PREMIERE ISSUE! - Park Model Living Magazine

News & Notes on the Park Model Lifestyle
from R P T IA E xecu tive D irector W .R . “B ill” G arpow
What a thrill it is to be a part of a brand
new publication devoted to Recreational Park
Trailer owners. This is a great lifestyle and one
that offers wonderful adventures in these seasonal
and vacation dwellings. The Recreational
Park Trailer Industry Association, Inc. (RPTIA)
represents the industry firms that provide the
products and services enjoyed by our owners. As
the founding Executive Director of the Association
(established in 1993) it is indeed a privilege
for me to write this column and hopefully become
the person you can turn to for information
about your recreational park trailer or the lifestyle
it offers.
While I may not have the information
right at hand I will hopefully have the gift of
some time for a little research before my reply
gets published. That research will be used to
make-up a response that will make you think
th at I really am “T h e A n sw er G u y”. W h at a
luxury it will be for me compared to the telephone
calls and daily barrage of e-mails that requ
ire a m ore or less im m ediate response. It‟s
really nice to be able to check things out twice
before being required to reply once.
You might ask: “W h at are m y qu alifications
to be your A n sw er G u y?” T o start w ith
I‟ve been doin g th is kin d of w ork sin ce 1969. I
first got into trade association management with
an organization that still successfully represents
the Recreation Vehicle and Manufactured Housing
Industry in Michigan. I liked the work and
especially enjoyed the chance it gave me to make
a difference and help people overcome obstacles
and make things work the way they should. As
su ch , I‟ve been involved in th e R V in dustry (or its
14 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
cousin, manufactured housing) as a trade association
staff member for 38 years.
O ver th at tim e I‟ve w orked for or h ave represented
the interests of RV owners, dealers,
manufacturers, suppliers, park owners, finance
and insurance firms and have done so in many
interesting places and in different ways. I have
worked with federal, state and local governmental
agencies and legislative bodies, as well as with
industry professionals who together have created
the nationally recognized safety standards that
our products are built in compliance with. Additionally,
I work with educational, statistical and
demographic tracking programs that keep the industry
and the public current with changes in the
industry. Working with the media helps spread
the facts about these products and how they
serve the needs of our owners.
I‟ll look forw ard to h earin g from you an d
responding to your questions. Send me questions
covering: taxes, building codes, land use
issues, decks and add-on rooms, forms of ownership
and what this all means to you as an owner.
How you can use your unit and what you can or
cannot do with it and why. Send them to me
“T h e A n sw er G u y” an d I‟ll do m y best to respond
with the real hard facts and figures about
Recreational Park Trailers.
B ill “T h e A n sw er G u y” G arpow can be reach ed at:
AnswerGuy@parkmodelliving.com
To be considered as a Question to the Answer Guy, your request must
be accompanied by an e-mail and telephone number as well as the full
name and City/State. Requests for confidentiality will be honored with
the disclosure only of the correspondents first name and state.