Brinkley RV Moves into 1st Plant at Goshen, Ind., Campus

Brinkley RV recently moved into the first of several planned production facilities on its 250-acre campus in Goshen, Ind. (Courtesy photos)

Local pastor and motivational speaker Phil Byers (standing, second from right) blesses the Brinkley RV facility.

Micah Staley, a co-founder of Brinkley RV, recently invited local pastor and motivational speaker, Phil Byers, to bless the company’s first new facility erected on its emerging 250-acre manufacturing campus. This small, private affair marked a major turning point for the Goshen, Ind., manufacturer.

The benediction, which Staley noted was “to recognize and remind everyone that we’re all here because of a higher power, and to bring focus and integrity to everything we do,” officially opened the company’s 175,000-square-foot manufacturing plant. Finally, giving the startup the space it needs for its industry altering operations and capabilities to meet dealer demand with its expanding lineup.

Founded by veteran RV executives Staley, Nate Goldenberg, Ryan Thwaits and Ron Fenech — with Bill Fenech joining soon afterward — Brinkley was introduced in May 2022 and began work on its first fifth-wheel prototype, Model Z. Originally operating out of a leased 20,000-square-foot facility in New Paris, Ind, the mid-size luxury fifth-wheel completed four prototypes. Goldenberg was leading the design of the company’s first luxury toy hauler prototype, Model G, at a second leased plant spanning 30,000 square feet in Goshen, which is where Model Z moved and began production in November.

Brinkley’s second leased facility will be utilized to build the Model G, which will go into production in April. Their permanent home on Brinkley’s complex is expected to be completed this summer, said Thwaits. Meanwhile, production on Model Z is in full swing inside its new home, with work on the next two buildings underway.

Brinkley RV employees gather for some camaraderie.

“It’s given us room to breathe,” Thwaits told RVBusiness. “One of the big benefits for us is it allows us to store 95% of our materials inside the building, under the same roof.” And, added Thwaits, the new plant — like the other facilities planned for the campus — are air-conditioned.

“We believe that having our employees work in a comfortable environment will only increase the quality of our products.” Thwaits commented.

To say that Brinkley RV has already made an impact on the RV industry, would be something of an understatement. The company, which started life with 20 employees now has numbers of about 200, and has already committed to about 150 dealer locations.

Brinkley’s acceptance by both dealers and consumers, he added, can be traced to the company’s focus on “doing things different and making the industry better.” And, while certain design characteristics unique to the Brinkley lines underscore this — from frameless and squared-off automotive-style windows with integrated shades, not requiring valances, to the elimination of exterior sealants and using rivets rather than screws during construction — other actions taken behind the scenes are just as important.

As an example, Thwaits keyed on employee hiring which, historically, tends to trail production increase needs.

“A lot of time, new hires are brought in two, three, even four weeks after they’re actually needed,” he said. “How can you train them when you’re immediately putting them to work? We have hired and staffed at a heavier level than this industry is used to, but that allows us to train them in their job so they feel confident and prepared when their time is called. This is going to provide Brinkley with quality at an entirely new level — and help us keep up with demand.”

Thwaits also stressed that Brinkley owners are also diehard campers, a trait that’s helped to improve the company’s products from the outset.

Staley, for instance, took his family on an extended four-week trip in the first Model Z prototype and, based upon what he learned, “probably made 250 changes to that model when he returned,” said Thwaits. In similar fashion, Goldenberg packed up his family in the Model G prototype last Christmas and headed to Florida while maintaining a logbook for changes made afterward.

Brinkley RV employees work on units.

“We built four prototypes of Model Z between June and November,” said Thwaits. “In the past, a manufacturer would build one prototype then have production units rolling right behind it. So, it’s taken a lot more time and resources to get it where we really wanted it to be.”

Thwaits also took time to explain Brinkley RV’s model nomenclature, which is unusual, to say the least.

“A lot of companies invest heavily in promoting their brands, but then that’s how owners refer to them,” he said. “We want people to say ‘I own a Brinkley’ rather than mention an individual brand within the company. At the end of the day, we want our customers to be proud they own a Brinkley.”

And, while it might seem counter-productive to start at the end of the alphabet when naming its first product — the Model Z — that, too, has been planned. While Brinkley has yet to reveal exactly what it has in mind, the coming models will continue to follow the same single letter format.

The nomenclature is different, to be sure — but the same can be said of much of Brinkley RV’s operations. “One of our biggest challenges has just been breaking out of the status quo,” said Thwaits. “Our goal is to raise the bar — we want to build better and take care of our customers better — while making the industry better. That has to happen if we’re going to keep people camping.”

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/brinkley-rv-moves-into-1st-plant-at-goshen-ind-campus/