RV Industry Power Breakfast Draws 1,300 to Hall of Fame – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
ELKHART, Ind. – Nearly 1,300 people were on hand this morning for the 2025 RV Industry Power Breakfast at the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Northern Indiana Event Center.
It was the 13th edition of the event – facilitated by RVBusiness Magazine – which over the years has evolved into one of North America’s key annual RV trade events.
Emceed by RVBusiness Publisher Rick Kessler, the event featured presentations by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, a former U.S. Senator and Meyer Distributing executivel, and nationally renowned economist Peter Morici along with virtual comments by U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, U.S. Sen. Todd Young and U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym.
In-person RV industry updates were provided by Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) President Jessica Wahl Turner, RV Dealers Association President Phil Ingrassia, RV Industry Association President and CEO Craig Kirby, KOA’s Mark Lemoine as well as Lippert Components Inc.’s Michilah Grimes and Coachmen RV’s Mike Gaeddert of the RVIA Emerging Leaders Coalition. (See additional postings on RVBusiness.com today for coverage of all these speakers.)
Event sponsors were Airxcel, Cummins, Dometic, Forest River, KOA, RVDA, RVIA, Spartan RV Chassis, THOR Industries, Wells Fargo and Winnebago Industries.
Kessler welcomed attendees, noting, “We have almost 1,300 people, including a Who’s Who of civic government leaders too numerous to mention by name, but rest assured. All of your attendance is appreciated.”
He also thanked the 75 companies that supported the event as table sponsors.
“We are at the start of the second quarter of what more and more is looking to be a challenging time for us,” he said, noting obstacles such as negative headlines, tariffs and wavering consumer confidence.
But he also pointed out that RV wholesale shipments were up nearly 14% through the first quarter and 11 million new households camped in 2024.
“Outdoor recreation in general and RVing in particular continue to resonate with the public, thanks in large part to the outreach of Go RVing and others.
“Yes, times are tough,” Kessler said. “But we will get through this. We always do and we always will.”
Kessler introduced Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson, who expressed gratitude to the RV industry for its role in the community and touted its resiliency.
“Somebody asked me earlier, ‘With all the (economic) forecasts that are going on around the country, there probably shouldn’t be anyone here. Why are there so many people here?’ and I said, ‘You just don’t understand who we are,’” he said.
“So the resilient side are things that we understand and get up and do every day,” he added. “The symbiotic nature of what we represent is so important to why we are so resilient. … That’s why no matter what comes at us, we’ll get through it. That’s why people are packed in here today. It’s because we realize that what we do right now every day is what’s going to get us to the success of the future.”
Turner took the stage and explained ORR is the leading national coalition of over 40 national outdoor trade associations that cover the entire spectrum of outdoor recreation encompassing 110,000 American businesses.
“For six years now we brought together our peers – boaters, skiers, sportsmen, bikers, climbers, snowmobilers, hikers, concessionaires, and more around the key areas that we all agree on. The key areas that align us – better access infrastructure and business certainty for today and into the future for our businesses. This is our common denominator. And this is our focus on growing out our recreation economy instead of fighting over the slices of it, we want that bigger pie for all.”
She explained that demand for overnight accommodations at public parks is far greater than the supply and the demand is surging.
“Americans are seeking the outdoors as never before,” she said. “And this is only a foretaste of what is to come. Not only will there be many more people; they will want to do more and they will have more money and time to do it with.”
All told, outdoor recreation constitutes a $1.2 trillion industry, she said.
“This is according to the U.S. department of commerce, this is not industry data. This is commerce data. This is how they compare and contrast other industries. That’s how they measure GDP. We are responsible for five million jobs a year. That accounts for 3.3% of all U.S. employees.”
She characterized the next PowerPoint slide as her “favorite, because it puts this into perspective. These are huge numbers. We are bigger than agriculture, extraction and utilities,” she said of the slide that showed outdoor recreation contributes 2.3% of the U.S. economy.
In Indiana, outdoor recreation accounts for $15.7 billion in GDP and 105,000 employees. The RV industry is the biggest contributor and because of that, Indiana is the 12th largest recreation economy in the nation.
“You’re up there with Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Maine, Vermont and Alaska. Those are really iconic recreation states and Indiana is in that top percentile with those,” she said.
Turner discussed what she called six years of recreation wins, including the recreation Jobs and Economic Contributions Act (2017), the Great American Outdoors Act (2020), then Economic Development Agency Reauthorization (2024) and the EXPLORE Act (2024).
The EXPLORE Act, she said was “My favorite bill that I’ve ever worked on – RVIA, RVDA, all the groups that you work with were so instrumental in this. It really was landmark legislation. It’s just really important for our industry. One sets a new precedent that we are a national priority that ensuring access and more opportunities and greater support for Americans to get outside is something that we can all agree on. It also brought us together. So, the passage of EXPLORE represents congressional champions that we’ve garnered, industry leaders over 310 American businesses and organizations signed on. And the outdoor enthusiasm nationwide, who came to the table, understanding the power of the outdoors, not just to drive economic growth, but truly to improve public health and enhance their quality of life.”
She also noted that it passed by unanimous consent, “so that means every single member of congress allow this to pass.”
She said ORR continues to focus on getting more people outdoors and as the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary, “I can’t think of a better way for Americans to celebrate that than with our outdoor heritage. And I hope you all think about that as you’re gearing up for 2026 marketing and events. I look forward to continuing our work together with amazing team at RVIA and RVDA and all of you to ensure that outdoor recreation is no longer a ‘nice to have.’ It’s not anymore. We really need to pave the way for outdoor recreation to be a necessary part of American life.”
