European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes wednesday october 19, 1977 big Industry in Small time America by Edward s. Blechtzin United press International hat does the Michigan farming Community of Brown City have in common with town like Forest City Iowa or for that matter with towns Lik Manawa wis. Wakarusa ind. Corn Colo. New Tazewell tenn., or Cucamonga Merce City  communities spotted across the United states Are Homes for one of America s biggest Small town Indus tries the manufacture of recreational vehicles. It is a $4.3 billion a year Industry and it s located in Small town America. Twisting country roads lined by Cornfields and neat farmhouses Lead to Brown City. 60 Miles North of Indus trial Detroit there Are no belching smokestacks but farming is not the sole Industry in the Rural area. Kravco corporation s motor Home Plant employing 200 workers turns out two luxury vehicles a Day and provides a Valu Able payroll. A lot of us Are night banners commented Ray Scott an inspector. We work in places like this during the Day and farm in the afternoon and evening. Because farming is getting so expensive a lot of Young kids would have to leave Home if places like this were not around Scott said. The re Industry is located away from major Urban areas partly by design and partly by Chance. Ray Frank designed and built the first real motor Home in the Early 50s in Brown City. The first was for himself. A trip to Florida put a few orders in his pocket and a major Industry was begun. Frank just happened to live in Brown City and that s where he built the Plant which he sold when it grew. Other manufacturers have been More deliberate in locating their plants. Automakers May think in terms of thousands of cars a Day a single general motors Plant can build 1,600 cars in a single 16-hour Day but re manufacturers think in terms of one or two at a time. That Means Quality is More important says John Malaspina Kravco vice president and general manager. When you re in Detroit or Cleveland or Chicago you re dealing with Metal knockers not Wood workers and the product shows it Malaspina said. The people Here Are part of the company and there is a lot of Community pro a in what we do Here. In a factory like pm s Lordstown. Ohio Plant the people come to work and then they go Home. There is a whole different  but More than Quality is involved in selecting Small town America. Labor costs Are cheaper and most re plants Are non Union. Kravco is one of the few whose employees do belong to a Union but Malaspina says the relationship Between the company and the Union is completely different than in most Urban areas. We can t compete with the wages and benefits they pay in the Auto  he said. If we had to compete the Cost of our product would have to be a lot  Kravco already is at the High end of the motor Home Price scale. Its 22-foot l Esprit tags out at up checking a fitting on re Assembly line producing two units a Day in Brown City Mich. Above $23,000 in a Market where most units Cost around $15,000. Its 21 to 32-foot full size motor Homes Are referred to As the Cadillac of their class with Price tags to match. If Kravco does t compete with the Auto Industry s wages and benefits the companies which Are even smaller would be forced out of existence if they were unionized according to several executives. On an $11,000 unit at retail labor costs tend to be More of a Factor than on a $30,000 unit says Richard de Camara executive vice president for Midas International corp. If we tried to build our units in Detroit we d have the United Auto workers to Deal with and that would put us out of  Midas builds its motor Homes in Elkhart new Taze Well and Cucamonga. In Tennessee the workers Are mostly Hill people says Decamara. They re willing to put in a Day s work for a Day spay. Remember when camping meant pitching a tent and cooking on a campfire and trails were for walking the re Industry also is very cyclical and that May be one reason for locating in Small communities. Many workers have farms and it does t bother them so much if they get Laid off for a month or  in Brown City Scott s son Ron works As a parts Man Ager in a nearby John Deere agricultural machinery facility. Scott says his family probably would Nave been split up if there was no work outside of farming. We were in the pig business for a while running about 150 head Scott said. Farming and hogs could t sup port two families but Ron did t really want to move  Indiana and California Are the production and sales leaders in the re Industry with Michigan in third spot. The Industry s products Range from simple camping units that Are less than 10 feet Long to massive motor Homes Over 30 feet Long. They come equipped with Bath tubs microwave ovens ice makers television sets and pop up bars. Prices Range from less than $1,000 for the simplest camping trailers to More than $50,000 for the completely self contained Home on wheels. Indiana manufacturers built nearly 160,000 rvs in 1976 in places like Goshen Elkhart Wakarusa Bristol Mil Ford Middlebury Nappanee Bremen and Nampa. Malaspina says the Elkhart area got its Start in the re business because there were steel fabricators in the area and that has now led to the growth of Many Small Compa Nies who Supply the re Industry with parts. If you have a garage and a pair of hands you can build a motor Home in the Elkhart area because you can get supplies said Decamara of Midas. The Small Guys flock into the Market when times Are Good and drop out when the Market drops. It s both Good and bad to have the Small shops though. They Are Good for innovation and new ideas but if they build unsafe vehicles the whole Industry gets a Black  some manufacturers Are moving into even smaller towns in Indiana because of the stable work forces provided by the Amish and mennonite communities. Kravco s work Force averages less than a 2 per cent Absentee rate compared with better than three times that amount in the Auto Industry. But Malaspina said there Are problems Peculiar to having a manufacturing facility located in a Rural area. During Deer Hunting season we do have to close Down completely for two or three Days to Wiiiiam by Erma Bombeck at wits end Well we just got Home from vacation Only to discover our House had died. I knew something was fishy when we unlocked the door walked into the Kitchen and the dog was at the Kitchen table eating pizza out of an ashtray. No one in the House smokes. Something is wrong i said to my Hus band. If you re referring to the Brown Lawn we can reseed in the  i Shook my head. The Buzzards Over the garbage cans the 84 Gallons of milk in the garage the jaundiced newspapers dotting the drive Way no i just can t put my Finger on  where Are you going in your stocking feet my shoes Are laminated to the Kitchen floor. I wonder where the kids Are Why Don t we follow the fruit flies they Lead to the bathroom. Goodlord Why would anyone eat jello in the bathroom out of a cocktail Shaker i cannot believe that someone  have watered this Plant. I t s Brown As a Bear and Limp As a rag. Look at it and to think it s  i wonder where the mail is by the phone. They used it for scratch  i know what s missing. It s the sink. Where is the sink in this House we re too late i sighed. Maybe if we had come Home two weeks sooner we could have saved  my husband put his Arm around my shoulders. Look this Bouse died a month ago. There was nothing we could do. Look at this oven Don t be cruel. Surely my Utility rooms  i was wrong. There was the smell of death everywhere. Beach towels stiff socks. Cut offs. Tennis shirts sleeping bags. The Good times i used to have in Here i said wryly. Listening to my Laun dry. Smelling my clothes for freshness. Singing out loud while i sorted socks one Lack one Blue two Black one red one yellow three  we can Start Over said my  can make a Park out of All this and we can build another new House and  i walked through the House one More time to absorb All the dead plants the refrigerator with leftovers that moved the stagnant hand washable and the table filled with newspapers and their old Horo Scopes. I turned to the dog. How can you eat at a time like this. You animal c Field enterprises inc