Bill's Happy Camper RV Sales & Service is celebrating is 20th Anniversary this year. From left, Trina, Billy Grant, Jordan and Bill Miller, owners.

BILL'S HAPPY CAMPER CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF SERVICE TO ITS CUSTOMERS

RV dealer Bill Miller is quick to credit his wife Trina for getting him into the RV business. It was Trina’s love of camping that sparked his interest in RVing and led him to open an RV dealership.

When their oldest son was three, Trina Miller wanted to take him camping to share the great experience she had growing up camping with her family. The long-time car dealer was reluctant to go and said “unfortunately car dealers don’t camp.” She eventually talked him into trying it and he realized that it was a lot of fun.

Miller spent many years operating the car dealership his family opened in 1964 in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania. His family thought they were crazy for leaving the successful business, but the Millers were ready to try something new.

In 2005, Bill and Trina started their new venture by opening Bill’s Happy Camper RV Sales & Service. They started out providing RV service. Eventually, they began buying used RVs and fixing them up to sell. Five years later, they began offering new RVs for sale. Coachman was their first product line.

“I thought it was a good idea to open an RV dealership because we have 30 campgrounds within an 80-mile radius of us, and there was nobody else in the Lock Haven area that offered camper sales or service,” he says.

Bill’s Happy Camper RV Sales & Service is celebrating 20 years in business in Mill Hall, a small town located in Clinton County, near Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. As an exclusive Forest River dealer, they offer eight product lines, and last year they sold nearly 400 RVs.

The Millers have weathered the ups and downs of the RV business. From the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 to the COVID years, where the demand was so high and parts where so scarce that they had to sell RVs without couches and other parts. As the industry returned to normal, the way they sold RVs drastically changed.

“We literally worked on word of mouth and people walking into the dealership,” he says. “Today, even local consumers know what camper they are looking for. Social media is just unbelievable! I would say 80 to 85 percent of our business comes from advertising on the internet and social media.”

Bill and Trina started out with one technician and a cleanup person. They had one service bay and a small showroom for parts with two offices. Today, they have 19 employees, including their sons Billy Grant and Jordan.

Their sons are part-owners who handle the day-to-day operations. One specializes in the service and the other handles the front-end aspects of the business. Eventually, they will take over the full operation of the dealership.

Bill’s Happy Camper currently encompasses 16,000 square feet and sits on an 11-acre property at 15 N. Water Street. The Millers have plans to double its size and add seven to 10 more bays with a dedicated body shop.

“We want to be a one-stop shop that you can get everything done here that you need to get done for an RV,” he says. “There are not a lot of RV body shops out there, so we feel that it’s a good investment.”

Miller says they have a good core staff in place to bring the company into the next phase of expansion. He gives high praise to his service manager, Josh Yarrison, who has been on staff for nine years. They also have an excellent parts manager and a new service writer, who is doing a great job. In addition, they hired a part-time salesman, who brings 29-years of experience to the company. Most of the staff are young, so Miller says he feels good about the future of the business.

At left, Justin Neff, parts manager; Jen Stasko, service writer, and Josh Yarrison, service manager.

They currently employ five technicians, including three master certified RV technicians and two are in the process of getting the certification. Miller says it can be tough to find new technicians, but having training, such as the Pennsylvania RV and Camping Association (PRVCA) and other organizations offer, is helpful.

“I think it’s very important for the dealership to have master technicians,” he relays. “The person still has to have the willpower to want to fix things and fix them the right way and be proud of themselves. I think that’s more important to the dealership and the consumer than having that badge. The badge is important, but they still have to have the willpower to come to work and do the job right.”

Miller says his father instilled the importance of treating the customer right by providing a fair price and exceptional service as hallmarks for a successful business.

“I’m always concerned about our customers,” he says. “I’m out there daily making sure our customers are being taken care of whatever we have to do. If we have to rob parts off a camper to get them fixed up, we do it. That may not be the smartest thing because we lose the sale on that particular camper, but I still feel service is the #1 thing.”

Miller’s had offers from bigger companies to buy him out over the years, but he says the family is not interested in selling.

“I still feel there’s room for a small family dealership like ourselves, because people like the family atmosphere and they like to know that they going to be taken of after the sale.”         

That first camping trip with his young family made quite an impression on Bill Miller. He and Trina still find time to camp locally in their Forest River Riverstone with family and friends. Over the past 20 years, they have helped many other families buy an RV to have their own camping adventures. It’s a great legacy to celebrate.