A group of veteran RV manufacturers’ reps have formed a new co-op that collectively allows them to service almost the entire country for their aftermarket supplier clients, the group said. The seven are all independent regional reps who have come together to form the cooperative, with several of them bringing experience working for large, nationwide distributors.
Called Venture Co-op, the idea was hatched during a conversation that Rob Rapose had early in 2020 with Rhonda Pilto, chatting in the lobby during the NTP-STAG show in Florida.
“It was just a hare-brained idea that was born out of frustration by our limitations,” said Rapose, a manufacturer’s representative for the past two decades. “So, I said, hey, we can do this, and here we are.”
Rapose said that issues he and his fellow independent regional reps – such as Pilto, who owns her own California-based company – deal with are often similar.
“As a regional I take these ‘pioneer lines’” – meaning smaller or upstart companies – “I build them up and then when they get to the point where they want to expand they drop me for a national (distributor),” said Rapose. “It’s been pretty frustrating sometimes. And then I was talking to some other regionals about how hard it is to get anything that’s got any kind of a market presence. ‘Maybe we do a co-op?’”
Now, about a year after that initial conversation, Venture Co-op has announced itself as a seven-strong team ready to rep vendors almost coast-to-coast – three states in the Midwest and some of the Gulf States remain at this point unrepresented, Rapose said, though that may change.
One thing they all have in common: Everyone reps Zamp Solar – the first company to sign on with Venture Co-op.
“The group as a whole decided we’re not going to take on any more than eight lines,” Rapose said. “The idea is to stay small and say focused, and that’s another reason why we’re really being choosy with what we take on.”
Rapose, whose territory will be the Pacific Northwest, said he tried to find a diverse and seasoned group of professionals to join in on the project and feels strongly that he has succeeded.
“I wanted to make sure that we got the best players we could, and I’m really very proud of this group. It’s a pretty amazing group,” he said.
Referring to his colleague, Georgiann Voissem, who covers the Great Lakes region, Rapose said: “We look at things very differently, and that’s why I really wanted her in the group. She sees things a lot of times that I would just blow over. So, it’s kind of a unique dynamic that we have.”
Visit Venture Co-op’s website to learn more.