From the category archives:
Elkhart County, Indiana, has been a poster-child for the ravages of the recession, but, now, the home of the recreational vehicle industry is making a comeback. RV sales are moving out of neutral, into first gear, and RV manufacturers are hiring again.
Source: WTTW, PBS Chicago, Illinois
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Some New York state park campgrounds will not be opening this year.
Because of the state budget crunch, officials with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation say 11 of the 67 campgrounds maintained and operated by the office will not open this year.
With the closings, the number of campsites available through the parks department will fall from 9,400 to around 9,100, according to state officials.
Read the rest of the article from The Post-Star: State budget woes may make for not-so-happy campers.
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A RV manufacturing industry executive says that, as a result of the recent recession, the move to lightweight RVs is probably going to be permanent.
The ”Great Recession” probably has made permanent the RV industry’s move toward lighter weight, ”greener” units, Wilbur Bontrager, Jayco Inc. chairman and CEO, told a northern Indiana television audience this weekend (April 10-11).
“I’ve been through a couple of these downturns,” Bontrager said. ”We’re seeing a lot of the same dynamics where we, along with all the other manufacturers, have gone into building lighter weight products. This time around, I believe it will stick.
”This time around, we have technology, we have materials and suppliers who can produce components that can be lighter weight and greener. In the past, this has been more difficult.”
Read the full RVBusiness article – Bontrager: Lightweight Movement Will Stick
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According to the National park Service, New York will violate Federal regulations if it persists in plans to close parks around the state and some state property may revert back to Federal ownership.
In a letter dated March 31, National Parks Service Northeast Regional Director Dennis Reidenbach wrote that the move would put New York in "non-compliance" with the requirements for taking funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Federal Land for Parks Program.
"Also, NPS may initiate suspension and debarment procedures to have all Federal funds (e.g. Recreation, Housing, Transportation, Education etc.) withheld from the State of New York," Reidenbach wrote. "In addition, closure of any park acquired through FLP could result in reversion of the property to Federal ownership and subsequent sale of the property."
Gov. David Paterson proposed the closure of 41 parks and 14 historic sites — the majority of which, Reidenbach wrote, have received federal funds. The cuts are slated to save $6.3 million.
Read the more in the timesunion.com article: Feds: Risk millions if state parks close.
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Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC is planning to buy and equip a 125,000 square-foot manufacturing facility for $2,6 million and create up to 265 jobs over the next 3 years. In February, the company purchased the last active towable RV trademarks from Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.
“Elkhart’s recreational vehicle industry continues to show resilience in the face of a tough national economy,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. “Heartland’s investment further proves that Elkhart’s traditional industries will play an equal part with emerging sectors in bringing new opportunities to this region.”
Heartland Recreational Vehicles, which employs more than 900 associates across North Central Indiana, plans to begin hiring additional manufacturing and supervisory associates immediately as the new product lines are phased in. The acquisition of the former Fleetwood brands will allow Heartland to expand into markets in the western United States.
Read the rest of Heartland’s press release at Inside Indiana Business – RV Maker Announces Expansion Project
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The economy is loosening up and people seem to be changing the way they vacation. These, along with other factors, are resulting in improved RV sales, according to an article in the Denver Business Journal.
Recreational vehicle (RV) dealers report big sales increases, and RV show organizers say there’s been higher attendance at their events in early 2010.
The number of RV units shipped from national manufacturers to dealers rose by 116 percent from January 2009 to January 2010, from 7,300 units to 15,800, according to the Reston, Va.-based Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA). The numbers have spurred RVIA officials to predict shipments will increase 30 percent this year, a predictor of vehicle sales.
That growing interest in motorized homes and non-motorized trailers was visible at two Denver-area RV shows this year. Attendance at January’s Colorado RV Adventure Travel Show at the Colorado Convention Center rose by 24 percent over last year. And it was up 14 percent at March’s Colorado RV, Sports, Boat and Travel Show at the National Western Complex, said Vilma Fraguada, regional manager for Affinity Events, organizer of both shows.
Read the rest of the Denver Business Journal article: RV dealers expect much better sales this year
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Financial woes of another state budget could result in more park closures. An Associated Press report in Business Week says funding proposed in Governor Bobby Jindal’s budget recommendations could prevent a new state park from opening as scheduled and force the closing of other parks.
"We’re going to have to make some tough decisions because we don’t want to thin the soup any more," Johnson said. "It will mean shutting down the parks that don’t have as high visitation so we have the resources to maintain those parks that have higher visitation."
Johnson said the cut would mean the state parks won’t be able to hire maintenance workers, rangers, workers for fee collection stations and other employees needed to run all the parks. Johnson said his office would look at park closures and more limited hours, but he said it was too early to say which parks would be shuttered.
Read the Buisness Week article: Parks chief: La. gov’s budget would force closures.
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In today’s hard economic times, closing state parks seems to be a remedy that many states have used or are considering. A Las Vegas Sun article says Nevada legislators are considering closing all of the state parks in Nevada.
The Nevada Legislature is thinking of closing state parks as it considers how to patch an estimated $900 million budget gap, a move that would save a few million dollars while killing the economies of rural towns and stunting tourism efforts across the state, opponents of the idea say.
Gov. Jim Gibbons has suggested a 10 percent budget reduction for a number of agencies, including the State Parks Division. But the Interim Finance Committee could take that a step further. At its meeting in Las Vegas on Thursday, the committee is expected to consider following the lead of cash-strapped states such as California and Arizona, that have closed some or all of their state parks.
In Nevada, the proposal is the brainchild of Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, who says he is considering shutting down all state parks to save money.
Read the entire article: Would closing state parks to save money do more harm than good?
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