'IT'S A WIN-WIN SITUATION'\Land/job pact brings new plant to A.V.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Fed up with the high toll workers' compensation regulations were taking on his business, William Rex was ready to pack up his Saugus motor home plant and leave California.

Then he got an offer that prompted him to stay in the state.

"I was looking at Nevada, Idaho and Oregon," said Rex, owner of Rexhall Industries. "City of Lancaster officials read an article about us moving. City Manager Jim Gilley called and asked what would it take to stay in California."

Lancaster's offer included providing 10 acres in an industrial park west of Sierra Highway between Avenues H and G-12, land estimated to be worth $500,000. The city wanted Rexhall to serve as a cornerstone for developing the 30-acre industrial park.

In exchange, Rexhall agreed to maintain at least 95 jobs over five years.

Rex said the real selling point on relocating locally was the affordability of homes in the Antelope Valley. Being able to buy a home helps keep an employee happy, and a happy employee contributes to a better product, according to Rex.

"It's a win-win situation," Rex said.

Rexhall Industries planted its roots in the Antelope Valley in the form of a $2.5 million, 87,000-square-foot manufacturing plant. Rexhall started operations in Lancaster earlier this month and now employs about 200 workers. The company will probably hire another 100 workers, Rex said.

In addition to the plant off Sierra Highway, the company is also using the former Johnson Ford dealership building in the 45600 block of 23rd Street West as a service center. There are 15 employed at the service center, but Rex expects to add another 10 to 15 workers.

Besides its Antelope Valley operations, the company also has a 97,000-square-foot plant in Indiana. That plant is producing two coaches a day.

The move from Saugus is a loss for Santa Clarita, said Mike Haviland, economic development director for the city of Santa Clarita.

"We would have been happy for them to stay here, but the circumstances are that they moved up there," he said.

Rex, 45, has been in the recreational vehicle business since he was 19, starting off on the assembly line at $2 an hour. Rex later headed an RV company owned by Ford dealer Bert Boeckmann. In 1986, Rex went into business for himself.

In 1989, Rex bought out his partner, Andy Hall. That same year, Rexhall went public with stock offerings. A year later, the company was No. 1 in Business Week magazine's listing of hottest growing small corporations.

The company did about $60 million in sales last year.

The Lancaster plant is producing four coaches a day, but has the capacity to produce as many as 10 a day. It takes about 10 working days to turn a bare bones chassis into a home on wheels.

Rexhall produces four lines of motor homes, ranging in size from 26 feet to 38 feet. The coaches are priced from $55,000 to $75,000.

The buyers tend to be over 55 with household incomes of more than $40,000. Typically the buyers use the coaches for vacations or are "snowbirds," residents of cold areas who head off to warmer areas in the winter.

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Photo (1--color) Juan Arias, production manager for Rexhall Industries, watches a worker paint a motor home. The firm recently relocated from Saugus. (2--AV only--color) William Rex's new Lancaster plant off Sierra Highway employs 200 and makes four coaches a day. (3--ran in AV only) Motor homes produced in Rexhall Industries' 87,000-square-foot, $2.5 million Lancaster plant sell for between $55,000 and $75,000 apiece. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News