It's a bold move; bringing RV dealers from around the country to Elkhart County to get a look at a new product line.

But Dutchmen RV hopes this will help their visibility and their attempt to re-invent their company.

Dutchmen’s management says they haven't had an event of this magnitude before.

Dutchman president Don Clark says they've made some huge changes to their company; ones that they think will help them succeed in this tough economy and beyond.

Wednesday the company faced a big test as dealers from Maine to California got their first look at the products at a convention at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds.

“It's the new Dutchmen… Especially the product, we've gone from 18 brands down to seven brands, so we're focused on those,” Clark said.

Focusing on more light-weight and affordable products, Clark says these seven lines stay away form fringe markets.

Instead, he says, they cover the types of RV’s that account for 95% of all sales.

“We think it's going to be tough, but we're digging in and we're moving forward. You can either sit back and wait for it to happen, or you can go out and be proactive and get more business to make it through. That's what we intend to do,” Clark said.

Dealers say fortunately, sales have slowly picked up over the last few months.

“We're at the point where we're starting to buy product and needing product again, and that's what brought us out here,” said Joe Hendrickson of Stoltzfus RV in West Chester, PA.

“This was actually very smart on their part, because they got us out here in front of Louisville, and got us a real sampling of what this product looks like,” Hendrickson said.

In a much more personal setting than the Louisville RV-show, deemed the ‘super bowl’ of RV industry events.

“It’s nice to sit down talk with the upper management, things like that and give your feedback. They listen to you, at Louisville that’s harder to do,” said Eric Brooks with Brooks’ Camper Sales in Connellsville, PA.

Dealers say they're impressed with the company’s effort.

“Dutchmen's being aggressive right now in a slow market that’s slowly coming back,” Brooks said.

Dutchmen just hopes they're as impressed with the product.

“We believe we've hit a home run. Today and tomorrow will tell us if we've actually done as good a job as we think we have,” Clark said.

The dealers WNDU spoke with were happy with the changes Dutchmen had made to their lines. They said the new features, especially the fact of being light weight, are what their buyers have been asking for lately.

Dutchmen hired 50 new workers back in August as they started this "reinvention."