Nathan Dosmann, president of labeling and branding company Dec-O-Art, is the third generation to run the family business, and is setting records doing so. Although the Elkhart, Indiana-based company has been in business 50 years, it took until June 2020 for Dosmann and his wife to buy their first RV.
Dosmann said he and his wife were RV shopping before the pandemic and felt this was the right time to take their three boys camping in a Coachmen bunkhouse.
Founded by Dosmann’s grandfather in 1971, Dec-O-Art will celebrate 50 years manufacturing RV decals and warning labels in October. Madeline Eastman, outside sales at Dec-O-Art, said its decals are in almost every RV, though you would never know it.
Dec-O-Art will donate $5,050.50 of its profits to at least six community charities throughout 2021. The amount celebrates the company’s 50 years, though “the organizations are far more important than the number,” Dosmann said.
By the Dec-O-Art team’s unanimous decision, the first donation recipient was Crossroads New Start Home, a transitional home for domestic abuse victims. “We have really focused our entire business around service, quality, and community,” Dosmann said. “We feel a sense of stewardship and want to lift as many people up as we can.”
Since the industry restart after the pandemic began last year, Dosmann said the company has been on an upswing. Dec-O-Art adapted and began operating under a “core skeleton crew” of 12 people and now is back to a 53-person staff.
Starting in July, Dec-O-Art experienced record sales in several quarters. Dosmann said, “We have ridden the back, so to speak, of the RV industry,” regarding the company’s success during a global pandemic.
Six months later, Dec-O-Art is celebrating record revenue again in January.
The pandemic still affects the company. Due to fluctuating COVID-19 policies, Dec-O-Art is waiting to plan an event celebrating the company’s milestone. Dosmann said, “We want to wait to get people and customers together because they are such an integral part of who we are and what we do.”
Though he plans to work about two more decades at Dec-O-Art, Dosmann said the company is undergoing internal changes to focus on its next 50 years. “I am looking at what can I do to hand down the keys to the car,” Dosmann said. “My dad and brothers left a well-running car, but I am looking to connect more with the community and put more people to work.”
