Pam and Howard JarosThe National RV Training Academy (NRVTA) announced long-time instructor Howard Jaros is moving on from teaching March 23, after his current class of students completes a course sanctioned by the National RV Inspectors Association (NRVIA).
Jaros was one of the first people in the country to be trained as an RV inspector when he went through classes offered in February 2014 at what was known as the Mobile RV Training Academy. At that time, courses were taught by Terry “Cooper” Cooper and Steve Anderson at different locations across the country.
The RV maintenance and tech course was only five days long then. Its intent was to help people learn more about their RVs so they could maintain their own units and assist others with common problems, Jaros explained. The training also included an inspection component, but only to help RVers identify issues with RVs they were thinking about buying.
“My wife, Pam, attended the RV fundamentals class, too,” he said. “Afterward, Cooper encouraged us to become professional RV inspectors. It was a brand-new field, so nobody knew what inspectors were, nor what role they played in the buying process.”
Jaros, and a select group of other inspectors, were tasked with encouraging people to become RV inspectors. An entrepreneur since the mid-1980s, and a salesman at heart, Jaros saw the training as an opportunity to help people get into businesses of their own. Eventually, Cooper tapped him to start teaching inspection classes.
“I taught my first class in August 2014, and there were only a handful of students,” said Jaros. “NRVIA had been formed just a few months earlier. I used my personal website, which was devoted to full-time RV living, to engage people in discussions about RV inspections. That created awareness about the need for inspections while we did other boots-on-the-ground marketing to increase enrollment.”
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when people could not attend classes in person, Jaros trained people via Zoom. When live classes resumed, NRVTA adopted Jaros’ new two-week curriculum for RV inspectors to provide more opportunities for students to conduct mock inspections and better engage with the report-creation software.
When the current class graduates Saturday, Jaros will have trained 1,345 men and women to become inspectors.
“Consistent energy and devotion to the love of RVing created the passion for Pam and I to invest so much into these past 10 years,” Jaros said. “We are humbled by the feedback we received from students over the years commending us for helping them to create good income streams in businesses of their own.”
Jaros said he is grateful for the opportunity to help build the RV inspection training program at NRVTA. However, after just turning 64, Jaros wants to step away from the commitment necessary to teach classes at the academy.
“It’s time to take it easy and spend more time enjoying our full-time RV home. Ideally, we want to do more traveling without having to worry about racing back to Athens to teach another class,” he said. “I also wanted more time to devote to other opportunities that may present themselves. There is no such thing as retirement, but rather it creates opportunities for us to be useful in other ways.”
“Howard and Pam will certainly be missed, and we wish them the best of luck as they enter a new phase of their lives,” said Cooper. “As the lead instructor, Howard was instrumental in helping NRVTA develop the inspector training curriculum and in launching hundreds of people into profitable, independent businesses of their own.
“More importantly, as inspectors themselves, Howard and Pam worked diligently to build awareness of the need for professional RV inspections,” he added. “They demonstrated it is possible for professionals to make six-figure incomes by conducting detailed inspections.
“The impact the Jaroses had on the entire RV industry is noticeable,” said Cooper. “Manufacturers are paying more attention to quality during the construction process, and most RV dealers are working to ensure RVs are fit for sale before they are delivered to customers.”
Cooper is evaluating final candidates and will select a new instructor prior to April 22, when the next round of advanced inspector training courses is scheduled to begin.
