Founder of Guaranty RV Super Centers – Junction City, OR
the video below can also be viewed on
Guaranty RV Super Centers’ YouTube Channel
Herb Nill lived in Medford, OR, and ran track for the now legendary Coach Bill Bowerman as a high school student. After graduation he followed Coach Bowerman to the University of Oregon where Herb continued his education and track career as a discus thrower. Eventually Herb would become a legend in his own right as founder of one of the largest family-owned RV dealerships in the United States.
After paying his own way through college by selling cars, Herb saved $5,000 and borrowed another $5,000 from an extended family member. This $10,000 in seed money funded the purchase of a Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership located in Junction City, OR, not far from the University of Oregon.
Not long after opening his own dealership Herb partnered with Caribou Coach Corporation to sell one of the very first RVs in the country. That was the early 1970s and much has changed in the RV industry. Now Caribou Coach Corporation is known as Monaco Coach. And today Guaranty RV Super Centers covers more than 40 acres, employs more than 300 people and offers more than 700 RVs including motorhomes, trailers, fifth wheels, truck campers, toy haulers, camper vans and luxury diesel pushers.
What hasn’t changed in nearly 50 years is Herb’s unwavering commitment to the RV industry and the principles he lives by each day. When other RV dealers and manufacturers were going bankrupt, Herb stood by his commitments to order inventory he knew might not be supported by the manufacturer at all because he had made a promise. His motto “we do whatever’s right” has been the true north for building an award-winning RV dealership.
In 2009 Herb earned the Dave Altman Award, which is a lifetime achievement honor for dealers who display honesty, leadership, excellent customer care, and business acumen at a level above and beyond peers within the RV industry. Guaranty RV Super Centers has also been named to the list of Top 50 Dealers by the National RV Dealers Association.
Herb remained actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the RV dealership. He was always the consummate salesman—a bird dog for sales leads for both the Chevrolet and RV dealership alike. His belief in hard work, exceptional customer treatment and doing what one agrees to do were his keys to life and success as dealer.
When the RV industry was still in its burgeoning stages Herb and his wife Sally began a lifelong love affair with the RV lifestyle. Herb tells stories from the early RV days when he and Sally had adventures with his three sons Marty, Shannon and Eric in RVs. After years of RVing together the family now works together proving that the family who plays together stays together. Shannon Nill, owns the Chevrolet dealership and acts as President of Guaranty RV Super Centers. And Marty Nill helps to maintain both dealerships as the Property Manager and Vice President. Eric Nill worked at Guaranty until recently founding his own business Advanced Energy Systems in Eugene, OR.
Although he was a high profile motorized and automotive retailer Herb continued to do the same simple things that helped him build the largest RV dealership west of the Mississippi. By living the RV lifestyle himself, involving his family in the business and going above and beyond for customers Herb sets the bar high for RV dealerships across the country.
To read the original biography, go to http://www.guaranty.com/content/biography-herb-nill
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