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Back in 1973, Richard Klingler had to struggle to save his company for the second time in its 20-year corporate history.
The famous oil embargo, which caused panic throughout the world, hit northern Indiana especially hard. Elkhart County was known as the RV capital of the world, but during the early '70s this little hamlet of enterprising industrialists, turned RV manufacturers, turned millionaires, was destablised by the oil shortage.
While many were unable to endure this crisis, Klingler, president and founder of Holiday Rambler Corporation, turned despair into opportunity.
Like every other company in the RV industry, Holiday Rambler was up to its storage pods in chassis and other components for its vehicles. Between 1972 and 1973, RV orders dropped 23 percent.
It was at the height of the oil crisis, when many firms were closing up shop and laying off employees, that Klingler decided to start a new company: Utilimaster. The firm was formed in an effort to pick up some slack left over from the dwindling RV business. The concept behind the company was to convert from RVs into the manufacture of commercial trucks and thus utilize existing inventory and open up new outlets for sales. The idea not only worked, but it also later developed into one of the most lucrative companies in the Holiday Rambler conglomerate.
For Klingler this was not the first nor the last trying period for his firm. Since 1953, this family-owned and -operated company has had steady growth despite some major setbacks, both financial and personal.
Holiday Rambler, which is headquartered in Wakarusa, started out in the modest tradition of the area. Klingler, a veteran of World War II, originally set out to go to college after the war but was discouraged by a professor at Butler University who asked him, "What are you doing in a business course, any-way?" He decided to steer clear of business and applied to the Purdue University School of Engineering. In the meantime, Klingler found a job in Elkhart, got married and dropped his plans to go to school.
Back in his home town, Klingler worked several jobs during a brief period of time. He started off with Continental Can and then went to work for a small toy manufacturer where...