The Go RVing Board of Directors voted last week to direct $2 from every seal assessment to fund technician recruitment through the RV Technical Institute (RVTI) to support the growing RV market.
Funds will be directed to RVTI as it ramps up recruitment efforts in 2022. Earlier in the week, the RVIA Board of Directors and the RVDA Board of Directors endorsed the new funding.
RVTI aims to recruit 1,000 new technicians to the industry. RVIA spokesperson Monika Geraci said the institute created a curriculum to provide a career path for interested individuals. The institute developed in-person and virtual courses in the curriculum.
RVIA President and CEO Craig Kirby said the RVTI has been the result of a multi-million-dollar investment through the industry.
“With the foundation of the RVTI program built over the past two years, the team is now turning its focus to recruiting new techs into the industry,” Kirby said. “With this new investment from Go RVing, the RVTI team will be able to deliver on its commitment to improve the consumer experience by training and recruiting more techs to service the millions of RVs on the road today and tomorrow.”
Geraci said outreach efforts have been created with various high schools, colleges, state governments and prisons to help inform a wider audience of different career options.
“Our outreach will include some marketing and working with these partners that we have laid the groundwork for, such as school counselors,” Geraci said. “Those are the people that high schoolers go to, and maybe (the student) does not want to go to college, they want to go into a trade — these are the people who will direct graduates toward the program.”
For in-person training, an individual can complete a Level 2 certification with about five weeks of training. The first two certification levels are available with online programs. RVTI’s new subscription works with existing RV dealerships to ensure there is at least one RVTI-trained technician at 750 locations.
Levels 3 and 4 allow technicians to delve into specialty areas. Training is offered through component manufacturers such as Lippert, Dometic, Cummins and others. To complete Level 3 and obtain a Level 4, or master technician certification, techs must achieve 24 hours of continuing education credits through the manufacturers’ training. Once all specialty areas are mastered, the individual is certified as a master technician.
RVDA President Phil Ingrassia said RV dealers are committed to investing in technician training.
“The industry has seen incredible growth,” Ingrassia said, “and it is more critical than ever to ensure there is an adequate number of trained RV service technicians to service our millions of new RV customers.”
Geraci echoed Ingrassia’s sentiments.
“We have had 11 straight months of record setting shipments,” Geraci said. “There are more RVs on the road every day, and they need to be serviced. We need more people to make sure those RVs are able to stay on the road. A lot of people have gotten RVs in the past few years, and there is no quicker way to lose people from the lifestyle, so this is critical to have technicians in the industry.”
