Ford RV Refrigeration Training Center

Text for the class was written by Roger Ford, who worked in residential and commercial heating and air conditioning for 23 years before starting the company. Tuition is $4,000.

The company also offers a less intensive five-hour session on repairing refrigerator controls, usually taken by RV owners, for $500.

Graduates of the full one-week session are tested and certified. "They become part of our warranty network, so we won't certify someone who is not capable of doing the work," Onna Lee Ford said. "We don't get a lot of warranty work because our procedures are precise and they are perfected."

Certified graduates are assured by Ford RV Refrigeration that the company will not train someone else within a close proximity. "We are not here to pit a bunch of businesses out there against each other," Onna Lee Ford explained.

Because of local advertising on three television stations and in national RV publications, she said the company is never without work. "The refrigerator is the No. 1 appliance in the RV," Onna Lee Ford said, "and there are lots of RV refrigerators out there that need refurbishing ".

Ford RV Refrigeration Inc" a Benton, KY" company that refurbishes RV refrigerators and trains others around the country to do the same, is back in business after a tornado last November destroyed the business and the home of owners Roger and Onna Lee Ford.

"It destroyed our home, our business, two vehicles and our belongings," said Onna Lee Ford. "We lost everything. All that was left was a concrete pad. We had to close down the shop until May 1."

The 22-year-old company with five full-time and two part-time employees refurbishes 20 to 30 refrigerators a month by repairing their cooling systems and controls. Reconditioning a double-door refrigerator/freezer costs between $700 and $800.

The couple also has trained more than 300 people nationwide to refurbish refrigerators since 1996, and recently began to offer warranties for RV refrigerators through the Ford Procedure Network - an association of people the company has trained. "We have trained people from Australia, Canada, even Vietnam," said Onna Lee Ford. "He brought his own translator because he didn't speak English."

Training consists of a one-week, 40 hour, intensive one-on-one session at the company's headquarters 30 miles southeast of Paducah, KY. "It's one person at a time," Onna Lee Ford said. "That way they get our full attention."