(March 20, 2009) -- Wells Fargo Bank has agreed to loan Country Coach to $11.5 million so it can build up to 43 coaches over the next 10 months, according to an agreement filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Eugene.

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(March 20, 2009) -- Times are rough for the RV industry. Tightening credit and a lack of financing options are keeping new customers on the sidelines. Shattered consumer confidence is forcing many RV owners to cancel extended trips. But in a year when maintaining the current level of business is considered solid growth, industry officials are cautiously optimistic.

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(March 20, 2009) -- “Our employees have made tremendous sacrifices so that we can remain confident when it comes to our financial strength and competitive position,” Olson said, “and I think we’re starting to see some signs of a turnaround.”

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(March 20, 2009) -- "The point is that RV makers have been hit hard by the dual perils of falling sales and rising warranty costs. And it makes perfect sense, if you think of RVs as the cross between autos and homes, and if you think of autos and homes as the industries hardest-hit by the recession," reports Warranty Week. "Spartan Motors is the only major RV industry player to see either a sales increase or a claims rate reduction in 2008, and we think that probably has more to do with the momentum in its fire truck, ambulance, and military vehicle lines of business."

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(March 20, 2009) -- Although a bankruptcy judge will need to approve the plan next week, Country Coach managers began calling workers yesterday to see if they were available to return to work. About 100 employees will bew rehired over the next three to four weeks, company officials said.

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(March 19, 2009) -- Dealers across North America are scratching their heads today wondering what else can be done to prevent them from acquiring RV inventory, or selling units to consumers. Several leading lending institutions announced policy changes this week that make it nearly impossible for dealers to sell RVs from certain manufacturers, dealers across the country told RV Industry News.

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(March 19, 2009) -- With the support of Wells Fargo as the company’s primary secured creditor, and Bryant Riley as the leader of the company’s investor group, Country Coach is positioned to resume operations.

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(March 19, 2009) -- Workers at FTCA Inc., which makes Coleman brand campers at a Somerset County plant, approved a new four-year contract that provides annual wage increases, restores incentive pay and creates a new pension plan, the United Steelworkers said Wednesday.

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(March 19, 2009) -- Revenues for the second quarter were $31.8 million, a decrease of 80.6 percent, versus revenues of $164.2 million for the second quarter last year. The company reported an operating loss of $18.6 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 versus operating income of $2.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Net loss for the second quarter was $10.4 million versus net income of $2.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2008.

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(March 16, 2009) -- "NuWa will be a smaller company, so we will not be as much at the mercy of a volatile economy. NuWa will focus even more on product reliability and exceptional customer service. NuWa will have fewer dealers by choice, and these will be selected for their commitment to HitchHiker trailers and the exceptional customers, who seek our products."

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(March 16, 2009) -- Bob Wyman said Cozy Traveler is building two 14- to 18-foot travel trailers a week, but has received more orders in recent weeks than he knows how to process. "We are checking into getting a government grant so we can expand our operation and hire more workers," he said. "If the grant is approved, we expect to be able to put 30 to 50 people to work in Elkhart County by May 1.

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(March 16, 2009) -- Berger & Montague has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on behalf of 2,600 employees who were laid off by Monaco Coach Corporation in December 2008 and thereafter without receiving any notice.

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(March 16, 2009) -- Monaco Coach Corp. is arguing that it did not need to give hundreds of laid-off workers the required 60 days notice of plant closings in northern Indiana because it would have undermined its efforts to obtain financing or sell itself.

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(March 16, 2009) -- But the impact of the near collapse of the RV industry in Lane County hasn’t been the same for all of the companies that previously grew along with the RV makers. Some of them say they’ve diversified enough that they’ve not been hurt too badly by the erosion of RV manufacturing. Others say they have had to lay off workers and scramble to find new business.

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(March 16, 2009) -- Most Fleetwood employees already have claims going for unemployment benefits, he said, because the plant has operated only at half-time since Thanksgiving. Oregon bases unemployment benefits on how much an employee has worked in the last four quarters. McMillan said that's a serious concern. "I don't want to know what that benefit amount will be six months from now when they get the quarters in the system when we were only working a little bit each month," he said.

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(March 16, 2009) -- R-Vision is a division of Monaco Coach. A notice dated March 3 posted on the Indiana Workforce Development Web site said 398 employees were permanently discharged beginning March 2. It also stated 515 workers will be affected including operations in Milford and Wakarusa.

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(March 13, 2009) -- The lawsuit claims that Fleetwood violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (the "WARN Act") which provides that employers must give sixty days notice to employers prior to a plant closing or mass layoff. The lawsuit seeks sixty days wages and benefits in lieu of the notice.

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(March 13, 2009) -- An RV dealer in the northwestern region claims that Fleetwood bounced a $25,000 rebate check to the dealership this week, RV Industry News has learned. But, company officials say their hands were tied in that bankruptcy regulations required them to stop payment on all checks issued before the firm filed bankruptcy on Tuesday.

