Ellspermann to Keynote RV Industry Event
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowLieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann will keynote this year's RV Industry Power Breakfast in Elkhart. The May event will also feature an industry update from Recreation Vehicle Industry Association President Richard Coon.
March 25, 2015
News Release
Elkhart, Ind. — Tickets are now available for the 3rd Annual RV Industry Power Breakfast on May 14 at the Northern Indiana Event Center and RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind.
The event will bring together key elements of the RV industry and provide a fast-paced series of briefings from industry spokesmen and state and federal lawmakers. Republican Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann keynotes this year's breakfast prior to teleconference comments from Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.
Also on tap are live updates presented by Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) President Richard Coon and RVIA Vice President of Communications and Marketing James Ashurst, who oversees the all-industry Go RVing marketing campaign, co-owned by RVIA and the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA).
“We've got a great cross-section of the industry, including manufacturers, suppliers, capital markets and the political scene – along with association updates from RVIA,” said Forest River General Manager Doug Gaeddert, a co-emcee and organizing committee member. “So every facet of the industry – including campgrounds – is represented in the program.”
“We are especially pleased to have Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann join us this year,” added BJ Thompson, president of Elkhart-based BJ Thompson Associates and another organizer. “She and Gov. (Mike) Pence obviously support the RV industry and have for a long time, and we're very happy to have her on the agenda to tell us about what the state is doing to maintain a friendly environment for the business community.”
Also on deck for this year's Power Breakfast, facilitated by RVBusiness, is a review of the newly released 2015 North American Camping Report from Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) Chairman and CEO Jim Rogers, whose Billings, Mont., firm commissioned the study during 2014 and early 2015 to assemble a comprehensive look at campers' behaviors, attitudes, habits and intentions.
Anchoring the second half, in addition to a review of dealer survey results from Tim Hyland, president of GE Capital's Commercial Distribution Finance's RV Group, will be a manufacturers' panel discussion spotlighting Forest River CEO Pete Liegl, Thor President and CEO Bob Martin, Jayco President and COO Derald Bontrager, Winnebago Industries Inc. Chairman and President Randy Potts and Grand Design RV Co. President Don Clark.
The organizers of the breakfast, sponsored by Dicor Corp., Dometic Corp., Forest River Inc., GE Capital, Jayco Inc., KOA, RVIA, Thor Industries Inc. and Spartan Motors Inc., are anticipating a well-attended and thought-provoking session.
“We've never had more political voices involved in the event,” Dicor President Gregg Fore, another co-emcee and organizer, said of the breakfast at which Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman will deliver welcoming remarks. “We've never had more up-to-date and timely data concerning the market and the camping public. Frankly, there's more information that's going to be shared at this session than in the three years we've hosted this breakfast and, for that matter, than at any other annual industry event.”
Tickets may be purchased online at RVBusiness.com or RVDailyReport.com or in person at Elkhart's RV/MH Hall of Fame or at RVB's Elkhart office at 2901 E. Bristol St.
Source: RVBusiness