General RV Center Announces New Leadership Appointments – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
WIXOM, Mich. – Following a year of massive growth, General RV Center is restructuring its company leadership to better reflect current roles and responsibilities. The nation’s largest family-owned RV dealer has announced the appointment of a new company Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
“We have realigned several ownership titles to better reflect our current roles and responsibilities,” said Loren Baidas, CEO of General RV. “As evidenced by the rapid growth our company has embarked on in the last year, we continue to evolve. As an ownership team, we collectively felt our structure should accurately outline General RV’s next steps.”
Rob Baidas – Chairman at General RV Center
Rob Baidas – former CEO of General RV – will take on the newly created role of Chairman. Rob Baidas is a second-generation owner as the son of General RV founder, Abe Baidas. In conjunction with the directors and management teams, he has led strategic planning, growth and investment opportunities for more than three decades.
Rob Baidas attended college at the School of Business at Western Michigan University and acquired a degree in finance from Eastern Michigan University in 1981. After graduation, his first entrepreneurial endeavor was a mail-order RV parts catalog that he started along with his wife, Nancy. The mail-order catalog became what is now Salem Distributors. Today, Salem Distributors is one of the largest distributors for the RV industry and continues to be operated by the Baidas family.
In 1983, Rob Baidas joined General RV again, bringing with him the knowledge and experience gleaned from his other ventures. As General RV began to open new locations across the state of Michigan, Rob Baidas implemented computer and accounting systems, which allowed the company to grow into the largest family-owned RV dealership in Michigan and add stores in other states to create a nationwide network.
Loren Baidas – Chief Executive Officer
After serving as company president for nearly 20 years, Loren Baidas, nephew of Rob Baidas, is now General RV’s Chief Executive Officer.
Growing up around RV dealerships, Loren Baidas spent every summer of his teens working in the retail Parts department. After attending Alma College, he pursued a career outside the family business and worked as a credit analyst in the banking industry. He returned to General RV Center in 1999 and became a sales associate in the Wixom dealership. Prior to becoming president, he was General Manager of the Wixom Supercenter and a national sales manager for the company.
As a third-generation owner, Loren Baidas strives to make General RV a better place for employees and customers. With an eye always on the future, he makes decisions by considering the impact it will have on the long-term health of the organization and with the next generation in mind.
Chris Davis – President
Chris Davis, who has served as Vice President of Finance for over a decade, will assume the role of President of General RV. Davis joined the company in 2011 as the Director of Finance. His title was later changed to Vice President of Finance overseeing several teams including the Finance Department as well as America’s Choice Insurance Partners. He has served in that role since 2021.
Davis attended Miami University and earned a degree in finance in 2005. He began his career in the real estate industry where he quickly advanced from analyst to senior associate before joining the General RV team.
In addition to his new responsibilities as company president, Davis will continue to oversee the General RV Finance Department and America’s Choice Insurance Partners, a sister company to General RV.
Katie Short – Chief Accounting Officer
After nearly two decades managing the company’s financial transactions and ensuring compliance with regulatory reporting, Katie Short is stepping into the role of Chief Accounting Officer. In this capacity, Short will maintain her responsibilities overseeing accounting activities, financial reporting and compliance.
After graduating from Walsh College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and earning her CPA certification, Short spent the first six years of her career in the public accounting field, becoming a partner with a CPA firm. She then switched to private accounting as an assistant controller.
More than 25 years ago, Short joined the General RV family as a controller, taking over as the lead of the company’s accounting team before being named General RV’s CFO. Short has witnessed General RV’s meteoric growth over the previous years, noting that the most challenging aspect of managing that growth is keeping up with its incredible pace and reorganizing staff and their responsibilities to accommodate it.
Scott Stoy – Chief Financial Officer
Scott Stoy joined the General RV family in November 2023 assuming the role of Chief Financial Officer. With more than 20 years of experience in the financial sector, Stoy brings a wealth of knowledge to the company’s leadership team. He has expertise in cross-functional leadership and corporate strategy that will play a significant role in General RV’s financial stability as the company continues to expand its nationwide network.
Stoy earned a degree in economics and management from Albion College in 1997 and completed graduate coursework in finance at the University of Michigan. He has spent the majority of his career working in the automotive and manufacturing industries, including 10 years in various leadership roles at Federal-Mogul (Tenneco), before joining the General RV team.
About General RV
Founded in Michigan in 1962, General RV Center is the nation’s premier RV dealer. The company currently operates full-service dealerships in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Utah and Pennsylvania. Each location offers a large selection of RVs for sale, RV service facilities and retail RV parts and accessories. In 2023, General RV broke ground on a second location in Utah and its first-ever location in North Carolina (both scheduled to open in late 2024) bringing its nationwide network to 20 locations. Visit GeneralRV.com for more information.
