‘Grateful, Humbled’ Inductees Enter the RV/MH Hall of Fame – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
ELKHART, Ind. – With about 425 family, friends and colleagues looking on, members of the 2024 class were officially inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame Monday, Aug. 19, at the Northern Indiana Event Center in Elkhart, Ind.
The five inductees from the RV industry included: Don Clark, Grand Design RV, Elkhart, Ind.; Terry Elias; Triple E RV, Manitoba, Canada; Phil Ingrassia, RV Dealers Association, Fairfax, Va.; Jeff Rutheford, Airxcel, Elkhart, Ind.; and Brian Wilkins, Wilkins RV, Hornell, N.Y.
And the five inductees from the manufactured housing industry included: Charlie Hemphill, Clayton Homes, Morristown, Tenn.; Sam Landy, UMH Properties, Freehold, New Jersey; Kamal Shouhayib, Choice Properties, Troy, Mich.; Nathan Smith, Flagship Communities, Fort Mitchell, Ken.; and Todd Su, Advantage Homes, San Jose, Calif.
Preceding the induction ceremony was a state of the Hall of Fame report, the highlight of which is that the organization, after facing a $930,000 deficit in 2012, is now boasts a $22 million net worth. In addition, Phase I of the 36,000-square-foot Convention Center expansion is complete, and future plans include a re-imagining of the RV museum.
Following that, Dana Nelsen, publisher of RV News, was honored with the Darryl R. Searer Spirt Award for, in part, his “loyalty, volunteering for well over a decade as a board member, an executive committee member.”
Then it was time for the inductions, and each inductee, during their acceptance speeches, offered heartfelt thanks to their spouses, families, friends and colleagues for helping support and shape their careers.
• Prior to co-founding Grand Design with brothers Ron and Bill Fenech in 2012, Don Clark was president of Dutchmen RV and successfully led the turnaround of the THOR Industries subsidiary. His experience also includes being part of the owner/management team that helped drive Keystone RV Co. to become the largest towable manufacturer in the world. Most recently, Clark has led Grand Design RV to become one of the fastest growing RV manufacturers in the history of the industry.
During his acceptance speech, Clark said he felt “humbled and undeserving,” and then shared a story about a time his son, Austin, learned the impact the RV industry can have on people.
“We all have customers who are passionate for our lifestyle. We have customers who are passionate for opportunities to travel and build relationships and build memories with their family and friends,” Clark said. “What an awesome industry that we have an opportunity to serve. We actually can make a difference in people’s lives, lives. I’m just as enthused and excited about this industry 40 years later as I was on my first day of the job. We’re all blessed.”
• Terry Elias, CEO of Triple E Recreational Vehicles and Leisure Travel Vans, a Canadian RV manufacturing company located in Winkler, Manitoba that was established in 1965. He also is President & CEO at Lode King Industries, one of Canadas largest manufacturers of commercial highway transport trailers.
Elias recounted his time advancing the greater good of the industry through the Canadian RV Association (CRVA) and RV Industry Association (RVIA), and was pleased that two of his sons, Ryan and Mike, are continuing that legacy. Ryan Elias, the president of Triple E, is on the RVIA board while Mike, director of sales and marketing, is a CRVA board member.
“I’m very pleased to see the advancement of our family being continued to be involved in the RV industry North America-wide,” he said. “This journey in the RV industry has been very rewarding and have cultivated many relationships in ministry. Being on the association, our dealers and the supplier group.”
• Phil Ingrassia has been the president of the RV Dealers Association (RVDA) since 2012. Before that, Ingrassia served as the association’s vice president for communications starting in 2002 after having joined the RVDA staff in 1996. In that capacity, he supervised the association’s membership, industry relations, market expansion and communications programs. He also served as RVDA’s staff liaison to the Go RVing Coalition. In addition, Ingrassia is the past chair of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) and is a member of the organization’s board of directors.
Ingrassia shared a story about his son, Tony, being asked whether he’d follow in his father’s footsteps to work for the RVDA someday.
(I’ll never forget the look on his face. ‘Wait, what?’” Ingrassia said. “But as I started to think about it, and we’ve heard that here tonight, it’s not an odd question to ask at all. The RV business truly is built upon family from the customers who enjoy the units, to the dealers that sell them, the manufacturers and suppliers that build them. There’s a strong sense of family that serves as the life and blood of this industry.”
• Jeff Rutherford has enjoyed a long and successful career in the North American RV industry. Following eight years as vice president of Carefree of Colorado and nine more years as the company’s president, Rutherford joined Airxcel in June of 2013 assuming role of chief operating officer. He was promoted to president in 2015, and was named chief executive officer the following year, succeeding company founder Mel Adams who retired following a 25-year tenure. In November, Rutherford moved on to become chairman at Airxcel. In addition, Rutherford is the past chairman of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA).
During his time on stage, Rutherford said upon reflecting on his career the one thing that kept coming back to him was “gratitude.”
“I’m very grateful to the many mentors I have, but most particularly to Mel Adams. Mel taught me how to provide life-changing opportunities for my team. And that’s meant a lot to me, and it’s meant a lot to many people that I’ve worked with,” Rutherford said, who went on to thank his colleagues, RVIA and customers as well. “And most importantly, I’m grateful to my family, my wife, my children, their first visit to Elkhart Indiana, where I spent so many nights over the last 30 years. They supported me during the challenging times, and they were there to celebrate the many, many successes that occurred throughout my career. So, I’m very grateful.”
• Brian Wilkins is the third-generation owner of Wilkins RV Inc., headquartered in Bath, N.Y. His experience with the RV industry started at an early age, having worked in his family’s dealership after school. In 2004, he acquired the family dealership from his father, and has grown the single-location business to seven storefronts, all in New York. Wilkins served as chairman of the RV Dealers Association (RVDA) in 2016, and in 2022 he received RVDA’s James B. Summer award, the highest honor the association presents. He has a long record of serving RVDA, having also served as chairman of the Mike Molino RV Learning Center Program Oversight Committee, as a member of the Tech Certification Board, and as a member of RVDA’s board of directors and board of delegates.
Wilkins said he was “extremely proud” to be a third-generation owner of Wilkins RV. He acknowledged the previous generations inlcuding his mother, Patricia, who died in 2013, his father, Ron, who was in the audience.
“Dad, I stand up here tonight knowing full well that this very well, for a good reason, could be you or Grandpa Stan. You two paved the way for me, and for that, I’m very thankful. To you, specifically, I thank you for the opportunity provided, the trust that you had, and the wisdom and the experience that you passed on to me. This honor is much yours as it is mine,” Wilkins said.
