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2007 Pilgrim International News Release
Pilgrim International Celebrates Fifth Year in Business in May of 2007 with 35,000 Units Produced Since 2002

As One of the Fastest Growing Recreational Vehicle Manufacturers in North America, Pilgrim International Attributes Experience, Quality, Customer Service and Innovation to its Success

Middlebury, Ind. — Pilgrim International is pleased to announce that May of 2007 marks the company’s fifth year of full production as one of the fastest growing recreational vehicle manufacturers in North America. In May of 2002 the company shipped its first three fifth wheels from its Middlebury, Indiana manufacturing facility. The company has grown from $9 million in sales in its first year to over $135 million annually. In May of 2007 Pilgrim International estimates it will surpass 35,000 recreational vehicles produced in just five years. Today Pilgrim International moves towards its current projected capacity of $250 million for 2008/2009.

During this time the company has grown from one to three manufacturing facilities in Middlebury, Indiana. It has up-fitted and equipped its facilities with the latest in vacuum-bonded lamination processes to bring the highest quality products to market. Pilgrim also continues to lead the RV industry in innovations such as its TuffGloss technology--a high-performance, gel-coat composite lamination technology that replaces Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP).

Today, as Pilgrim approaches its fifth anniversary, some of its key executives provided an open perspective of the company rarely found in today’s business world. Sharing this success story were Founder and Chairmen, Dave Hoefer, President and Partner, Steve Bennett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jerry Sell, and Vice President of Product Development, Doug Lantz.

The Pilgrim International Five-Year Success Story
In mid-2001 Dave Hoefer was contacted by a group of former employees. Hoefer founded Dutchmen in 1988 and grew it to the number one selling trailer in the United States before selling to Thor Industries. He then stayed on to develop the Four Winds brand before retiring from the industry. His former employees wanted him back in the RV business to start another fifth wheel company and had done their homework.

“In fact they had actually built a prototype unit themselves and wanted me to see it. I took a good look at the unit. Then 9/11 hit and I put it on hold until things calmed down,” Hoefer said.

When the time seemed right in early 2002, he moved forward. "Steve Bennett and I thought that it might be a good thing to get back in the business. My first call was to my biggest competitor when I was with Dutchmen – Larry Hughes” who was Vice President of the travel trailer division for Fleetwood. “I contacted the other partners and some outside investors, and everybody wanted to do it so we proceeded with the plan,” Hoefer continued.

The group looked for a building and kept coming back to their current plant location along U.S. 20 in Middlebury, Indiana. They then purchased the facility from Coachmen Industries. The building was rewired and properly rigged to produce fifth wheels and travel trailers. “We began assembling the infrastructure to operate, both from the office standpoint and the manufacturing facility. This included purchasing, service, sales and manufacturing people,” said Hoefer.

President and Partner, Steve Bennett put the timetable in perspective, “In February of 2002 Pilgrim International was incorporated. By May of 2002 we shipped our first three Open Road fifth wheels,” said Bennett. “We started with the Open Road fifth wheel as our first product line.” Ironically, the Open Road line, the luxury flagship of the company today, began as a lower price point unit.

Jerry Sell, vice president of sales and marketing, helped to articulate the evolution of the Open Road product line. “It took a market turn like the Toyota Camry. What started as an entry-level product evolved into a luxury model. Originally, it was a fully laminated fiberglass unit that was targeted as close as possible to the price that a wood framed aluminum sided unit was selling for. The market drove its evolution into the company’s top-of-the-line offering,” stated Sell. For the next two years, Pilgrim honed its manufacturing and sales savvy on the Open Road product line that was growing at a solid pace.

Then in 2004, Pilgrim International introduced the Pilgrim product line designed to be an all-inclusive, entry-level trailer. Vice President of Product Development, Doug Lantz, elaborated on the Pilgrim brand product segment.

