RVBusiness, March/April 2020
TOPof theNews Coachmen Co Founder Tom Corson Industry Legend Dies At 92 Coachmen Industries Inc co founder Thomas Harold Corson 92 of Middlebury Ind and Naples Fla passed away peacefully Dec 23 2019 in his Indiana home Born Oct 15 1927 to Carl W and Charlotte Keyser Corson in Elkhart Ind he was truly a self made man whose strong work ethic and sense of responsibility shaped his life according to an obituary released by Miller Stewart Funeral Home of Middlebury After graduation from Elkhart Indiana High School in 1945 he served in the United States Naval Air Force V5 Pilot Training Program Corson began his career with Associates Investment Company in 1948 and in 1964 co founded Coachmen Industries Inc with his brothers Keith and Claude and wife Dottie As chairman and CEO he helped build Coachmen now a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc s Forest River Inc into one of the largest and most respected recreational vehicle and modular housing manufacturers in the country Corson was known for his involvement in RV industry and civic affairs throughout Indiana Corsons financial training and background became a primary ingredient for the success of Coachmen and the subsequent strength of the many industry people who traversed the corridors of the company and ultimately went on to lead other successful ventures over the years RVB 10 RVBusiness M A R C H A P R I L 2 0 2 0 Thomas Corson RVTI Graduates First Level 2 Technicians Only eight percent of all RV service technicians in the U S are Level 2 certified according to Curt Hemmeler executive director of the RV Training Institute in Elkhart Ind But at Open Roads Complete RV Sales and Service in White Ga 25 of the technicians now carry that certification Thats because at the end of February Jordan Morris 25 Trevor Steele 27 and Zach Willoughby 25 three of the 12 service techs at Open Roads were part of the first class to receive Level 2 Technician Industry Certification from RVTI Sam Rainey is general manager at Open Road He said the company continued to provide paychecks for the techs and covered all their food and lodging expenses while they attended classes eight weeks 40 hours per week Jordan Morris Trevor Steele Zach Willoughby Its a commitment to the industry Its the level of customer service that we want to provide Rainey said With the amount of volume we do we realized we were going to have to start growing our own techs He said Open Road is focused on keeping team members in house with low turnover The best way to do that is invest in your own people he said RVTI developed by the RV Industry Association RVIA celebrated its grand opening in September and began teaching the Level 1 Pre Delivery Inspector Certification class soon thereafter In January instructors began two free Level 2 certification pilot classes with a total of 28 students ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s continued on page 14
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