Metro Magazine, August 2018

MOTORCOACH SHUTTLE BUS SEDAN 1st Source Bank is a national leader in financing specialty equipment with more than 40 years of serving individuals and businesses Our experienced team is ready to provide you outstanding service straight talk and sound advice Flexible financing options including lines of credit Simple application process for aggregate credit up to 350000 Personal service from industry experts Let us tailor your unique financing package Contact Amanda Lundmark Cell 815 953 3623 Office 574 401 6111 lundmarka@ 1stsource com Specialty Finance Group 1stsource com shuttlebus 1stsource com motorcoach EXPERT FINANCING 2 1 12 7 17 1 02 PM meets the needs of a majority of the industry From a smaller product built on a Ford Transit right up to a Freightliner chassis or whether somebody is looking to haul eight or 45 people we have those product bases covered We feel with our different bus divisions and certainly with the dealers we have we are getting great coverage Obviously as the market goes through changes we will also have to adjust with it but right now we feel we have a pretty wide product variety in the sweet spots if you will We cant do everything for everybody but we feel we have really good product diversity where the meat of the market is Starcraft was named Fords top pool account for the 12th consecutive year what is the importance of that honor Its big on a couple levels One its something we were chasing since the early 2000s When I joined the company around that time we wanted to make it a focus And although volume certainly isnt everything we thought it was a good thing to set our sights on In addition were competitive just like everybody else So when we first got the award it was a huge deal and from there we did what we needed to do to make sure we kept it In our industry where we dont have R L Polk data or vehicle registrations to easily track sales year over year against the industry knowing how you rank with Ford is a big deal From a customer standpoint the fact that we are number one with Ford in volume doesnt mean anything to them But what it means for us that they dont see is the more business we do and the more volume we have the more we can continually drive our costs down and get better economies of scale which ultimately means a better price and value for the customer What is Forest Rivers biggest challenge right now and what are you doing to overcome it Id say we have two The first would be attracting and retaining quality employees In Elkhart County with the great growth in the RV market the bus market and even the boat market there is tremendous demand for skilled workers Saying that we do have a tremendous team with nearly a thousand employees in our bus divsions alone But attracting and retaining quality skilled employees from production to sales to engineering is a continuing challenge And although its really magnified here in Elkhart County where unemployment is low I would say that challenge is pretty common across the country for many industries We Forest River a Berkshire Hathaway Company with its six bus brands Battisti Customs Berkshire Coach Elkhart Coach Glaval Bus Starcraft Bus and StarTrans Bus offers a full line of transit and shuttle buses and tour coaches that fit almost any application METRO spoke to David Wright president of Forest Rivers bus divisions about some of the keys to the companys success and what challenges they are facing What do you feel are the companys strengths Whether it is Glaval Starcraft StarTrans or any of our brands we feel we have a product that 28 mETRO mAGAZINE AUGUST 2018 metro magazine com FOREST RIVER Q A with David Wright President Bus for Forest River Inc