2020 is a year of change at the RV Technical Institute, with a change in leadership from Bruce Hopkins, who generally wrote the book on RV manufacturing best practices and is retiring at the end of the year, to Curtis Hemmeler, who will step into that role.
Recently announced by the RV Industry Association, RV Technical Institute’s Executive Director, Curtis Hemmeler, is expanding and enriching his role to include the title of senior vice president of standards. This supplemental title is a natural addition for Hemmeler, whose decades of experience in technical education and training have helped make the RV Technical Institute a success over the last two years.
Current Vice President of Standards, Bruce Hopkins, will retire at the end of the year. Hopkins, the ‘godfather’ of the industry’s Standards and Inspection program leaves behind a 40-year legacy of self-regulation that promotes uniform Standards across the RV industry.
Hemmeler said that his goal is to continue Hopkins’ legacy of excellence within both the Standards and Educations programs. “Standards is one of the RV Industry Association’s core functions, touching every manufacturer, supplier, dealer, and RV consumer. My new position constitutes a ‘new role,’ and yet, ‘not new.’ In my initial RV Technical Institute position, Standards and Education were always intertwined. But the difference is that now that we have this entity called the RV Technical Institute – a physical facility with classrooms and access to curriculum design here in Elkhart – Education and Standards will form an even better consolidation.”
Hemmeler’s prior experience makes him uniquely well-positioned to take on his new, dual-pronged role. Before entering the RV world, Hemmeler’s work focused on two main areas: education and technical training. Recounted Hemmeler, “It is interesting how my 30 years of professional life come together in this position. My military training, my educational background, as well as the leadership pieces I’ve held, are very appropriate for these additional duties.”
To read more about Hemmeler’s background and where he sees the RVTI going, click here (login required).