept. 11. The Wounded Warrior Project was created following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Given the Hero Edition’s eye-catching exterior, it’s safe to say the unit will draw plenty of attention in Hershey. The color, which definitely has military vibe to it, has been dubbed Heroic Green and was produced in the manufacturer’s in-house paint facility in Wakarusa, Ind. The “Cougar” name and contemporary logo in raised lettering are the only exterior adornments which, paired with the matte green full-body paint, offers a subdued yet uniquely automotive-style design.

“We’ve been noticing trends in the market of people wanting less graphics, less swoopy, very simple, more automotive look,” said Keystone General Manager Matt Christensen, who credited Product Manager Scott Taylor with the matte green color, and from there came the concept of the Hero Edition in partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project.

Leveraging the “competitive advantage” of its paint facility and following the successful debut last year of the Cougar Midnight Edition, Christensen said the Heroic Green matte finish was something that Keystone really honed in on.

“We’ve just decided to have some fun the last couple of years, with all the things that have been going on in the market, to kind of flex our muscles with paint and bring paint to the market in a lower price point that is otherwise generally offered,” Christensen explained. “If you go to Tampa or you go to other shows, you generally only see full body paint on a higher-end Class A motor homes, or even really high end fifth-wheels – and a lot of times those paints aren’t even standard, it’s optional. So, we felt like this was a great opportunity for us to flex our muscles a little bit and use our paint facility.”

The concept started with the green color, black accents and bonded windows – slidetoppers also will be standard – and then it was “just letting the color itself speak for the outside of that unit,” Christensen said. “Then, as the unit came offline and we looked at it, we said, ‘Man, it’s got this military look to it.’ So, we felt that there could be an opportunity to do something with it.”

That opportunity quickly manifested in a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit charity and veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses or co-incident to their military service on or after Sept. 11, 2001.

Keystone will donate $1,000 from every retail sale of the Cougar Hero Edition, which is available on four of the full-size Cougar’s seven floorplans. Keystone’s total contribution will be no less than $250,000, and up to $1 million. Christensen noted, too, that each donation is coming out of Keystone’s bottom line and not just the company passing along the costs.

Each unit also will include a gift bag of Wounded Warrior Project items and other products to further commemorate the Hero Edition’s mission.

While the Hershey Show will be the Hero Edition’s public debut, prototypes have already been well-received by Keystone employees at a company-wide ice cream social and by Cougar owners at a recent rally in Shipshewana, Ind.

Taylor said he had “goosebumps” when both employees and Cougar owners flocked to the Hero Edition at each event, taking selfies and oohing and awing over the unit.

“Everybody was just cheering and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s what this is for?” Taylor said. “And the Cougar owners were blown away. The response was phenomenal. And one of the newer customers to Cougar had the best comment ever; he said, ‘I was hoping I picked the right brand. Now, seeing this, I’m absolutely convinced that I picked the right brand and the right company.’”

“And then, as we’re talking,” Christensen added, “people were coming out of the woodwork and talking about they had a family member who served, and maybe passed, or about all of the lives that our military has touched within our community and our company. We got even more resound in getting this done. We all stepped away from it for a second and said, ‘This is just a great thing. It’s more than just selling trailers. This is great for our company, this is great for our community, this is great for our industry.”

The post Keystone Cougar Hero Edition to Support Wounded Warriors first appeared on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.

While Hurricane Debby is centered off the west coast of Florida, the storm’s outer bands have been impacting Central Florida, according to WDBO.

In Brevard County (Fla.), we saw damage caused by powerful winds Sunday night.

It was a scary scene in Cocoa, as several high-profile vehicles flipped at the Sonrise Palms RV Park.

To read more, click here.

The post Video: Hurricane Debby Hits Florida; Flips Trailers at RV Park first appeared on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.

Jayco Inc., the Middlebury, Ind.-based subsidiary of THOR Industries Inc., today (May 3) announced the launch of the Togo RV First Year Free program for the Jayco, Entegra Coach, Highland Ridge RV and Starcraft RV brands. Togo RV, “the ultimate RV companion,” has partnered with the Jayco Family of Companies to provide the unique benefit […]

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Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Veurink’s RV Center, a member of the Priority RV Network and an RVBusiness Top 50 Dealer, announced April 23 it has acquired Preferred RV Inc. located about 45 minutes north in Newaygo, Mich. “With the growth we’re facing, this was the right move we needed to make to continue to grow. It […]

The post Veurink’s RV Center Expands with Preferred RV Acquisition appeared first on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt of the full coverage of Newmar’s Dealer Meetings that will be published in the upcoming issue of RVBusiness magazine. Newmar Corp. hosted a highly successful in-person Dealer Meeting last week at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., as nearly all of its dealer base […]

The post Slide Show: Newmar Wraps Up In-Person Dealer Meetings appeared first on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.

After a year hiatus due to COVID, Newmar Corp. is welcoming in person its dealer base to the Gaylord Palms Resort & Conference Center in Kissimmee, Fla., beginning today for its annual look at the state of the business and introduction of new model year product and programs. That’s not to say Newmar didn’t host […]

The post Newmar Kicks Off Dealer Meetings in Kissimmee, Fla. appeared first on RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News.

A co-founder of the RVDA of Canada, Gilbert (Gil) Robert died on Friday, April 10, 2021, at the age of 80. He died peacefully in his home on Good Friday with his wife Jeannine by his side, according to his obituary. A private family funeral mass will be held at Saints-Martyrs Canadiens at 10 a.m. […]

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