Thor Industries Acquires Jayco
Thor Industries, the world’s largest manufacturer of RVs, acquired Jayco Corporation for approximately $576 million in cash on June 30, 2016. Jayco is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Thor, which is based in Elkhart, Indiana. Jayco’s senior management team remains in place, including chairman Wilbur Bontrager and his brother, president and CEO Derald Bontrager. Jayco was founded 48 years ago by their parents, Lloyd and Bertha Bontrager.
Jayco produces high-end diesel motorhomes, Type C motorhomes, travel trailers, and folding camping trailers through its Jayco, Starcraft RV, Highland Ridge, and Entegra Coach subsidiaries. The company has 31 facilities, located primarily in northern Indiana, with additional facilities in Twin Falls, Idaho. In 2015, the company generated $1.5 billion in revenue and $70 million in income before tax. At the time of the acquisition, Thor had 11,000 employees and Jayco had 3,300 workers.
Before the acquisition, Thor’s U.S. retail market share was 33.26 percent and Jayco’s was 13.84 percent (year to date, through April). Now, Thor has 47.1 percent of the retail market.
For more information about Thor Industries, visit www.thorindustries.com. For information about Jayco, visit www.jayco.com.
Newmar Website Offers Build-A-Coach Tool
Now that Newmar Corporation’s 2017 motorhome lineup is available, prospective buyers can customize the coach they want by using the company’s online Build-a-Coach tool, www.newmarcorp.com/resources/build-unit. The tool leads users through a series of choices. Here’s how it works:
First, select a model from a drop-down menu. Next, click one of the exterior design choices. Then, click an image to select an interior décor. Next, select one of the interior wood cabinetry choices. And then, click an image to select a floor plan layout.
At that point, a list of standard features appears, followed by various options that can be selected. The features are grouped by category: exterior; mechanical and electrical; plumbing; interior; and entertainment.
Once finished, users can save and print the results, click a tab to locate the nearest Newmar dealer, or both.
New Owner And Services At Oregon Motorcoach
Oregon Motorcoach Center of Oregon has a new owner and a new van conversion division.
Matt Carr purchased Oregon Motorcoach from Bob and Terry Lee in the summer of 2016. Mr. Carr had been general manager since October 2015, when it was announced that he would buy the business from the Lees. The company was founded in March 2008 by Bob and Terry Lee, along with their daughter Brenda Lee and son-in-law Patrick Mason.
Mr. Carr was plant manager in the former County Coach Inc. cabinet shop in Junction City, Oregon. After 23 years at Country Coach, he launched Carr Industries with his wife, Elaina. The business specializes in handcrafted cabinetry, countertops, window treatments, and other RV services; those services are available at Oregon Motorcoach Center.
Motorhome owners seeking to downsize into luxury conversion vans are expected to be among the customers served by the new van conversion division. Oregon Motorcoach can convert a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van to order.
Oregon Motorcoach Center is at 29417 Airport Road, Eugene, OR 97402. For information, call (800) 942-6860, (541) 762-1505, or visit www.oregonmotorcoachcenter.com.
Grants Awarded To Help Protect Battlefields
The National Park Service has awarded about $1.67 million in grants to preserve almost 400 acres at 11 of America’s Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields.
The grants, which are funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, will help protect these battlefields threatened by development:
South Mountain Battlefield and Antietam Battlefield, Maryland; Bentonville Battlefield, North Carolina; Honey Springs Battlefield, Oklahoma; Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania; Second Hanging Rock Battlefield, South Carolina; and Cool Springs Battlefield, Appomattox Court House Battlefield, Tom’s Brook Battlefield, Gaines Mill, and Williamsburg Battlefield, Virginia.
RV Industry Lobbies On Capitol Hill
More than 70 RV industry representatives arrived in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2016, for Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) Capitol Hill Advocacy Day. While there, they made sure legislators and other officials knew that the RV market contributed $49.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2015 and provided 289,852 full-time jobs to American workers. Those findings are included in “RVs Move America,” a new study commissioned by RVIA.
Throughout the day, industry representatives from RVIA, Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association, and National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds participated in 148 meetings, the bulk of which involved U.S. Senate and House of Representative offices. About one-third of the meetings included a member of Congress. Sessions at the White House included representatives from the White House Business Council, the National Economic Council, and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Meetings also took place with officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Industry members encouraged senators and representatives to join the U.S. Senate and U.S. House RV Caucuses. The cofounders of those caucuses — Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa); Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana); Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Indiana); and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Florida) — were honored with RVIA’s Champions Awards. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada), co-chair of the House RV Caucus, also received the award, along with RVIA’s National Legislative Award for her role in including an RV-friendly amendment in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act that benefited commercial transport of RVs.
Forest Service Campground Turns 100
Eagle Creek Campground in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area was built in 1916, when the American tradition of car camping was just beginning. With the first-of-its-kind campground turning 100 this year, the site was rededicated in July.
Eagle Creek was the first U.S. Forest Service campground to provide basic amenities for campers, such as a rest room, cook stoves, picnic tables, parking areas, a ranger station, and a full-time ranger living on-site during the camping season.
Eagle Creek Trail was still being carved from the cliff face when the campground opened. The trail was designed specifically for recreation, complete with bridges and a trail register.
Today, the campground retains much of the layout and wooded feel of the original site, although none of the original structures remain. Many of today’s structures date to the 1930s, when the site was rebuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
For information about the campground, visit http://goo.gl/fSakqt. To view historic photos of Eagle Creek, visit the Forest Service’s Flickr album at https://goo.gl/vsz6C9.