By Marilyn Odendahl, Truth Staff
modendahl@etruth.com
MIDDLEBURY -- Once again, the credit crunch is being blamed for forcing a local recreational vehicle manufacturer to trim its workforce.
SunnyBrook RV, a towable maker, has laid-off about 120 administration and production personnel which represents nearly have of the company's payroll. The reduction was effective Nov. 30, said Elvie Frey Sr., president and chief executive officer of SunnyBrook.
Between 130 and 140 employees remain with the manufacturer.
Frey provided details of the layoff and his company's future while at the SunnyBrook exhibit at the 46th Annual National RV Trade Show in Louisville.
Production for the manufacturer has slowed largely because lenders are not providing the funding the dealers need to purchase RVs, Frey said. Consequently, SunnyBrook had been reduced to building units few days each week or closing altogether for short periods of times. The company decided to downsize so the retained employees would have a more substantial workload.
"If dealers can get financing, we feel confident we will be able to work our employees more days than we have in the past," Frey said.
Major lenders to the RV industry have tightened their criteria and are declining more applications from dealers for floorplan financing.
The November layoff was the second one SunnyBrook has done in 2008. Earlier the company cut its workforce by about 40 employees.
"Right now," Frey said, "we're hoping the downsizing we did is all we have to do."
SunnyBrook was founded 17 years ago. It has its corporate headquarters in Middlebury along with facilities for two production lines making travel trailers, fifth wheels and toyhaulers.
Despite the credit woes, the company is working to keep, and possibly increase, its share of the RV market. At the Louisville show, SunnyBrook has introduced its new Harmony lightweight product line designed to cater to consumer demand for better fuel efficiency and smaller towing capacity.