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(March 13, 2009) -- Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. on Friday furloughed 170 workers at its Decatur RV plant. The cuts bring the Fleetwood workforce in Decatur to 450. More than 1,000 worked there a year ago.

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(March 13, 2009) -- SBA Associate Administrator for Capital Access Eric Zarnikow will help small business owners get answers to their questions about what the Recovery Act means for the nation's small businesses. The Recovery Act is a national effort to grow the U.S. economy by stimulating job creation, freeing credit markets, and investing in small business.

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(March 13, 2009) -- "Business circumstances precluded our ability to give 60 days' notice," the company said in its filing. "As you know, our nation is experiencing a far-reaching economic crisis - one that has been particularly hard on motor home manufacturers and dealers and that has lasted far longer than we had anticipated."

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(March 12, 2009) -- At the conglomerate's troubled GE Capital unit, the rating was dropped to A from A+. The financial arm is facing write downs from its consumer and commercial loan businesses, as well as from its real estate assets.

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(March 12, 2009) -- "I don't see credit freeing up for 12 to 18 months because there is such an issue with asset values," said Rob Snow, of Carillon Capital Partners. One participant in the meeting said the current federal proposals will no little, if anything, to help the RV industry. "It feels like we are left on our own to live or die as an industry in a mess we didn't create," he said.

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(March 12, 2009) -- A federal judge ordered Monaco Coach Corp. to pay Outdoor Resorts $1 million after the RV manufacturer failed to make a $2 million payment ordered last year after failing to share profits from RV resort projects the two companies jointly developed and financed.

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(March 12, 2009) -- Cozy Traveler, maker of a new type of lightweight RV, receives 600 applications for 30 to 40 new jobs.

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(March 12, 2009) -- Through RVIA's efforts, the RV industry has been included in both the Term Asset-back securities Loan Facility -- or TALF -- and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Both provisions contain language that could still hamper the credit market's willingness to make RV loans but the association remains hopeful it can get some the restrictions eased.

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(March 11, 2009) -- Thor, Fleetwood's competitor with more cash on hand and less debt, could be a possible candidate, said Christian Eddleman, an analyst with Argus Research. He also pointed to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway which bought Indiana-based RV company Forest River in July 2005. Forest River bought Coachmen Industries in January.

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(March 11, 2009) -- U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey also authorized Monaco to re-establish an incentive program for dealers and their sales representatives so it can move its inventory of RVs, valued at $108.9 million; allowed the company hire lawyers, accountants and consultants; prohibited utilities from stopping service; and authorized Monaco to use cash from the sale of assets.

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(March 10, 2009) -- The decision was based on cash flow, said Paul Eskritt. “I think our folks did a great job in the last year or two. It was a bittersweet decision because the management team in travel trailers felt as though they had finally turned the corner, but they couldn’t complete the turn fast enough in this type of market.”

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(March 10, 2009) -- A survey in last weekend’s RVtravel.com newsletter revealed that nearly two-thirds of the more than 1,500 readers who responded believe that fewer than half of today’s RV manufacturers will still be in business next January, and nearly half believe that less than 40 percent will survive.

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(March 10, 2009) -- Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. said in court papers that the filing will halt all 289 lawsuits pending against it in federal and state courts, including lawsuits filed by Katrina victims that are set to go to trial later this year.

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(March 10, 2009) -- Though time is running out, Country Coach isn’t giving up yet, CEO Jay Howard said Friday. “We have a compelling business plan going through reorganization,” he said. “The optimum solution for the company and these employees and unsecured creditors and the bank and the current investment group is to reach an agreement that provides financing for the company to go forward.”

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(March 10, 2009) -- Some of the larger firms in Elkhart County are owed anywhere from millions of dollars to hundreds of dollars and that doesn't include some of the smaller firms in the area — companies like Henschen Oil in Nappanee could be left high and dry.

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(March 10, 2009) -- In the filing, Daley lists assets that include a $7 million federal tax refund, which it received the same day it filed for bankruptcy, $108.9 million worth of inventory, and $6.7 million in accounts receivable, from sales that have been made but not yet paid. The company owes $36.8 million on a revolving loan fund and $36 million on a fixed-term loan, both of which were obtained last November.

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(March 10, 2009) -- The Edgerton plant first opened in 1969 and closed in December of 2004. Fleetwood reopened the plant in 2006 to meet demands for travel trailers in light of the Katrina disaster on the gulf coast. Fleetwood will close the Edgerton plant once all of its existing orders for travel trailers are filled.

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(March 10, 2009) -- Craig Wanicheck with Monaco Coach confirmed that bankruptcy proceedings prompted banks not to honor employee paychecks deposited after the company filed for bankruptcy last Thursday.

