Bob Parish Recognized For Decades Of Contributions To The RV Industry

One man has been with the RV Industry Association through a multitude of growth and change while also spearheading some of the association’s most pivotal moves including the launch of Go RVing more than two decades ago, supporting efforts to establish an office of recreation with the Department of the Interior last year, and even more recently, standing behind the efforts of uniting around a legislative agenda to increase access to public lands and modernize national parks. That man is nonother than former RV Industry Association Board Chairman Bob Parish.

Bob Parish of Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance was recognized at the RV Industry Awards during RVX in Salt Lake City with the prestigious David J. Humphrey’s Industry Unity Award for his contributions to the RV industry spanning 36-years.

Parish thanked both the boards of the RV Industry Association and RV Dealers Association, as well as his team at Wells Fargo. “Throughout the years, two areas that impress me most about our industry are the purity of the entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to work collectively,” said Parish.

The David J. Humphrey’s Industry Unity Award recognizes an individual who continuously strives to encourage the multiple constituencies of the industry to work collectively for the growth and betterment of the industry. Presented by both the RV Industry Association and RV Dealers Association, Parish was recognized as an individual that embodies the spirit of the award through his dedicated service to the industry, volunteerism and focus on building cooperative relationships between dealers, manufacturers and suppliers.

Current RV Industry Association Board Chairman Garry Enyart highlighted the leadership roles Parish has occupied during his tenure within the RV Industry Association, including Secretary, Second Vice Chairman, First Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Board. In his distinguished career in the RV wholesale financing market and in his dedicated service as an RV Industry Association volunteer, he steadfastly worked to build understanding and cooperative relationships among RV manufacturers, suppliers and dealers.

“Bob keenly understands that when all industry segments work collectively toward our overarching goal of long-term growth and success, then awesome results can be achieved,” said Enyart. “Awesome results such as launching a reimagined, world class all-industry event like RVX; developing the RV Technical Institute to emphatically address education, training and service issues; positioning the RV industry as a leader on outdoor recreation issues on Capitol Hill; And continuing to strengthen and expand the very popular and effective Go RVing campaign. All of these tremendous accomplishments took flight under Bob’s leadership as the RV Industry Association Chairman of the Board… job well done, my friend!”

While Parish’s tenure as the chairman of the board has ended, his influence within the RV industry is still reverberating with some impacts of his term are yet to be felt. He was one of the driving forces behind the multibillion-dollar investment in technician education and training as the industry stood up the RV Technical Institute, set to launch this year. He was also a leading voice for the association’s new trade event concept RVX.

Parish said, “Today we have two major initiatives that leverage our unity and test its elasticity. We are working collectively to accelerate consumer outreach through RVX. It is a complex concept that requires your attention. It also requires time to develop to its full potential. Next is RVTI. The success of RVTI is essential in support of industry growth and our ability to reach 1,000,000 units.”