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http://special.registerguard.com/web/business/28444498-41/coach-business-junction-premier-rvs.html.csp links to Register Guard posting. An excerpt of that article follows at the bottom.
Read a Premier RV feature in September 2012 RV Business as well! Click this link. http://www.rvbusiness-digital.com/SeptOct2012/Default/0/0#&pageSet=16
“Industry Reinvented.”
Long after the bust, RVs are still a big part of Junction City
By RosemaryHowe Camozzi For The Register-Guard
“…The RV industry was once Lane County’s second largest industry. But, in 2007, when the recession hit, many consumers stopped buying high-ticket luxury items. In 2009, Junction City-based RV manufacturers Country Coach and Coburg-based Monaco Coach declared bankruptcy. Monaco was bought later in 2009 by Navistar International, which moved most of the jobs to Indiana. All told, Lane County’s RV industry has lost 3,200 jobs since 2007.
The decline of the RV industry was a heavy blow to Junction City, the RV epicenter. But rather than giving up, many of the people who were suppliers to, or employees of, the once bustling RV factories have reinvented themselves.
Some of the people who once made their living working for, or selling things to, the RV manufacturers took their knowledge of the RV industry and found new ways to use it. Some have started companies to sell, refurbish and repair high-end used coaches. Others have created textiles and cabinets for people wanting to remodel their RVs. And others are using the skills they learned in the RV industry to branch out into other consumer products. A number of these new companies continue to benefit from the reputation Junction City built as a center of RV manufacturing. They profits from clients who once bought their RVs here, and who return to the area to have work done on their RV or for rallies — such as last week’s sold-out Country Coach Friendship Rally in Harrisburg, attended by about 170 RVers. While business is not necessarily booming for all of these companies, it’s steady, the owners say……
…..When Country Coach closed its doors in November 2009, it left more than a few owners, managers and employees high and dry. But several companies have emerged from its ashes, selling used high-end RVs as well as doing repairs and renovations. These include Premier RV…
…..Premier RV was started in June 2010 by Gary Obermire, previously senior vice president/operations at Country Coach, and Louie Courtemanche, the company’s regional sales manager. The pair bought two unfinished motor homes in the Country Coach bankruptcy auction at a fire-sale price — $100,000 for both coaches — then rented one of the buildings on the shuttered Country Coach campus — also for a low price, they said, declining to give the figure. Then they finished the two RVs off. “That gave us enough money to start the business, and off we went,” Obermire said. Inside Premier RV’s hangar-like warehouse, once Plant 10 at Country Coach, rows of gleaming luxury RVs, wait on consignment for new owners. But they don’t wait for long. “We sell about eight to 10 a month,” Obermire said. “People fly in from all over. The high-end RV business is a very small world. It’s all about reputation.” A luxury Country Coach RV that once sold for $800,000 can now be obtained for $300,000 to $400,000, he said. Some of the older ones sell for as low as $120,000. Premier has sold more than 70 high-end coaches since opening two years ago. “On the used side, business is very good,” Obermire said. “A lot of people are looking to buy, and … there is nothing like a Country Coach being made any more.” The company, which has seven full-time and one part-time employees, also is busy doing RV repairs and renovations. Obermire is optimistic about the future.“Now our hurdles are much like any business,” he said. “Make sure you’re profitable and manage your growth. I’m looking to hire more people, especially for the summer.”
“The high-end RV business is a very small world. It’s all about reputation.” — Gary Obermire, Premier RV, one of a handful of companies that are part of a RV resurgence in Junction City”