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CCC News

Yahoo Message Number: 73348
JUNCTION CITY, Ore. -- With this week's news of Navistar's decision to layoff 450 of its 600 workers at its Coburg Monaco Coach plant, another local RV company that's faced its own set of challenges says it is bouncing back.
Take one step inside the Country Coach plant in Junction City and you will find people working.

It's a sight you wouldn't have seen one year ago.

The company now has 22 employees.

"The parts manufacturing and parts shipping and sales has picked up dramatically. We are getting in the neighborhood of 60 to 70 calls a day for parts," said Ron Lee, Country Coach Corp. President/CEO.

July marked the company's best month in both parts and service.

The company attributes that success to customers like Jim Lewis.

"I hate staying in motels," Lewis said.
Lewis lives in Florida, but during the summer months he's living in his coach traveling the country and making a stop in Junction City to get it serviced.
"The one place to go to get it done and we'll know it'll get done right is to come to Country Coach again," Lewis said.
But Lee says it'll take more besides service work and parts manufacturing to make Country Coach really go.

He says they need to start manufacturing again.
"What we do here is we do labor, so we need labor intensive projects. The area, Lane County, Junction City, needs jobs," Lee said.

Lee hopes to start building coaches by early next year.
His business plan calls for a modest start with 25 coaches manufactured in the first year and an increase of 80 employees.
"We could make enough profit, so that we'd be running a healthy company," Lee said.
But before he can build coaches and create jobs, he needs the funding, which he's still trying to make happen.
Lee says right now they're in the design phase for an electric-diesel hybrid RV, which should double or triple the mileage compared to a traditional coach.

Al

2006 Allure #31440