Club Meeting Recap--May 2, 2016
Posted
on May 04, 2016
Matt Miller, President of Newmar Corporation,
Tells the Club about the Manufacture
of High-End RVs
Our Club Exchanges Flags with Visiting Rotarian
Ondrej Tuma from the Czech Republic
Club President, Terri Rickel, rang the bell calling to order the May 2nd meeting of the Elkhart Rotary Club.
Dick Treckelo opened and led in the pledge and four way test.
Guests included Ray Riblet, Judy Jankowski and Ondrej Tuma from the Czech Republic
Visiting rotarian was Moe Jacobson from Petaluma, CA.
Announcements:
From Connie Caiceros: If you are aware of Rotarians who have births, deaths or illnesses please let the caring committee know. They can be identified from the yellow lanyards they are wearing.
From Kathy Grusy: update on the Rotary friendship exchange. There will be 11 people here from Turkey May 5th through the 7th. On Thursday the 5th there will be a lunch at Cracker Barrel in Elkhart at 11:30. Anyone is welcome. There will also be a Friday night district dinner.
On May 6th there will be a dinner at the Wellfield Botanic Gardens for the the friendship exchange with Rotarians from Turkey. Eric Garton will be offering tours of the gardens to anyone interested at 5:00. There will be a cocktail hour beginning at 6:00 followed by a buffet dinner at 7:00
Stu Barb gave the foundation minute highlighting the Rotary publication. He mentioned some of the articles that focus on programs supported by the foundation funds such as eradicating polio and clean water projects. Donating is easy. You can write a check or you can have $25 added to your quarterly dues. The goal is 100 percent participation by our club.
Bill Burton introduced the speaker for the day, Matt Miller, President of Newmar corporation.
Matt talked about the family owned business and some of the milestones they have attained.
1968 – Marvin Miller and Marvin Newcomer started Newmar.
1971 – The company built first Country Aire 5th Wheel.
1984 – Mahlon Miller came to Newmar from Holiday Rambler and bought controlling interest.
1991 – Newmar built the first unit with a slide out which was a new innovation in the RV world.
2008-2009 proved to be the worst years on record for the company but positioned them to allow the transfer of ownership to the next generation.
They currently have a 160 acre campus and employ about 750 people. They value relationships with their employees and as a result the average tenure is over 9 years, which is unheard of in the RV industry.
For more information visit www.newmarcorp.com.
Terri Rickel closed the meeting with an inspirational thought.