68 | BusinessWorld |August-September 2014
company developing to our size. I was not a
highly educated person but when it comes
to running a RV and boat dealership,I am
now. I have learned from experiences every
day. I have taken advantage of many
management and leadership training
programs. And I amstill doing that.”
These days, the company workforce is up to
70 after the addition of 10 new employees
since the beginning of the year. The initial
building on the 14-acre site was lost to a fire
in 1990, but the operation still works out of
the new 36,000-square-foot replacement
structure that opened in1991.
The RV and boat dealerships technically
operate separately, but share the same
building, the same management team, the
same marketing efforts and the same
administration and accounting functions.
The company's entire sales, finance,
insurance, parts and service departments are
housed in the now 23-year-old home, and
the surrounding property has been
upgraded with additional space for unit
display as well as a video staging area that's
used to produce marketing snippets for
YouTube, Facebook and the corporate
website. Additionally, more than 900 solar
panels have been installed on the building's
roof, which will enable the company to
produce up to90percent of its ownpower.
The enhancements signal a full recovery
from the dark days of the Great Recession,
