Tom Dempsey

Tom Dempsey graduated with an industrial design degree from Auburn University in 1989. Before starting his first business, Liquidlogic Kayaks, in 2000, Dempsey designed camping gear and pop-up campers at Coleman Co. Marketing to beginner RVers, this Coleman division made 40,000 campers a year at its peak and taught Dempsey a lot about the industry and how it could be re-invented.

Dempsey lived in Chicago, Pennsylvania and Alabama before moving to North Carolina and founding SylvanSport in 2004. After recruiting Kyle Mundt and Tom Reeder, Dempsey got to work on the company. SylvanSport launched its first camper, the Go Adventure, in 2007 to haul cargo and large toys, then transform into a sleeping space.

Dempsey is committed to hiring locally and sourcing as many supplies as possible from within 100 miles of Brevard, North Carolina, where the company is headquartered. Out of all the material used to make SylvanSport towables, 80 percent comes from within 70 miles of the company.