Inside Indiana Business With Gerry Dick recently showcased Ashley Bontrager Lehman of Ember Recreational Vehicles. The following is an excerpt:
Ashley Bontrager Lehman expected her path in the RV industry to be a straight line. As the granddaughter of Jayco founders Lloyd and Bertha Bontrager, she grew up around one of Elkhart County’s most recognizable manufacturing success stories and joined the family business after college with hopes of one day leading it.
When Jayco was sold in 2016, that dream seemed at an end. Instead, it became the catalyst for something new. In 2021, Bontrager and three co-founders launched Ember RV, a Bristol-based manufacturer focused on off-road and off-grid travel trailers.
Inside Indiana Business: The sale of Jayco changed the trajectory of your career. How did that experience eventually lead to the creation of Ember RV?
I stayed for a little bit after the sale but eventually I just felt it wasn’t the place for me anymore. Plus, I had two young children at home and I wanted some time with them. Fast forward to 2021 and RVing became a very interesting way to travel for many people because it was a vacation that couldn’t be taken away, like other things had been during that time.
I still had the desire to run an RV company someday. I kept in contact with a lot of my past coworkers and there were a couple people that expressed interest in joining me if I ever decided to start something. And with the way the market was trending at that time, it was just one of those serendipitous moments where things started to fall into place for Ember. I looked at it as a now-or-never opportunity, and that’s really how it started. Things just snowballed from there, and we started production at Ember in October 2021. So we’re celebrating our fifth year in business.
Inside Indiana Business: How has Ember RV’s production volume and workforce changed since launch, and what has driven those shifts?
On average, we’ve produced just under 1,000 vehicles each year. In our first year, we produced about 1,200 RVs. In lower years, we were closer to 800, so it has ebbed and flowed.
Right now, we are just under 60 employees and continue to grow. We were a bit larger at one point, but the RV market and the broader economy have had a rough couple of years, so we scaled back somewhat. We are now seeing growth again.
Click here for the report from Inside Indiana Business.
