President Barack Obama to Visit Heart of the RV Industry Will hold a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, Monday President Barack Obama will hold a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, Monday, February 9, where he'll discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, the roughly $780 billion piece of legislation aimed at kick-starting the economy through job creation, infrastructure spending and tax cuts. Elkhart County's rapidly rising unemployment levels made the area ideal for Obama to talk about economic recovery, the White House said. The county's unemployment rate, now at 15.3 percent, was just 4.7 percent a year ago -- the largest increase in the nation. His trip to Elkhart will be his first outside the Washington, D.C., area since his swearing-in. After his Elkhart stop, Obama will head back to the capital, where he will address the nation during his first prime-time press conference The event will start at noon at Concord High School, 59117 Minuteman Way. Doors will open at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and tickets are required. Tickets will available on a first-come, first-served basis at Concord High School's McCuen Gym entrance in Elkhart.

It's no surprise to anyone that the economy is in a crises and business is universally dismal. Not a day goes by that we do year about more companies announcing layoffs while others are simply closing their doors. Consumer confidence in the ecomony is at all time lows and people are just not buying anything. Even those people that would like buy are thwarted by the lack of available credit.

But the RV industry is being hit especially hard.

More than 40 RV dealerships have gone out of business and many RV manufacturers have gone by the wayside also, companies such as Teton Homes and National RV; Coachmen sold off it's RV Group, and as we write this Country Coach's future is in the hands of a Federal Judge in Oregon.

Manufacturing plants are closing across the country and companies are cutting back and laying off employees. Unemployment figures in communities heavy into RV manufacturing are soaring. In Elkhart County, Indiana, the unemployment rate is double the national average at 15.3%, and the city of Elkhart posted a 17% unemployment rate in December.

The bottom has dropped out of stock values for publicly owned RV companies. Fleetwood Enterprises, a company that only a few years ago, was the largest and most financially sound company in the RV industry saw it's shares drop from over $10 a share in late 2007 to as low as seven cents a share a few weeks ago; in the meantime, the company was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in other words, kicked off.

Monaco Corp has suffered a similar drop (in early February hovering between fifty and sixty cents a share) and is in jeopardy of loosing it place on the NYSE this month.

We are especially troubled about what's happened to Country Coach. As a former writer and reviewer of RVs for Family Motorcoach, Trailer Life and Motorhome magazines, I have tested and written about more than 100 RVs. And in my opinion, the company that came as close to perfection as possible in quality, style and innovation was Country Coach -- a tribute to the quality of its management and personal.

Wells Fargo Bank is trying to seize Country Coach's assets and force the company into liquidation. In the meantime, the U.S. Government has given Wells Fargo billions of dollars in an effort to ease the credit problem and the government has also loaned more billions to General Motors and Chrysler to keep these companies afloat in these hard times, but there's nothing for strong little companies like Coach Coach and their 500 employees. It's a shame.

The 2008 wholesale RV shipment figures (a major economic indicator for the health of the RV industry) are in and it was no surprise that the numbers were bad.

For the year, RV shipments recorded totals of 237,000 units in 2008, off 32.9% from the previous year. 2008 started out well enough with shipments through June showing totals of 162,500 units. However, it was the second half of 2008 where the greatest losses occurred as shipments totaled just 74,500 units in the final six months of the year, off 52% from the same period one year earlier.

In the meantime, the RV industry is trying hard to keep a positive attitude as it looks toward the future -- but I wonder .

Those of us who have been in the industry for a long time and lived through the gas crisis of the late 1970's and early 1980's and other recessions, we have always seen the RV industry bounce back strongly and usually leads in breaking out of a recession. The industry always benefited from a pent up demand and RV sales soared once the recovery began.

And there are reasons to be hopeful.

According to RVIA, here are a few indicators for future growth:

• Population and demographic trends favor long-term RV market growth. Buyers aged 35-54 are the largest segment of RV owners, according to the 2005 University of Michigan study commissioned by RVIA. The demographic tidal wave of prime RV buyers remains strongly in the strongest RV ownership age groups. Every day, 11,000 Americans turn 50, according to U.S. Census figures.
• Boomers nearing retirement. RV sales will benefit as aging baby-boomers continue to enter the age range in which RV ownership is highest. According to Dr. Richard Curtin, director of surveys at the University of Michigan, by the end of the decade, the number of consumers aged 50 to 64 will total 57 million — 38 percent higher than in 2000. Today one-in-10 vehicle-owning households in that age group own at least one RV.
• RVs are also attractive to young buyers. The fastest growing group of RV owners is young people 18-34. Products such as sports-utility RVs, as well as the Go RVing campaign, have helped attract younger buyers.
• RV manufacturers are innovating to give consumers an array of product choices. Manufacturers are producing lightweight towables and smaller, fuel-efficient motorhomes. Green technologies such as solar panels and energy-efficient components are appearing on an increasing number of RVs.
• RV ownership has reached record levels. Approximately 8.2 million American households now own an RV — a 16 percent increase since 2001 and a 64 percent gain since 1980.
• Vast potential market. By 2010, RVs will be owned by 8.5 million households, outpacing overall U.S. household growth of six percent, the Michigan study forecasts.
• Purchase intentions are higher now compared to what the Michigan study found in 2001 and 1997.

What worries my about this time around is that there has been a dramatic decline in people's wealth as a result of the drop in real estate values, the devaluation of people's retirement accounts such as 401 Ks, and companies unable to meet their commitments on promised retirement benefits.

That means people are going to have to work longer and postpone retirement which could change the outlook for the RV industry.

I remain hopeful but cautious as we look to the future. The RV lifestyle is dependent upon people having disposable income and their willingness to invest that income in this leisure pastime.

Let's hope the recovery comes quickly .