Hall of Fame honour for Jayco founder

Gerry Ryan OAM has once again been recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Australian manufacturing sector, with his induction to the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Ryan, who has overseen the rise of Jayco from a manufacturing minnow 35 years ago to its current status as the largest producer of recreational vehicles in the Southern Hemisphere, was presented the honour by the Victorian Minister for Manufacturing, Exports and Trade, Richard Dalla-Riva, at a gala dinner in Melbourne last week.

"I congratulate Mr Ryan on his entry to the Honour Roll of the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame, and commend his outstanding contributions to Victoria's business and wider community," Dalla-Riva said.  "It is the heroes of Victoria's manufacturing sector such as Mr Ryan who inspire the next generation of business leaders."

Ryan established Jayco in 1976, when it had a team of eight people and produced a camper trailer each day.

Today, the Jayco Corporation has more than 800 employees and produces more than 9000 units a year –  approximately one every 10 minutes. It has an annual turnover of $350 million and a 45 per cent share of the recreational vehicle market.

While no longer having an active role in the day to day running of the company, Ryan still takes pride in steering the ongoing direction of the Jayco brand as its managing director.

He's also the chairman of RV accessories specialist Coast to Coast, which operates retail outlets across four states.

In 2000, Ryan was awarded the Caravan and Recreational Vehicle Council of Australia Award for Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Australian recreational vehicle, leisure and tourism industries. 

He's a former President of the Recreational Vehicle Manufacturers' Association of Australia, and a founding member and former chairman of the national leisure and tourism body, Caravanning Australia.

Ryan's influence extends well beyond the RV industry and he's been one of Australia's biggest individual supporters of the entertainment and sporting industries as well as the local community over the past 20 years.

Various sports from elite to local level including cycling, basketball, netball, motocross, AFL and rugby league, have benefitted from Ryan’s generousity and enthusiasm, and he has been behind the major push to get an Australian team in the Tour de France cycling race.

Ryan hit the headlines last year when his horse Americain won the Melbourne Cup, and he also earned the title of 'Australia's top earning entertainer' as the major investor behind the wildly successful, animatronics arena production Walking with Dinosaurs.

His support of local community initiatives includes acting as the founding chairman of the Visy Cares Centre in Dandenong, which provides youth support services in Melbourne's south-east

In 1999 Ryan was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his extensive contribution to the nation's manufacturing, leisure and tourism industries, as well as to sport and the wider Australian community in general. 

He joins 22 other honour roll recipients to have been inducted into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame since it was established 10 years ago.

TAKING THE PLUNGE

In a speech delivered in 2006, Gerry Ryan admitted he got into the RV manufacturing industry "by accident".

In the early 1970s Ryan was "serving time" in the accounting department of AMP. With the minerals boom in full swing and feeling a "bit restless", he decided to join one of his brothers "earning big dollars" in the West.

Instead, he walked into a "fill in" job on the production line at Sunwagon Camper Trailers in Melbourne.

After quickly rising to foreman and then production manager, responsible for 100 employees, Ryan was sent to the US to study the American RV industry.

He returned with "a head full of ideas" but with seemingly little interest at Sunwagon, at age 24 he decided to go it alone and "started Jayco in an old shed in Cranbourne".

"Determined to take the plunge", Ryan started building the first prototypes in 1975 and by January 1976 had set up a factory and was rolling the first Jayco campers off the line.

At the time there were just eight workers – six of whom were still with the company 30 years later!