Anyone who has lived in Houston in the past 25 years, has heard the name Murray Sullivan, of the Sullivan Motor Products (SMP) and he is now all set to make a name in Vernon.
Sullivan, who is the president of the RV Dealers Association of B.C., has been at the Sullivan Motor Products for 25 years and has lived in Houston his entire life. SMP also has two RV sales鈥� operations, one in Houston and one in Smithers.
Recently, Sullivan came across an opportunity to expand into Vernon under the name Vernon Recreational Products with partners Doug Thibault and Mike Goodwin. The trio will run the place under the name the Mike Rosman RV banner, the former owner of the place.
Sullivan鈥檚 interest in bringing business expands beyond providing great recreational opportunities to the community. At SMP, when things are up and running, they employ roughly 70 locals, creating several local job opportunities. This attitude of supporting the locals is something that is already showing in Vernon, with 28 people already hired there.
鈥淲e have a great staff st SMP as we do in Vernon. Some of our SMP employees have been with us for over 40 years,鈥� he said.
With the pandemic, Sullivan said that the past year and this year have been extremely busy with things going out the shop as soon as they are ordered in.
鈥淚t has been incredibly strange but busy here despite COVID,鈥� he said.
Sullivan has also been very active throughout his time in Houston, extending his support to the community and the various events held. 鈥淲e actively support our community and the surrounding areas in many ways, supporting all kinds of youth sporting clubs such as hockey, soccer and ringette. We have also sponsored lots of contests for the local businesses.鈥�
His hope is to bring the same support and community vibe to Vernon with his new company. 鈥淏usiness aside I am a great believer that you need to support the community you live in to become part of that community.鈥�
Does this new business venture mean Sullivan will be relocating?
鈥淣ope not completely, my two kids live in Houston so I will be back and forth until they graduate. Houston is a great community and a great place to raise your kids with friendly people,鈥� said Sullivan. 鈥淢y heart will always be in Houston.鈥�
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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