Last Friday (Aug. 5) marked a milestone in the RV Technical Institute’s (RVTI) history – and perhaps in the RV industry as well – when 22 women completed Level I technician training at RVTI’s headquarters on Middlebury Street in Elkhart, Ind.
The program was initially projected at 12 students but nearly doubled due to demand. The women were selected from over 100 applications and supported by a partnership between RVTI and the RV Women’s Alliance (RVWA), which sponsored the class.
“The excitement these women had for what they were learning and their plans to put this this training to use was incredible to witness,” said RVWA President Susan Carpenter. “Thanks to the tech training experts at the RV Technical Institute and our sponsors, there are now more trained technicians ready to service customers and make a career here in the RV industry.”
Ten of the trainees were brand new to the RV industry and drawn to the course because of the excellent opportunity for a career as an RV technician.
RVBusiness covered the ceremony as the women received their certificates following a week of classroom and hands-on training. Overall, the new grads spoke highly of the training and quality of instruction, expecting to put their new certification to good use.
“I’ve worked in the industry for a long time and know cosmetics. So for me, this training connected the dots,” said Lisa Chaney of Buchanan, Mich., and employed at Forest River.
Chaney works making cosmetic repairs once a unit comes off the line. She told us that this class will help her better understand what her co-workers are doing and what’s happening inside the RV.
“This will definitely help me with my job since some of the things that I can’t fix now, I’ll be able to troubleshoot and help. That’s something I couldn’t do before,” she said.
Leticia Weidner is the operations manager for Camping World in Hamburg, Penn. “I’ve been in the industry for going on 11 years. I enrolled in this program because I want more technical knowledge,” she said.
Weidner commented that all the women in group were so supportive of one another, and the instruction was first-rate, “We learned a lot in a little bit of time,” she said.
One area in which Weidner said her training will immediately benefit her is electrical. “Technically, the electrical system of an RV was something I did not know well. However, I learned a lot in this class and am thankful for that. This is something that will help me in my job at Camping World,” she said.
Also participating in the graduation ceremony was RV Women’s Alliance (RVWA) board member Karen Barnett, CEO and President of Valley Screen Process, a supplier to the industry.
Said Barnett about RVWA’s involvement and financial support of the program, “Our mission at RVWA is to elevate, educate, and promote women in the RV industry. This class is the perfect example of the task we are trying to achieve: to bring more women into the industry.”
The RV Technical Institute is a multi-million-dollar investment by the RV Industry Association, the RV Dealers Association and Go RVIng – along with a number of sponsor partners – tasked with reducing Repair Event Cycle Times (RECT) by increasing the number of high-quality trained RV technicians. The program has gained an added urgency as more and more Americans are taking to the road and the RV lifestyle.