“The original concept of the Pilgrim line was to be a basic, wood-framed, aluminum sided trailer that had all of the amenities and luxury items included as standard equipment at a value price point that would sell.” And it did. “Because it sold like crazy,” said Lantz.

With steadily increasing sales from the Open Road and the new Pilgrim product lines, Pilgrim International suddenly had a great deal of momentum. “That was when we bought and began production at our second plant,” said Bennett, “the second plant here in Middlebury allowed us the ability to expand more rapidly.”

Increased production capabilities brought the introduction of the Legends product line at Louisville in December of 2005. Doug Lantz was brought into the organization to design and introduce the Legends product as both the brand's developer and sales manager.

“The Legends line was developed because we saw the market for a luxury, mid-profile fifth wheel at an affordable mid-ranged price point. In just a year and a half, the Legends line has evolved into a complete stand alone brand that features high-profile fifth wheels, mid-profile fifth wheels and travel trailers,” said Lantz.

In 2005 Pilgrim also saw the need for a quality lightweight trailer and the fully laminated Cirrus and Pilgrim Lite product lines were created. This volume of aluminum-framed, laminated product, along with the demands for high-quality lamination from the Open Road, Legends, and Pilgrim lines, spurred additional investment from the company for a third group of plants—one of which was dedicated as a state-of-the-art lamination facility.

The new lamination facility was completely up-fitted and producing the lightweight Cirrus line by January of 2006. The total capital investment was over $1 million for the 36,400 square-foot lamination plant. This investment included over $400,000 for the 1040 Industrial Technology International, (ITI),Vacuum Lamination assembly line. Vacuum-bonded lamination continued Pilgrim’s dedication to improving and upgrading its product line. Vertically integrated with the finest vacuum bonding in-house, Pilgrim International was now positioned to produce higher quality products at a more competitive price.

“We knew we really had to be in the lamination business if we were going to compete in the lightweight product business,” stated Bennett.

Jerry Sell went on to explain the dramatic impact of the move to vacuum bonded lamination. “Instead of continuing with the standard pinch-roll process that most manufacturers stay with because it is less expensive, Pilgrim International made the commitment to do it right. This is one of the key components that make Pilgrim unique. Our laminated products are all vacuum bonded. This sets us apart from our competition,” said Sell.

In October of 2006 the company began offering its exclusive TuffGloss lamination technology at the lamination headquarters in Middlebury, Indiana. “Lighter, harder, easier to repair, and virtually the same cost as Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP), TuffGloss provided our dealers with a distinct advantage offering the look of high-gloss gel coat reserved for heavier, higher priced products,” explained Doug Lantz.

The Pilgrim Team Adapts Strategies to “Get it Right”
Sometimes it pays to be adaptable. The concept that Pilgrim originally started with was an economically minded unit packed with standard features. This still holds true today for many Pilgrim brands, but other brands slowly evolved into higher priced units.

“We spent a good four years identifying the markets,” said Bennett, “ It took us this long to determine the segmentation of products currently in the industry as the industry has continued to evolve.” Bennett explained that even though the management team had over 100 years of experience, it took a while to adjust to the new segmentation of products by price points.

“Today the product we are selling is right,” added founder Dave Hoefer, “We’ve got the right look, the right floor plans, and it just sells great at retail.”

A Company Committed to Customer Service
Pilgrim President and Partner Steve Bennett spoke to the company’s commitment of returning to the values of strong dealer support and customer service. “Not that we have always done a perfect job, but it’s been an attitude here since we started that relationships
come first and our dealers come first. If we are doing a good job for our dealers, they will respect us and in turn continue to do business with us,” Bennett said

Chairman Hoefer explained that building a quality product in the first place is a big part of a successful warranty program. “What’s coming out the doors of this company today
are the best products we have ever built--without a doubt. It’s the best product I’ve been affiliated with since I’ve been in the industry,” he said. “What we produce, right now today, is by far the best. And as I’ve said before, we don’t want to be the biggest, we want to be the best.”

