Bailey said, "We set our operations up in Warsaw because of the
German Baptist workforce that lives in this area. In the past we always worked at local
companies and the highly cherished Amish and German Baptist workers came to the factory
from their farms and distant cities.
We decided to bring the manufacturing plant to them and have gained
an incredibly loyal and talented group of employees here in Warsaw."
This was a wise decision when you look back at the meteoric rise of
the high-flying manufacturer of super lightweight hybrids, travel trailers and motorhomes.
When you talk about lightweights, you talk about Denny Bailey. You
won't get too many arguments if you say that it was his vision that sparked this new class
of RV's when the automobile industry started to downsize and the behemoth tow vehicles of
the past quickly disappeared from our highways.
The familiar sight of a family station wagon towing a large trailer
was gone forever.
Bailey saw what everyone else saw -- parking lots full of mini-vans.
The difference is that he did something about it.
He notes, "I was standing in the supermarket parking lot one
day and all you could see were Chrysler mini-vans all in a row. The landscape was
changing. People were buying a different vehicle and the RV industry didn't have anything
for them.
"I went into the factory the next day and we started assembling
our first prototype lightweight trailer to meet a market niche that most people didn't
even know existed at the time.
"The first one we made was 19-feet long, 7-feet wide, and
weighed only 2,300 pounds. We took the unit to Louisville and wrote 1,100 orders and we
didn't even have a manufacturing plant at the time."
That was another company and another time. But it was the
recognition of this market opportunity that validated his vision for lightweights.
Now that he's calling the shots, Bailey's vision is even more
apparent as Trail-Lite leads the way in manufacturing lightweight RVs. The company sits on
35 acres and has 58,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Warsaw.
The company manufactures lightweight hybrid trailers, travel
trailers, fifth wheels and motorhomes under the names of Condor, B-Plus, Bantam,
Trail-Lite, Trail-Cruiser, and Trail-Bay.
Privately held, Bailey would not release monetary information.
However, as evidenced by the reporting of Statistical Surveys, Trail-Lite has achieved a
number 3 ranking on their travel trailers behind two industry veterans Prowler and
Coachmen. This is a meteoric rise for the quick moving teams that continually stay ahead
of the pack with new product designs and development.
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Copyright 2001 by D&S Media Enterprises, Inc., Tempe, Arizona ALL RIGHTS
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