RV manufacturers join to develop skilled workers

JUNCTION CITY, Ore. (AP) — Lane County's three motor home manufacturers are fierce competitors for sales in the high-end RV market, but they've joined forces to develop new workers.

The RV industry employs more than 4,500 workers in Lane County, a number projected to increase by 19 percent over the next 10 years. The region is second only to Elkhart, Ind., in its concentration of RV makers. In Lane County, only wood products employs more workers.

"These are good jobs, the kind of jobs we need in Oregon, but we need to work to keep them in Oregon," said Gov. Ted Kulongski during a ceremony last week to highlight what's called the RV Consortium, a regional training program.

The companies Country Coach, Marathon Coach and Monaco Coach Corp. want to develop skilled workers to design, build and service motor homes that can cost $1 million or more.

"One of the most significant factors in Marathon's continued success will be the ability to maintain a well-trained and motivated work force," said Mike Warner, Marathon's vice president for human resources.

Country Coach has just completed one of the consortium's first initiatives: a seven-week leadership training course for 25 employees. The same training is now being offered at Monaco Coach.

Training is scheduled for 1,900 employees in a variety of areas. For example, the consortium plans to conduct a joint training program on leather and vinyl repair, said Dan Oatman, consortium coordinator.

Another program will cover integrated audiovisual systems — today's RVs often have flat-screen TVs, satellite dishes and sophisticated sound systems. Diversity training also is planned.

Reaching out to high school and college students, the companies have distributed about 1,000 copies of a DVD highlighting the different jobs and careers in the industry, and they shared a booth at last month's Career Fair for high school seniors.

Training is especially important for a company such as Country Coach, which has doubled its work force to 1,650 in just a few years, employee development manager Carol Taylor-Clay said.

Last year, the state made a two-year, $525,000 grant to develop the consortium, which also involves Lane Community College and the Lane Workforce Partnership.

Kulongosku said that only 28 percent of Oregon's adults have bachelor's degrees or higher and said ,it's important to create good jobs and training opportunities for young people who don't go to college.