Have ya noticed that life is just a series of transitions? One is never standing still. Sometimes we’re moving forward (hopefully most of the time) and sometimes, we’re not.
Talk about changes and transitions…There’ve been quite a few in my professional life within the RV industry.
I was cleaning out boxes closing out my mom’s home last night and found a Fanning Family Christmas letter from 1998. It reported on the children and the home and on our jobs. About Country Coach I wrote: “Country Coach was cited as one of 100 Fast Moving Companies in Forbes magazine this year. I guess that means I have job securityJ” Well, move and shake and design and build and market and sell we did…then we struggled and improvised and sought solutions and finally Country Coach LLC closed in bankruptcy 11 years after that 1998 Christmas letter. Many long term employees like myself felt like a family member had passed—there was a great attachment to that company and its products that left a void in our lives with its passing.
But transitions are often a good thing in one’s personal life, forcing us to evolve, change and become something new, different, even better. Since the day after Thanksgiving 2009 when my boss called me to say the bankruptcy court has chosen to pull the plug on the attempt to reorganize Country Coach, I know I’ve certainly changed. My rose glasses allowing me to believe that no matter the situation, a coach as solid and well built and beautifully designed as a Country Coach will always have its place in the industry are gone. Economics and circumstances and ‘stuff’ can and will cause the fall of any company, even wonderful companies like the one Bob Lee founded. And it certainly wasn’t alone…the industry downturn took out MANY companies in the RV sector over the past several years.
The businesses that survived have had to reinvent themselves and creatively repackage their services, streamlining their business plans to meet market demands of today’s recreation enthusiast. They’ve come out the other side stronger in many cases, albeit leaner.
And many individuals within the industry who were displaced when companies such as Country Coach LLC failed, have launched brand new enterprises. There is Premier RV Services for instance (www.PremierRVServices.com). It opened its doors after CC, LLC closed. It’s owned and staffed by former Country Coach employees who saw a market niche that needed filled offering pre-owned highline motorcoach sales, full RV service & renovations, and indoor coach storage. It even utilized multiple buildings left standing vacant by the CC, LLC bankruptcy. Premier RV Services is one of many businesses operating in Junction City Oregon which keep people returning “home” to the south Willamette valley for their motorcoach service needs. I’m very proud to be affiliated with the Premier group and love seeing many of my motorcoaching friends when they’re in town. Oregon Motorcoach Center, Guaranty RV, Country Coach Corporation (which may one day build new Country Coaches again!), Davis Cabinets, Innovative Coachworks, Countryside Interiors, Advanced Satellite, DLH Design, Carr Industries, these are but a few of the other RV Businesses in the Junction City Oregon community who like Premier are moving on, and going strong. These businesses are prospering in the industry’s New Normal and each offers valuable services to motorcoach owners, while providing a good living for their families, and giving a needed injection of revenue back into a small community where all Country Coach motorcoaches were originally built.
And there are hundreds of Country Coach cheerleaders such as myself who continue in our professional lives within this great industry. We hold fond memories for “the way we were” but greater enthusiasm for what we and this local RV industry are becoming.
The challenge is to keep your running shoes laced tightly and to boldly lead the charge in a reinvented, exciting RV industry here in the Southern Willamette Valley.
I enjoy working in a service center/dealership that “feels” like my former Country Coach home (and in fact is located on 26 acres of the former Country Coach Inc campus). I enjoy promoting a fast growing Motorcoaching Club comprised of the world’s friendliest motorcoach owners (www.countrycoachfriendsincorporated.com) and I also serve on the Oregon RV Alliance executive board to encourage RVers to spend their leisure time in our beautiful area of the country. The RV industry is alive and well in Lane County, Oregon, and many old friends are still right here hard at work within this great community.
Transitions, Changes, and Stuff …I’m rolling with it and moving forward…these are exciting times!
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