Meet the nominees for the 26th Annual Walt Paseska Memorial Canadian RV Dealer of the Year Award
Each year the RVDA of Canada and Canadian regional RVDAs, in conjunction with RV Lifestyle magazine and RV Dealer News, invite nominations from across Canada for the Canadian RV Dealer of the Year Award. The award is dedicated to the memory of the late Walt Paseska, founder of Walt’s Trailer Sales in Headingley, Manitoba, in recognition of his many years of commitment and dedication to the RV industry.
Established in 1989, this award has been presented to individuals who share Paseska’s legendary enthusiasm and commitment to the industry; who have made a long-term contribution to the RV lifestyle; and who have supported their community as a whole through charitable or philanthropic activities.
Each of the provincial RVDA organizations presents their nominees to the RVDA of Canada selection committee, who evaluate the nominees and select the Canadian Dealer of the Year. For 2016 four individuals have been nominated for this honour, and we are pleased to introduce them here.
Alden Kowarsky
Alco VR
Laval, QC
Alden Kowarsky, President of Laval, Quebec-based Alco VR, was born into a family of RV professionals. His father launched a tent trailer manufacturing concern in 1960, followed by an RV dealership – Alco Sports – in 1965. It was there that Alden Kowarsky entered the RV industry at a young age, starting out by sweeping floors and doing whatever else needed to be done. Before long, he was running the operation, which we know today as Alco VR.
With an emphasis on selling travel trailers, tent trailers, hybrids and fifth wheels Alco maintains an inventory in excess of 500 units at its Laval location. It also offers rentals, storage, parts sales, and a full service facility with a six-door garage that accommodates more than 20 vehicles at full capacity, making Alco VR the largest Forest River products service center in Canada.
While one would think that sort of workload would be enough to keep anyone busy, Kowarsky devotes a considerable amount of time to serving the industry at large with his involvement in regional and national trade associations, including ACVRQ, Go RVing and RVDA Canada. During his term as RVDA Canada President, Kowarsky was instrumental in negotiating and implementing the recurrent funding of Go RVing. Over time, his involvements allowed him to apply and transfer his knowledge to ensure the growth of the RV industry.
“I’ve personally done business with Alden Kowarsky for over 20 years and not only has Alco Sports done literally thousands of units in new business with us, but they have performed extremely well on the customer satisfaction side of the business,” says Douglas Gaeddert, group general manager for Forest River Inc. “Alden has been heavily involved in donating his time and talent for the betterment of the overall industry. His involvement not only at the provincial level, but at the national level, has been significant. Alden was instrumental in hammering out an agreement with RVIA to properly fund the Go RVing campaign for Canada, in spite of many folks saying that it couldn’t be done. The impact to the Canadian RV Industry has literally been worth millions.”
Through Alco VR, Kowarsky has also proven to be supportive of his local community, generosity donating thousands of dollars to charitable organizations such as Make a Wish, 24HR cycle team, Operation Red Nose, Ordinacoeur (Sick Kids), the Firemen’s Ride, local College Montmorency and many more.
But at the end of the day, for Kowarsky and his team, satisfying the client remains a key focus. With the philosophy of trying to offer the best product at the best price and backed by the best service, Kowarsky values innovation, pleasure at work, self-realization, and favors team goals and good communications. These are values he conveys to his kids, as the third generation of the Kowarsky family involved in the RV industry.
George Goodrick
Adventure Sports Ltd.
Dartmouth, NS
Like Alden Kowarsky, George Goodrick was also born into a family with roots in the RV industry, allowing him to gain an early understanding of the realities of operating a major dealership. Since taking over the helm of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based Adventure Sports, Goodrick has led steady growth that has seen the dealership has evolve from a small, seasonal business to one of eastern Canada’s best-known, full-service RV dealerships operating year-round.
His career began in 1977, when he joined the family dealership on a part-time basis assembling parts. He became a full-time employee in 1982, working as a service tech, later graduating to service manager and parts manager. In 1994, Goodrick and his sister purchased the dealership from their parents and became joint partners; in 2004, he bought out his sibling and became the sole owner of the dealership.
Under Goodrick’s leadership, Adventure Sports now sells both new and pre-owned towable RV’s from folding trailers to park models, and has significant parts, service and finance departments. As a major dealer for Dutchman, Thor, Starcraft and Palamino products by Forest River, Adventure Sports joined the RV Care Group of dealerships in 2010, and is a participant in Canada’s Go RVing program.
