Jim Gorrie and Kevin Betzold from GNR Camping World RV Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba are the winners of the 2018 Walt Paseska Memorial Canadian RV Dealer of the Year Award.
The 29th annual award was presented at the Annual General Meeting of the RVDA of Canada, at the RVDA Con/Expo in Las Vegas on November 7, 2018.
“Our 2018 Canadian RV Dealer of the Year Award goes to two gentlemen who have made significant long-term contributions to their Provincial RVDA, to the RVDA of Canada, and to their local community. As co-owners of the dealership, they bring decades of experience to the business, years of tireless support to the RVDA movement in Canada, and an enviable track record of charitable service to the community,” said Melanie Taylor, Associate Publisher of RV Dealer News and RV Lifestyle Magazine
As the co-owners of GNR Camping World RV Centre in Winnipeg, Jim Gorrie and Kevin Betzold bring 29 and 24 years of RV industry experience respectively to the business, and they have dedicated many years serving as pillars of the local community. Active supporters of the RVDA at both the provincial and national levels, Jim and Kevin have both served on the Manitoba RVDA Board of Directors as vice-president and president, and Jim Gorrie currently serves on the RVDA of Canada Board of Directors as well as serving as chair of Go RVing Canada. Kevin Betzold has served on the RVDA of Canada board for seven years and was the president from 2007-2008.
Their years of dedication to the RV industry are built on a very solid foundation – the dealership, GNR Camping World RV Centre, was created in 1971 by Jim and Kevin’s father-in-law, Gil Robert, along with his cousin, Noel Painchaud, and his brother Rheal Robert. The dealership started out as a small RV service centre, then called GNR Sportsland Centre Ltd. The name of the company was changed to GNR Camping World in the mid-1970s, and the company has gone through a series of expansions, and now occupies a 21,500 square foot building on 11 acres of land, employing a staff of 40. Along with an industry partner, GNR Camping World RV Centre expanded the company in 2009 to include the purchase of Recreation World RV’s in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Over the years, GNR has been the recipient of numerous awards, including numerous Consumer Choice Awards; the PME Award (a Canadian award presented to small and medium-sized enterprises) for 2007, and the St. Boniface Chamber of Commerce Dealer of the Year Award for 2008.
On a community level, GNR remains an active supporter of both the Children’s Wish and the Dream Factory to help sick kids and their families, as well as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg. Jim Gorrie and Kevin Betzold are also long-time supporters of the St. Amant Centre, a comprehensive resource for Manitobans with developmental disabilities and autism.
“This year marks the second time in the history of the Canadian RV Dealer of the Year Award that we have made the presentation to a second-generation winner,” explained Taylor.
“In 2004, Jack Bell from Chemo RV in BC was our Canadian RV Dealer of the Year, and last year, his son Jason Bell was the first of our second-generation winners. This year, the Canadian RV Dealer of the Year selection committee has once again chosen a second-generation winner. In 1992, we had the privilege of honouring Gil Robert, of GNR Camping World, as the Canadian RV Dealer of the Year, Jim and Kevin’s Father-in-Law,” she said.
Nominees for the 2018 Canadian Dealer of the Year Award were:
Al Robinson, Great Canadian RV, Peterborough, Ontario
Collin Yaretz, South Thompson Motors and RV, Kamloops, B.C.
Eric Soulière, VR Soulière, Lanoraie and Lavaltire, Quebec.
Keith Stapleton, Gimme Shelter RV, Mono, Ontario
Jim Gorrie and Kevin Betzold, GNR Camping World RV Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
