RV Tech Institute Achieves Goals in 2022, Looks to Future Growth

ELKHART, Ind. – The RV Technical Institute (RVTI) is in growth mode, officials said, as its goals in 2022 – to have 1,000 students in training and 750 dealerships with at least one RVTI student on board – will be met.

RVTI was launched in 2018 after the RV Industry Association (RVIA) board of directors approved a plan – and multi-million-dollar investment – to improve owner satisfaction, in large part by addressing an industry-wide shortage of trained technicians. With an adequate number of technicians in the field, repair event cycle time (RECT) – the amount of time RV owners must wait after bringing a rig to a dealership for repairs – can be significantly reduced, resulting in a greatly improved RV ownership experience.

Today, RVTI works with manufacturers, suppliers and leading RV experts to deliver the most up-to-date RV technician training available, according to Executive Director Curt Hemmeler, who provided an update on the school’s progress for RVBusiness.

Curt Hemmeler

“At the beginning of the year, two of our goals were, one, to recruit 1,000 new people into the industry, who are currently not in the industry,” he said. “And the other one was to recruit at least 750 dealerships to have at least one tech – if not more – either certified or in training on the RTVI platform. And both of those goals will be met.”

And while the goals were set at the beginning of the 2022, Hemmeler noted his team was still dealing with COVID at that time, with two or three members out sick at in January.

Tracy Anglemeyer, director of recruitment, and Halle Edminster, account specialist, were brought on board in January to spearhead recruitment efforts.

RVTI also partnered with online learning provider Bisk to help recruit, although that part of the program didn’t begin until May.

“We really got a late start on it,” Hemmeler said. “The numbers that we have, we really didn’t start working at them whole-heartedly until the beginning of the second quarter.”

Even so, by the end of the year RVTI will have attended more than 50 RV-related events, from OEM rallies to aftermarket shows and consumer shows, like Tampa and Hershey.

“All of these shows were attended by us in an effort to recruit for that 1,000, but also to recruit for that 750 number,” he said. “That’s how we got there. That’s what we were utilizing.”

As it stands today (Nov. 16), 928 technicians and 718 dealerships have been recruited so far in 2022 with a couple of shows left to visit along with results not yet realized from RVTI’s appearance at the RV Dealers Association conference last week in Las Vegas.

Hemmeler expressed optimism looking forward.

“I feel good that as we roll into this next year, we have set ourselves up to improve that,” he said. “We want to grow that 1,000 into 1,200 and we want to grow that 750 to 900. So, 20% increases or more on each side.”

The RVIA has approved a budget that includes the addition of four new positions to accommodate future growth and to help handle the more than 5,000 technicians currently in training.

Plans also look toward growth in the number of RVTI learning partners, including the addition of more prison systems, high schools, community colleges and trade schools.

“Every week the number of students we’re enrolling through Bisk is growing,” he said. “We’ve been working with them now, we’ve been doing some marketing, paid media, and it’s really continuing to gain steam. Even though the market may be soft on the retail side of things, service has never been in higher demand than what we’re seeing right now.”

Looking forward, RVTI will be conducting a strategy session on Feb. 8.

“The board’s going to come together, and we’re going to brainstorm and bring knowledge from manufacturers and suppliers and dealers to build out the next one- to three-year strategic plan for RTVI,” Hemmeler said.

“We have built a building. We have built a program. We have rolled out a career ladder and now it’s time to look at, ‘Where does the industry want us to put our attention?”, Hemmeler said.

“Our mission isn’t going to change. Our mission is to train, certify and recruit RV technicians. It’s just a matter of strategically, the hierarchy of where we place the energy of RVTI.”

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/rv-tech-institute-achieves-goals-in-2022-looks-to-future-growth/