Jayco

Jayco Inc.

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	recreation vehicles
Founded	1968
Headquarters	Middlebury, Indiana, USA
Owner	Thor Industries
Number of employees	2,000
Website	www.jayco.com

Jayco, Inc. is an American manufacturer of recreation vehicles. They make fold-down (also called "pop-up") camping trailers, conventional travel trailers, "fifth-wheel" travel trailers, and motorhomes. About three-quarters of its workforce is from the Amish and Mennonite communities of Indiana.

Jayco is based in Middlebury, Indiana. The company was founded in 1968 by Lloyd Jay Bontrager. The company name is derived from his middle name at the suggestion of his wife, Bertha. In 2011 Bontrager was inducted into the "RV Industry's Hall Of Fame for being one of the most influential men in the 100 year history of RVing". He played a role in the development and innovation of several types of unique lifter systems for their travel trailers.

Bontrager developed a trailer fold-down system in 1967 and started the business of making travel trailers in two chicken houses and a barn. In the first year of operations the company sold 132 trailers, and by the end of 1968 it had 15 employees. Because of the increased demand for their travel trailers, in 1969 they moved out of Bontrager's farm buildings to a new factory site nearby that provided more manufacturing space. The company continued to grow and in 1970 built another plant in Harper, Kansas.

In 1970 the company built approximately 2,000 fold-down travel trailers and sold them throughout the United States and Canada. In 1971 they produced about 3,500 camper trailers. In 1976 Jayco produced the first "fifth-wheel" trailer with a full-height stand-up front bedroom. The Jayco company logo is a blue jay in flight. The company mascot is also a blue jay named "J. Jay". The company's workforce of approximately 1500 employees is about 70 percent Amish and Mennonite. Jayco is the largest privately held manufacturer of recreational vehicles in North America, and is currently the third-largest RV manufacturer in the world. Jayco continues to be owned and managed by members of the original Bontrager family.