RVTI Goes Beyond To Bring The RV Technician Career Path To Communities

The RV Technical Institute (RVTI) has taken some major steps to bring the opportunity of working in the RV industry to different types of people from empowering women, and helping the rehabilitation of the incarcerated, to molding the next generation.

As more new consumers have recently turned to RVs as their preferred travel option, the demand for RV technicians to service and repair vehicles has also increased, as per a Modern Campground report.

RVTI has made it its mission to provide world-class RV technician training for anyone wanting to join the industry. This year, the institute aims to recruit and train 1,000 new technicians outside the RV industry by the end of 2022.

Molding the next generation

To meet this goal, the institute went to Austin, Texas for the American School Counselor Association Annual Conference last July. Around 4,000 school counseling professionals, including K-12 school counselors, college professors, graduate students, and school counseling supervisors, attended the conference.

During the event, RVTI partnered with RV Retailer, one of its Authorized Learning Partners, to showcase the opportunities in the RV industry, offering high schoolers an alternative to a traditional four-year college degree.

They also attended a Forest River Owner’s Group rally at the Elkhart County Fair Grounds last month. The event had approximately 800 attendees from the group, as well as suppliers, Forest River employees, and local support groups.

Some school counselors, who were interested in implementing RVTI’s training program in their schools, also attended the rally.

Empowering women in the industry

One of the successful programs the institute has started to bring more people into the RV technician career path is the all-female RV certification training program in partnership with the RV Women’s Alliance.

Last Monday, they started the weeklong Level 1 certification class with 23 aspiring women technicians, roughly 23 more than usual in the male-dominated field.

Thanks to both the organizations’ partners in the industry, the program was offered for free to the class.

The women’s ages ranged from 20 to 60 years old and came from inside and outside the industry. Many of them had some technical experience, while the others were new to RVs and to being mechanics of any kind.

“We wanted the class to represent a wide range of experiences and, within the industry, a variety of sectors,” said RVWA Managing Director Jessica Rider in a News & Insights report of the RV Industry Association on the selection of the two dozen participants from approximately 110 applicants. “We also looked at what each woman hoped to get out of the class.”

Giving second chances

Last Thursday, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office announced that the inmates from their county completed all course requirements for the RVTI Technician Level 1 Certification Course, including 40 hours of classroom training and 4.5 hours of hands-on instruction.

“Education creates opportunities for after incarceration,” said the sheriff’s office in a LinkedIn post. “Education is a crucial part of rehabilitation and this program will work to establish opportunities for those after incarceration.”

The sheriff’s office said that these men have been given the opportunity to write their own futures and positively contribute to society with the skills they have learned in class, especially since the field is currently booming and there are many good-paying jobs to fill.

The RVTI technician training program is a hands-on, competency-based program designed by RV Technical Institute staff, and subject matter experts from the supplier, manufacturer, dealer, and independent technician realms of the RV industry. 

These industry experts have identified the key areas of required knowledge and expertise needed to develop a well-rounded, practical training and certification program.