The Louisville RVIA Show in November of 2006 was a major benchmark of both dealer acceptance and sales success for the company. Pilgrim International sold over 2,000 units at the show. Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jerry Sell, elaborated, “We more than tripled our successes from the previous year—which was our best year yet. This was an exceptional year. We had anticipated having a strong show, but the dealer response was almost overwhelming.”

Hoefer elaborated, “Today the product is right, the look is right, and the floor plans are right. The dealers saw that we have it right this year at the Louisville show. They came on board at a much higher rate than we had ever expected.”

Innovation the Key to Future Success
The entire Pilgrim International team understands innovation is the key to future success.

“Our goal over the next number of years is to attempt to change the way products are
built to improve the product and the processes. One of the biggest problems we have today in the industry is both the material content within the unit and the way we put them together. We are in the process of trying to change these fundamental elements,” Hoefer stated.

“We’re headed in the direction to utilize composite materials. We’re not going to be the only ones out there, but today, fortunately, we have a scientific group that is working with our industry to bring our products to a much higher level of attention by those in the composite industry. We’re always going to strive to be the innovators. Whether we will be the most innovative, I’m not sure, but we’re going out there with the best in the industry,” he concluded.

Contact Pilgrim International, Inc., at 14489 U.S. 20, Middlebury, IN 46540,
Ph: 574-825-8686, Fx: 574-825-8166, or on the web at www.pilgrimintl.com
Protected dealer territories are now available for all lines of Pilgrim products.

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Pilgrim Fact Sheet and Sidebar Material
Pilgrim International—A Timeline to Success
2002—January-February, management team assembled, Pilgrim International is incorporated, infrastructure and facilities established in Middlebury, Indiana
2002—May, full production of Open Road product line—first three units ship
2003—Sales reach $9 million
2004—December, Pilgrim product line introduced
2004—Second plant opened in Middlebury, Indiana
2004—Sales reach $40 million
2005—November, Legends Product Line introduced in Louisville
2005—Cirrus and Pilgrim Lite product lines introduced
2005 – Sales exceed $100 Million
2006—January, third plant opened with state-of-the-art vacuum-bonded lamination
2006—October, TuffGloss lamination introduced
2006—November, record sales at Louisville RVIA Show
2007—May, estimated 35,000 units produced in first five years
2007-2008—Pilgrim International moves towards current projected capacity of $250 million


The Pilgrim Management Team
With well over 160 years of combined recreational vehicle manufacturing experience, this is the veteran management team of Pilgrim International: Board Chairman and Founder, Dave Hoefer; Partner and Co-Founder Larry Hughes; President, Steve Bennett; Partner and Vice President, Bill Harris; Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jerry Sell; Vice President of Product Development, Doug Lantz.

Founder, Dave Hoefer, championed the vision of Pilgrim International, Inc. and is known in the RV industry for consistently producing high-quality, innovative products since he founded Dutchmen and Four Winds in the 1980’s and 90’s.

Co-Founder and Partner, Larry Hughes, brings his 28-years of experience with Fleetwood to Pilgrim’s operations. Hughes formerly directed all of the Fleetwood travel trailer and fifth wheel plants throughout the United States and Canada.

President and Partner, Steve Bennett, has extensive background in the steel fabrication business. His company is an integral supplier for steel hardware and furniture. Bennett helps oversee the daily operations of Pilgrim International, Inc.

Vice President and Partner, Bill Harris has been in the industry since 1972. Working on the supply side with Carriage Inc. and Gulfstream Coach, Inc., his vast experience provides product expertise and marketing direction.

Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jerry Sell, has 17-years of experience in the RV industry, including Sales Manager for Fleetwood Enterprises and Director of Sales for Adventure Manufacturing. He oversees and directs sales and marketing.

Vice President of Product Development, Doug Lantz, has18-years of sales and marketing experience in developing products and brands. Lantz is responsible for design and development of all product offerings for the company.

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