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(March 10, 2009) -- Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. today filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions for itself and certain operating subsidiaries in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Riverside. The filings do not include any of the company's foreign or non-operating entities. Fleetwood's motor home and manufactured housing businesses will continue to operate while the company seeks buyers for these business units.

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(March 9, 2009) -- Marathon Coach Corp. is the smallest of Lane County's RV manufacturers, and it builds the most expensive motor homes. But, unlike its two larger rivals -- Monaco Coach Corp. and Country Coach -- Marathon is still producing coaches, although "just a handful" right now, said Steve Schoellhorn, president and COO of the privately held company.

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(March 9, 2009) -- The closures affects 253 employees in Pendleton and 162 in La Grande, according to a letter to the cities from Evelyn Guiter, director of human resources for Fleetwood Enterprises, which owns the Oregon manufacturing facilities. Fleetwood announces it has reserve funds to handle warranties for one year.

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(March 9, 2009) -- FTCA, Inc., manufacturer of Coleman Camping Trailers, launched its website (www.colemantrailers.com) in late 2008, was designed and developed by The Karcher Group. The site includes innovative features like a video gallery, floor plans, dealer portal, specs and photos, and more. The two companies say they look forward to announcing more projects in the first half of 2009.

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(March 9, 2009) -- Sales for the quarter were $226,683,000 versus $599,170,000 last year. Net loss for the quarter was $14,860,000 compared to net income of $21,602,000 last year. E.P.S. for the quarter were (27 cents) versus 39 cents last year. But, cash, cash equivalents and investments on Jan. 31 were $310.1 million, up from $234.3 million last year and the company continues to have zero debt.

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(March 9, 2009) -- For the residents of Coburg, Junction City and Harrisburg, it's a painful farewell to good neighbors who never asked for much but always gave more than expected: Monaco's countless donations to save tiny Coburg Community School, chronically threatened with closure. Country Coach's gifts that filled local food pantries, needed now more than ever. The workers from across the region, whose paychecks kept small business districts alive. There are no answers, little relief and a lot of resilience.

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(March 9, 2009) -- Denali SuperLite features seven travel trailer floorplans and two fifth wheel floorplans that are designed to be pulled by half-ton and one-ton pick up trucks. Six of the floorplans weigh less than 7,500 pounds. The Denali product line also includes eight larger fifth wheel floorplans that include bedroom slides and private baths as a standard features.

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(March 9, 2009) -- Dozens of companies supplied Monaco and Country Coach with paint, glass and other parts. Now, their futures are uncertain. The rest of the Swensons' business depends on small body shops. Monaco's bankruptcy could mean some suppliers won't get paid. But Dave Swenson says it's a drop in the bucket compared to how much their company, Automotive Paint Industrial, made from the boom.

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(March 9, 2009) -- An outsider might expect ex-employees to be angry. But people here are loyal. They know what Winnebago has meant to this area. People in this town have faith the RV market will turn around.

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(March 9, 2009) -- "Fleetwood's Travel Trailer division has suffered in particular, sustaining losses of $65.3 million in 2007 and $16.8 million in 2008. In recent years, this division has lost market share due to aggressive competition from industry peers. Fleetwood has responded by improving its product lineup, but current market conditions are too severe to permit timely recovery," wrote Paul Eskritt. "We sincerely regret to inform you that Fleetwood is therefore withdrawing from the travel trailer business in order to focus on its motorhomes and manufactured housing business."

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(March 9, 2009) -- "This is an innovative floor plan", says Mark Summers, Executive Producer of the show adding, "The living area is immense with a great flat screen HDTV and multi-purpose dinette and sofa / sleeping spaces. One of the nicest surprises is the built-in retractable stair case to the upper bunk making it very pet-friendly!"

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(March 9, 2009) -- "NuWa is developing a new business model and will be back in production in June. There, you heard it from the 'horse's mouth,'" writes NuWa owner Mike Mitchell in an owner's forum. "Be patient. I am working to develop a business plan that will be respectful and beneficial to all parties; i.e. NuWa, dealer/partners and our mutual customers. I will announce and explain this concept at a later time."

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(March 6, 2009) --- “You can’t tell me they didn’t realize they were heading toward bankruptcy,” said Ron Folk, noting that the company had notified employees the week before that production was set to resume. “I’m sorry they had to file for Chapter 11, but there’s no work out there right now. If they would have at least given us notice, we could have planned a little better.”

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(March 6, 2009) -- Its largest unsecured creditors are Custom Chassis Products of Elkhart, Ind., which is owed $6.8 million, and Quality Enterprises USA, a utility installation contractor in Naples, Fla., which is owed $2.68 million. Local unsecured creditors include API Inc., a distributor of automotive paint and industrial supplies in Eugene, which is owed $594,476; Industrial Finishes Inc., a Eugene supplier of paint and other finishes, which is owed $427,984; and Guaranty RV, a Junction City RV dealer, which is owed $334,028.

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