George Goodrick has been a consistently strong supporter of regional and national RV trade associations for the benefit of everyone in the industry. He has donated a significant amount of time serving as a board member of the Atlantic Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association (ARVDA), first as vice president representing Nova Scotia, then as president. While serving on the ARVDA board, George was also a member of the Membership Committee, the Nominating Committee and Show Committee. He further chaired the ARVDA Training Committee. Working in partnership with Okanagan College, Goodrick was also instrumental in the design and delivery of the Atlantic Propane Course. He remains deeply involved in the association today, serving as a member of the Show Committee.
George Goodrick has also donated him time on the national level, joining the RVDA of Canada board in 2008 as the ARVDA representative. He served as a member of the RVDA Education Committee, and later became its chairman. He has also served as secretary/treasurer, vice chairman and in 2014-2015, as chairman of the RVDA Executive Committee. He also served on the Canadian Coalition Committee with the RVIA, and since January of 2015 has served on the board of the Canadian Camping and RV Council. He also remains actively involved with the RVDA of Canada’s Lobby Day, held each spring in Ottawa.
Within the community, Goodrick and his dealership have been strong supporters of the Muscular Dystrophy Society and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Goodrick has also served as a volunteer with the Scouting Organization in the roles of Beaver and Cub Leader.
James Epp
Fraserway RV
Abbotsford, BC
Fraserway RV LP has 14 dealerships in western Canada under the umbrella of Adventurer Group.
Under the leadership of James Epp, the company has grown from a family-run camper manufacturer with five employees to 13 dealerships – including seven RV rental locations – with more than 600 employees. He has seen the company’s home office and main dealership expand into a 12 acre property with more than 100 full-time employees working in parts, service, body shop, rentals, sales and administration. His efforts were recognized in 1996 when he was the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He was also the recipient of a Government of British Columbia Diversification Award in 1990, presented in recognition of the expansion from the company’s original site to a manufacturing facility and a separate RV dealership/rental business.
With more than 47 years in the industry, James Epp has been deeply involved in a number of industry issues, including leading the initiative to correct the European driver license issue for rental operations, annual support of OK College RV Tech Apprentice program, industry promotion through two annual RV dealer shows, and by donation the Fraserway RV training room facilities for use by industry training groups, such as Dometic dealer training and Truma furnace/water heater training.
Epp has consistently set a standard of excellence for Fraserway’s customers based on his values, mission, and investment in building first class facilities, with major upgrades in 1987 and 2008. An RVDA member since 1980, Epp encourages his dealership managers to follow his lead and actively participate in RVDA boards in BC, Alberta and Nova Scotia.
Epp works equally hard in his community. Since 2005, he has supported World Vision by matching employee donations done via payroll deduction – the company presently supports 118 children in Kenya. Each year Fraserway also promotes and assists the Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Box program, collected at 13 locations. And its annual Christmas giving to local charities such as food banks, animal shelters, the Salvation Army, Meals-on-Wheels and shelters saw $150,000 distributed in 2015, making Christmas brighter for many small, local charities.
Kirk Thomson
Can-Am RV
London, ON
Kirk Thomson received his degree in business from Ryerson University in Toronto. After graduation, he worked for a stock brokerage firm in Toronto until the market crash in October of 1987. That fateful event led him back to the family’s dealership – Can-Am RV in London, Ontario, where Kirk took on a new role as a service writer. Two years later, he moved into sales.
Upon the death of his father in 1992, Kirk purchased company shares from the estate. Since, Thomson assumed a new role as sales manager, and the dealership expanded – twice – from its original 6,000 square-foot footprint to today’s 21,000 square feet of modern facilities with 14 service bays. Not only did the dealership grow, so did its staff, from 9 employees to just short of 50 today.
Kirk Thomson has served the industry as a member of the ORVDA Show Committee for the past 10 years, and has chaired the committee since 2010.
Thomson is also active in his community. From 2004 until 2015, Kirk was actively involved in assisting the Bethany’s Hope Foundation’s largest fundraiser, which is doing critical research into Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD). He also works with the Fleetwood Country Cruise, supplying several units for use as offices, first aid, etc. This is likely Canada’s largest classic car show and it supports several charities. Thomson and the family dealership support McNally House, a hospice in Grimsby, Ontario, along with the Lambeth Rotary and Matthews Hall School. In fact, Can-Am RV supplies units to charities almost every weekend of the summer.
A lifelong RVer, Kirk Thomson and wife Kate frequently head off for short trips in his BMW sedan, towing a 27-foot Airstream.
