Dayton Mayor Bob Vincent,74, has been named by an RV industry publication as one of the 100 most influential people in the RV industry for his work at Suburban Manufacturing in Dayton.

RVBusiness, a magazine published by the Recreational Vehicle Institute of America in Washington, D.C., published the piece in its May/June edition and honored Vincent for innovations in pilot lights for RV furnaces and in the creation of lightweight aluminum ranges for RVs.

"I was shocked," Vincent said of the accolade. "To be one of the 100 even mentioned was a very humbling experience for me."

Vincent began his engineering career with Suburban in 1967 after moving from the commercial kitchen equipment industry.

He retired from Suburban in 1999 after climbing the ladder to vice president of the plant. He said to be given such an honor 11 years after leaving the business means much to him.

"I must have left a few good friends and a few good impressions," he said.

One of the major accomplishments Vincent was credited for in the magazine was creating a way to restart pilot lights in furnaces aboard RVs.

In the late '60s, RV furnace pilot lights routinely went out while passengers cruised highways or encountered high winds. Vincent and his engineering staff devised first a vent cap to protect against the extinguishments, then in 1971 created an ignition system for relighting the pilot lights.

The innovation soon became an industry norm and eventually spread to be used in water heaters and ranges.

Another of his listed accomplishments was the implementation of lightweight aluminum ranges.

During the gas shortages of the 1970s, the heavy steel ranges used in RVs weighed down the vehicles and zapped gasoline budgets for vacationers. Vincent was the first to design the aluminum ranges. His work with gas appliances later led him to be a leader for gas safety standards across the industry.

Vincent said one of his favorite parts of working for Suburban was the fact that the industry was relatively new and innovation was key.

"It was an interesting time," he said. 'The RV industry was just beginning to flourish."

Vincent knows about half of the folks named to the magazine's list and said they were all up-starts in the business.

"The people I was working with were people who didn't inherit their business," he said. "Most of their managers and owners were just common people who had ideas."

Current Suburban Manufacturing President Roger Panoz worked with Vincent for several years and said his accomplishments were highly regarded by coworkers.

"Bob was really like an institution here," he said. "The development of what he did in the evolution of our product really set the stage for the market share growth we are experiencing today."

Panoz said the innovations Vincent spearheaded forced the rest of the RV industry to change, along with engineers for gas appliances in the home.

"I'm just tickled pink to have known him," Panoz said.

RV Business assembled the list as part of the RV industry's centennial commemoration, recognized as this year. Editor Sherman Goldenberg outlined the traits of those named to the list in the story itself.

"People who altered the direction - even slightly - of an entire industry by what they did or didn't say over their careers, by the way they conducted themselves in commercial and association venues, by the examples and ethical standards they set, by the genius they displayed in inventing new products and services and, more than anything else, by the leadership they brought to the table," he wrote.

Vincent also served 12 years on the Recreation Vehicle Institute of America board of directors and was inducted into the organization's hall of fame in 1999.

Originally from neighboring Bradley County, Vincent and his wife, Maxine, still live in Dayton.

Michael Reneau can be contacted at michael.reneau@rheaheraldnews.com.