Letter From Jimmy Adams
06.26.2009
June 26, 2009
It is with great pleasure that I greet the extended family of Featherlite Coach owners, employees, and friends and share some reflections on the first 6 months of the revitalized Featherlite Coaches, and some highlights to look forward to with our long term commitment to the future of Featherlite Coaches. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to the new stability that has been brought to Featherlite Coaches, and there has also been a lot of curiosity regarding the current state of the business and our future plans.
Looking back over the past 6 months we have been very busy, facing many challenges, and accomplishing many goals. In mid-December, after a lot of hard work and cooperation between Featherlite, Amadas, and Prevost, we were able to consummate an agreement to ensure the future of Featherlite Coach. After a much needed holiday break, Sanford and Suffolk personnel began a training and orientation / evaluation program, with the goals of furthering Amadas peoples’ understanding of the Featherlite product and processes, and identifying the best that each company has to offer. Amadas engineering, service, and production people have made multiple trips to the Featherlite facility in Sanford, FL where they have been working closely with Sanford personnel on all aspects of coach building “the Featherlite way”. Suffolk engineering and production personnel attended Featherlite quality control program training, and spent a significant amount of “hands on” time on the production floor. Another major focus for our technical people was learning the intricacies of the Featherlite slide room system and the FAST and FAST2 electrical systems. The staff in Sanford was very helpful throughout orientation and training, and we were able to make candid evaluations of the systems and processes of both companies, where we found some intriguing similarities and some great opportunities for enhancement of future Featherlite Coach products. In May, we transferred the bulk of the Featherlite Coach engineering database and the various proprietary Featherlite Coach jigs and fixtures to the plant in Suffolk, VA.
I am proud to announce that the first “future” Featherlite Coach is under construction in Suffolk, VA. This evolutionary coach is a spacious triple slide H3-45 being custom built for long time Featherlite Coach customers Steve and Joyce Reynolds. Working closely with the Reynolds, Eric Wooley, and designer Debby Olivieri, we will be incorporating some innovative new systems while maintaining the classic Featherlite Vantaré look. The project is off to a great start with the latest Featherlite slide room system currently being installed in the coach, featuring one stateroom slide and two salon slides with a flat floor slide on the patio side of the coach. You will see a number of evolutionary features on this coach, including the new FAST2 electrical system, new underbay configurations, new HVAC system features, new AMX interface features, new interior lighting / shade switch interfaces, new programmable electric pocket doors, and more. The Reynolds’ new Featherlite H3-45 3S Captiva is scheduled for completion in late November of this year – watch for updates as the coach nears completion.
We are thrilled about the future of Featherlite Coach, and we think you too will be excited as we share with you some of the new initiatives being undertaken, and the enhancements to the Featherlite Vantaré product.
Production of a new Featherlite Coach is underway in our modern manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters in Suffolk, VA. We would like to invite our Featherlite Coach owners and friends to visit the Suffolk facility to meet our craftsmen and to learn more about our precision manufacturing methods, utilizing 3D AutoCAD and our CNC machining center. You will see a commitment to quality and a pride in workmanship that will be very familiar to those who have toured the Sanford, FL production facility.
Featherlite Coaches of Florida is completing the manufacturing of their remaining custom coach orders, and they are expanding their Coach Service & Remodeling Center. Service and Remodeling work has grown significantly at Sanford, and the team of familiar faces at Featherlite Coaches of Florida will continue to be there to handle your sales, service, warranty, and remodeling needs.
We have renewed Featherlite Coach’s commitment to motorsports as the Official Luxury Coach of NASCAR. Along with so many Featherlite Coach owners, we are racing fans and are happy to continue as an official partner of the country’s upper echelon of motorsport. We are also proud to have a number of the top NASCAR drivers and team owners as members of the Featherlite Coach family.
We will soon be launching a new Featherlite Coaches corporate website. It will contain news, product information, dealer information, and information on the company and our facilities. And you can now officially become a fan of Featherlite Coaches on the social networking site Facebook. Featherlite Coaches has a company page on www.Facebook.com where you can check out informal updates and photos, and you can interact with other fans of Featherlite Coaches – it’s really pretty fun, so I would encourage you to check it out.
We have established new corporate telephone and toll free numbers:
1-757-923-3374 Featherlite Coaches
1-757-925-2803 Fax
1-866-761-0999 Featherlite Coaches (Toll Free)
Look for us at the upcoming 2010 Tampa Super Show. We will be in the traditional Featherlite Coach location, and we are planning to have new Featherlite Vantaré product available for viewing.
We are excited that even with today’s challenging economic conditions our exclusive group of Featherlite Coach Dealers are leading the industry in Prevost conversion sales and continue to provide top notch service, product support, and warranty coverage.
Tom Johnson Camping Center continues to represent Featherlite Luxury Coaches in the mid-Atlantic and in NASCAR. They have a tremendous new service facility in Marion, NC and new Featherlite Coaches in stock. Tom’s 2nd Annual Prevost Extravaganza was a great success this spring, so keep this fun event in mind for next spring. Contact Roger Hunckler or Eddie Marshall at Tom Johnson’s to get on the list for the next Prevost Extravaganza, or for any Featherlite Sales or Service needs. Roger Hunckler will have (2) new Featherlite Coaches on display at the Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament August 8 - 14, and we will hope to see some of you on the beautiful Outer Banks to experience some big league big game fishing.
Featherlite Coaches of Rochester is representing Featherlite Luxury Coaches in the mid West. You can visit with Randy Mitchell at some great events this year, including the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, select IRL events, and the Barrett-Jackson collector car events. Featherlite Luxury Coaches is also continuing to support our loyal customers and friends in the Road Hogs and Bus n’ Bikers clubs – look for Randy at the upcoming fall rallies.
Featherlite Coaches of Florida is representing Featherlite Coaches in the state of Florida, and has an outstanding selection of new and used coaches in stock, as well as the facilities to take care of any service or remodeling needs. Eric Wooley and Rick Mueller have been busy with sales, but look for them to be out enjoying the Featherlite Coach lifestyle with customers and friends this summer. The guys will be hosting get togethers in the Daytona infield for the Coke Zero 400 around the July 4 holiday. Later in July, Rick and Eric will be enjoying fellowship at the beautiful Hearthside Grove resort in Michigan.
Featherlite Coaches and our dealer group are excited about the renewed strength and continuing tradition of excellence of Featherlite Luxury Coaches for the future. We cordially invite our Featherlite Coach family and friends to visit the new Suffolk, VA facility for a closer look at the quality and innovation being built into each new Featherlite Coach. We look forward to hearing from you all and wish you all good health and pleasant travels in your Featherlite Coach.
Jimmy Adams
President
