The automobile, interstate highways, television and air conditioning have profoundly affected our original perceptions and designs of community. By the 1960's Nappanee began to lose its independence and self-sufficiency. As the fortunes of Coppes and Mutschler waned under absentee ownership, Nappanee was fortunate to have inherited the pioneering of Franklin Coach, Phoenix, LeisureTime, and others in the recreational vehicle and mobile home industries. From those efforts Fairmont Homes, Newmar Industries and Heckaman Homes, among others, continue the great manufacturing traditions that our craftsmen have made famous. Today Nappanee boasts the largest employer in Elkhart County, which is the number one manufacturing county in the nation in the number one manufacturing state.
Many communities envy the prosperity that our productive citizens continue to cultivate.
People who visit Nappanee sense the pride and vitality we all share. Today we are facing challenges to our sense of place from the new dynamics of the Internet, a global economy, pressure for shortsighted land use and mobility of our citizens that fosters isolation rather than inclusion. Yet to many outsiders Nappanee seems like Brigadoon. They seemed patently to be community members paying every inch of their way, from scratch-which does something to the steadiness of the gaze of anyone. These folks get respect from motorists because of who they are every minute of the day, not for the laws they pass, or city hall meetings they shout at, or courts they sue in.