Redefining Retirement

PARK WEST'S
Richard Porter

By Don Magary

Industry veteran Richard "Dick" Porter, runs Park West Industries, Inc., a luxury park trailer manufacturing company in Mesa, Arizona.

Most of us look forward to retiring and enjoying leisure activities such as golf, fishing, traveling, and pursuing the enjoyable things we simply didn't have time for while juggling the challenges of a demanding career. And I'm sure that when Richard "Dick" Porter retired from the RV industry in the mid-eighties that's exactly what he had in mind. Kicking back on his Idaho property and watching the world go by had long been Porter's dream. So why is Dick Porter in Arizona running Park West Industries, Inc., a park trailer manufacturing company in Mesa?

On one hand, you could say that Dick Porter was a failure at retirement. On the other hand, you could say that Porter loves a challenge and still has a lot to give. He certainly didn't need the money. He and his family did very well when the family business Traveleze was sold to Thor Industries at the end of 1985.

The real question becomes why would someone with a lifetime of experience in the travel trailer manufacturing business step into park trailer manufacturing, an industry fraught with its own unique challenges and search for identity? (See side bar ­ What's a Park Trailer?)

Porter told RV News that after the Traveleze sale, he helped back a friend and former employee who was starting a park trailer business. In the late eighties, that business was having problems so in 1990 Porter agreed to help again and came to Arizona to lend his skills to getting the business back on its feet. But the business was too far gone so save. In 1992 Park West Industries, Inc., was borne out of the ashes of that failed business.

When Park West was formed in 1992, Dick was happy to get the business off on the right foot, although, the idea of taking on the liability risk associated with the business didn't appeal to him. That's when his sister's husband, Arthur Irvin, stepped in. Irvin is a successful property manager in Southern California and was looking for investments. Porter agreed to manage Park West since Irvin has no experience in the trailer business.

Porter said, "I have no financial involvement nor liability. Arthur is a super guy. I run the company and he gets profits. It's a nice arrangement for both of us."

Park West started by manufacturing park models primarily for the Arizona market; although the company does have a few dealers in adjacent states too,

Porter said, "It has never been our goal to build a big dealer organization or become a national company. First of all we build a quality, high-end product that is not easily mass produced. And second, the cost of transportation to markets too far away makes it difficult for dealers to be competitive if the transportation cost is too high.

"So we stay in the niche of high-end, customized park models manufactured for the resort market. You can't just sell those kinds of homes all over the country like you can a production model. And we don't really have a production model per se, so we stay in our own back yard."

One of the fortunate aspects of the Arizona market for the vacation home business is, to a large degree, potential customers from all over the country come to you. Arizona is major hub of winter visitors, known locally as "snowbirds," who come south to escape cold weather and snow. A significant number of these snowbirds come from the western regions of Canada. continued