Celebration was in the air at General Coach in Hensall, Ontario, on Aug. 20 as the company unveiled a major expansion at its Mill Street facilities.
This story by Scott Nixon originally appeared in the Goderich Signal-Star.
The company, which has been in the RV business in Hensall since 1950 and owned by the Faulkner family since 2010, officially opened its 35,000-square-foot facility, which sits across the street from its 105,000-square-foot headquarters.
Owner and president Roger Faulkner said General Coach has been operating out of the same location for 69 years and is the oldest factory in Canada still operating and producing some form of RV.
Faulkner, who has been in the RV industry since 1968, said when he started in the business there were 84 different RV manufacturers in Canada. Now there are five.
To survive, General Coach has had to evolve over the years. The company was previously owned by Thor Industries, the largest RV manufacturer in the world. Faulkner said Thor was looking to downsize during the financial crisis around 2007 and 2008 and was considering closing the Hensall plant. Instead, Faulkner, who had been with General Coach since 1999, decided to buy the plant.
In the last decade General Coach has focused on unique products and has found success, outgrowing its original location and leading to the recent major expansion. In 2008, General Coach had 42 employees. That number is now up to 189, and Faulkner said he’d like to see it grow to 200.
