Made in Michiana: Furrion

ELKHART, Ind. -- Furrion is not your typical RV components manufacturer.

Matt Petrill is Furrion’s Vice President of Operations and one of its 45 employees.

“We kind of call it the 'Google-esque' company of Indiana and Elkhart,” he said.

When you walk around the shiny, new showrooms and offices, you might think you’ve arrived in Silicon Valley.

“Our mission statement is to be future perfect,” said Petrill.

Furrion’s founders specifically wanted to create this “future-perfect” experience for their customer’s right in the heart of the RV industry – Elkhart, Indiana.

Petrill explained, “80 percent of your RVs are built right here. And the company saw that synergy with our suppliers and our OAMs that produce RVs in this area, so it made natural sense for us to locate and center our headquarters right here in Elkhart.”

“We do a lot of different things here to just try to create a culture of innovation, but also we’re kind of a close-knit family here,” he continued.

The company’s new headquarters was built in 2017 to cultivate that culture.

Employees can take a break and check out the country club complete with a golf simulator, a fully-stocked gym, then freshen up in the sauna and showers.

The gym isn’t the only place that’s fully stocked.

The sales team often entertains customers at the in-house bar to enhance their shopping experience.

“There are still those either baby boomers or Gen X, that core base of campers or RVers out there, but we are also seeing a huge trend with millennials coming into this. And they want that experience,” Petrill said.

Rolling down the road in one of Furrion’s concept vehicles is an experience most would only dream about.

The company’s 45-foot long luxury RV is topped with a hot tub and helicopter.

“We offer a more sexy product from a quality standpoint as well,” he said.

Although the RV industry is thriving right now, Furrion’s “future-perfect” motto is also what’s helped it survive tumultuous times during the great recession.

Petrill said, “We are still riding this incredible great wave that the RV industry is on, but we also recognize that that sometimes has those dips and that’s why we were expanding into other areas like the retail and consumer markets.”

From its energy systems to speakers and TV sets, even cooking appliances for your home, Furrion hopes to continue to create cutting edge products both inside and outside of the RV industry here in Michiana.