Who Is Tom Dewalt and What Does He Know About RVs and RVing? I began my RV Business Career well before I realized it. I was 9 years old when my Dad started selling RVs. I have been involved in the RV Business and have been RVing ever since. It all began a few years after Dad first took us camping. I remember one weekend our family was camping in our tent – an old “umbrella” style with no floor whe
n it rained all weekend. It rained so hard during the night that our air mattresses were floating. My brother and I thought it was really cool and fun, but Mom had a much different opinion. Not long after, Dad found he could become a folding camper trailer dealer by buying four campers. He had a camping buddy that wanted one, one for our family, and the other two sold quickly. It was 1966 and an RV Business was born. Through the years our family continued to camp. We belonged to two camping clubs, the NCHA Moonlight Howlers, and The Ezzz Goers, a Coachmen Caravan Club, sponsored by our dealership. We would camp two weekends a month for years and years with the clubs as well as take family vacations – camping (RVing) of course! The first 14 or so years, it was pretty much a “mom & pop” business. We all helped out at whatever needed doing along with a couple of employees. I washed trailers, installed hitches, fixed appliances, wired cars, worked at the parts counter, and much more. In 1975 I went off to college determined to never wash another trailer again! My plans failed miserably as summers were filled with washing, fixing, and selling RVs. After a degree in Business Marketing from Utah State University, I soon realized the old family business was a great opportunity. I returned with ideas to implement. I added a sales staff, and we were soon outgrowing our facilities! Over the next 28 years I would serve in numerous roles including sales manager and general manager and grow the business from less than $800,000 per year total sales volume to well over $30,000,000. Over the years we built a national reputation for excellence in sales, service, customer care and innovative marketing. We were a top 10 national volume dealer for several of our manufacturers and twice named the #1 Customer Satisfaction Dealer in the country for Coachmen RV. I served on numerous Manufacturers’ Dealer Councils, and President of regional RV Dealer associations, show committees, as well as marketing and 20 groups. The family business would last 43 years from 1966 until 2008-2009 when it fell victim to the great recession. We were the oldest Coachmen Dealership when we closed. In 2008, I went to work for Coachmen RV as Assistant VP for Dealer Development. That job only lasted 4 months as Coachmen was acquired by Forest River and the position was eliminated. I spent 2 years as a Coachmen Catalina Regional Sales Manager under Forest River, and then opened an RV dealership in Elkhart Indiana. A year later I moved to Ohio and spent three years as GM of Midwest RV Center in Dayton.
2011 marked my 30th year of full time employment in RVing. Over the years I have traveled in, camped in, worked on and sold nearly every type of RV. It is my hope that I can assist you in your quest for an RV through my many years of RV experience as a user, owner and member of the RV industry. My philosophy is simple. I want to help you find the very best RV to fit your needs, your family and your budget – NO MATTER WHERE YOU BUY IT! I believe success comes from serving others. My reward will always be when you refer others to me to help them as I have helped you. Yours in RVing,
Tom Dewalt
