Go RVing: take a trip in a recreation vehicle and support a major Hoosier industry.

• Author: Harney, Dennis
• Position: VIEWPOINT

I ONCE HEARD THAT Herman Melville was asked where all of the beautiful gardens which surrounded the homes in New Bedford, Massachusetts, came from. He replied that New Bedford whale men dredged them up from the bottom of the seven seas.

I don't think I ever heard a clearer explanation of the importance of commerce to the quality of life in our communities or the impact of successful business on our state. I have been privileged to be associated with an industry which for years has sent representatives across the country marketing and promoting a product in which Indiana leads the nation: recreation vehicles.

We export tens of thousands of recreation vehicles to other states as well as other countries. Our state builds and sells 63 percent of all recreation vehicles produced in the United States. And this represents an increase of 5 percent over last year. For five decades we have quietly grown our industry until it employs nearly 20,000 Hoosiers and pays for not only beautiful gardens but also schools, roads, municipal and state services, and provides good wages for our employees and their families. In addition, the industry creates at least 20,000 additional jobs indirectly through the expenditure of money in each local community.

As the national leader in recreation-vehicle production, Indiana also enjoys an industry with limited foreign competition, an industry well-positioned in the growing and important leisure-time business.

But the story of the recreation-vehicle industry is not only a story of...