Forest City, Iowa-based Winnebago Industries Inc. is known primarily for its recreational vehicles. But the company also produces commercial and specialty vehicles and OEM products made by the company's three OEM divisions, the Creative Aluminum Products Co., the Rotocast facility and the Stitchcraft division. The commercial and specialty vehicle division manufactures mobile law enforcement and fire department command centers, mobile medical and dental clinics, and disability accessible recreation vehicles. Creative Aluminum converts billets of superheated aluminum into extrusions used to make ladders, windows, screen doors and other items. Rotocast produces holding tanks, water tanks, luggage compartments, heat ducts and wheel wells. Stitchcraft makes soft goods for motor homes. In each of the last five years, motor home sales have represented 92% of the company's revenues.
History
In 1958, Forest City, Iowa, was a struggling farm town. To spur economic growth, businessman John K. Hanson and others in the community convinced a California company to open a travel-trailer factory in Forest City. Five of the city's residents eventually purchased the company, and Hanson became its president. The company was named Winnebago Industries in 1960 and began manufacturing furniture and other components for travel trailers. Six years later, the company produced its first motor home. The company went public in 1970 and continued to grow in the 1980s, reaching $411 million in sales in 1984. For 2005, Winnebago reported revenues of $992 million.
Officers
Chairman and CEO Bruce Hertzke joined Winnebago in 1971 as a production worker. During the 1970s and 1980s he climbed the ladder: foreman, general foreman, production manager, project engineer coordinator, supervisor of RV design and director of manufacturing, becoming vice president of operations in 1989. In June 1995, he was promoted to COO. Later that year, he also was named senior vice president. In March 1997, he was elected to the company's board of directors and was named chairman and CEO nine months later. Hertzke was elected president in 1998 but relinquished that title in May 2005. Edwin Barker is Winnebago's current president and CFO. He joined the company in 1969 as a cost accountant and has served various roles since. He was elected vice president, controller and CFO in 1989. He was elected senior vice president before assuming Hertzke's role of president in May.
In The News: Weathering The Storm
High fuel prices and low consumer confidence resulted in lower profits in 2005 for Winnebago Industries, according to Reuters. Revenues were down from $1.1 billion in 2004 to $992 million in 2005. But the company still had its second-best year in its history and is confident that things will turn around.
"We've had our ups and downs before, and there's no reason to believe that we won't bounce back, if you even want to call it that, after a year that some people wouldn't have imagined 10 or even five years ago," CEO Bruce Hertzke told the Forest City Summit in an Oct. 18 article.
-- Compiled By Jonathan Katz. This appeared in IW's Dec. 16, 2005 issue.
Primary Industry
Motor Vehicles
Executive 1
Bruce D. Hertzke, Chmn., CEO
Executive 2
Edwin F. Barker, Pres., CFO
Revenues (US$ Millions)
1114.15
Revenue Growth (%)
31.82
Earnings Per Share (US$)
2.03
Total Equity (US$ Millions)
201.88
Profit Margin (%)
6.34
Return On Equity (%)
33.54
Debt To Equity Ratio (%)
NA
Market Capitalization (US$ Millions)
NA
Revenue Growth (%)
31.82
Note: Financial data appeared in IW's August 2005 issue.
IW 50 Best Manufacturing Company
