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With consumer confidence sliding and a clouded economic outlook, growth in recreation vehicle shipments is expected to slow, according to a new forecast by RV industry analyst Richard Curtin. RV shipments are expected to total 247,500 units in 2011, a gain of 2.1% percent above the 2010 total of 242,300. Shipments are expected

to decline 2% in 2012 to 242,400 units, according to a release from the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA). “RV sales face challenges from the slowdown in economic growth,” said Curtin, director of consumer surveys at the University of Michigan, who produces the monthly Richard Curtin

Index of Consumer Sentiment. “Just as the last downturn was more severe than typical, the slowdown in the year ahead can be expected to be milder than average, but, unfortunately, more long lasting.” The flatter projection for RV shipments is based on recent steep declines in consumer confidence that coincided with the debt limit showdown in the U.S. Congress.

In addition, Curtin noted a “pervasive uncertainty” about job and income prospects, stagnating wages, depressed home values, and the likelihood of rising taxes.

Each of these factors will adversely affect RV sales, according to Curtin. “As a result, consumers have become more defensive minded, favoring spending cutbacks in response to financial setbacks rather than drawing down their savings

or increasing their debt,” said Curtin. In Curtin’s analysis, these economic conditions will persist and put an added premium on the ability of manufacturers to allow consumers to have the same cherished RV experiences within new budget realities. “Rightsizing RVs for the decade ahead will require fresh thinking about design and layout as well as features and amenities,” Curtin said. “Those that adapt and evolve their products to meet the new economic realities will reap the benefits of market leadership.” RVIA is the national association representing approximately 400 manufacturers and component suppliers producing 98 percent of all RVs made in the United States.

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Electric cars, which have come and gone at least twice since the dawn of the automobile era, are back.

The first mass-market EVs are here and more are rolling silently over the horizon. The Obama administration loves cars with cords and wants 1 million on the road by 2015.

That’s an ambitious, but not impossible, goal. Most major automakers promise to have an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid in showrooms by then. Their commitment seems solid, and some are making big promises. General Motors just announced its second plug-in hybrid, for example, and Nissan says its factory in Tennessee will be able to crank out 150,000 EVs annually by 2013. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn boldly predicts battery electric vehicles will comprise 10 percent of the global market by 2020.

So where will we plug them in?

This is not an insignificant question, but neither is it the major hurdle some suggest.

We’ll plug in mostly at home, often at work and, if we need to, at a growing number of public chargers. Some bet swappable batteries will alleviate our range anxiety, while others envision fleets of quick-charge trucks rescuing stranded drivers.

Optimists say we’ll soon see batteries that can take us hundreds of miles, making the issue moot.

“There are a lot of possibilities coming, and it’s not just about home charging, or quick-charging, or removable batteries,” Ghosn told Wired.com. “It’s about a lot of pieces of technology coming together to make charging much easier.”

These pieces are falling into place as big players like General Electric and NRG

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Energy join smaller outfits like Coulomb Technologies, Ecotality and Better Place in rolling out the infrastructure.

We’ve already got more than 1,300 public charging stations nationwide and thousands more coming.

Uncle Sam is spending more than $100 million to help install 22,000 residential and public charging points nationwide by 2014, and ABI Research says we’ll see more than 1.4 million residential and public chargers in the United States by 2016.

ABI estimates there will be 820,000 residential chargers and 642,000 commercial charging stations nationwide by the end of 2015.

Of those public stations, about 73,000 will be Level 3 “quick chargers” that can charge a battery to 80 percent capacity in about 30 minutes. Alexander says all that hardware will cost roughly $4.95 billion to install.

Many of these public chargers will be installed outside restaurants, big box retailers and other places where people tend to spend an hour or more.

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People living along the Rio Ruidoso in Lincoln County say it could take weeks to clean up after floodwaters came roaring off the White Fire burn scar Saturday. One man even had to be rescued from his RV as it started to float away. For the fifth time this year, residents living in the River Ranch RV park near Ruidoso Downs on highway 70 had to watch the raging Rio Ruidoso come tearing through their property.

"Saturday was actually the worst flooding that we've seen so far this year," said resident Kim Starnes. Lincoln County workers installed concrete barriers in July to try and keep the river in its banks, but they did little against the powerful current Saturday. "The big flood concern is at River Ranch RV Park," explained Lincoln County Emergency Services Director Travis Atwell. "They're on the flood plain and the owner, at this point, still has not come in to do

any kind of mitigation since the '08 flood."

County officials say it's up to the owner to make the

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changes to keep the park from flooding. The owner wouldn't speak on camera about the park, but says he's in the process of building levees and cleaning up the muddy mess left behind. Further down stream at the Rio De Oso RV Park, flood waters moved some RVs from their perches and knocked over propane tanks. A man asleep inside one RV had to be rescued as it began to float away. Residents say they just

want to be able to be comfortable in their homes again. "I was worried, I was really worried. It is going to stop? Is it going to surge more? We have to leave our jobs, we have to come home, we don't know what we are going to come home to," said Starnes. Officials say they had reports of flooding stretching for 20 miles along the Rio Ruidoso near highway 70.Article: www.kob.com

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SHELBY, N.C. -- A local father told Eyewitness News that his teenage son, who was stabbed to death, had a big heart.Dalton Fitch was killed while on vacation with his family in Myrtle Beach last weekend.

“This stuff only happens to other people,” his father, Bryan Fitch, said. “He had a giant heart."Bryan Fitch said on Saturday, Dalton saw his former classmate, Adam Dwiggins, who was also at

the beach, get into a fight with a girl at Ocean Lakes Campground. Police said Dalton chased Dwiggins, and that's when Dwiggins stabbed and killed him.

Officers said they found a bloody knife in the sink where Dwiggins' mom was staying.

Police arrested Dwiggins on murder charges and his mother, Kathy, for allegedly lying to officers to protect her son.

Everyone knows that you need to market your business. The question is what information do you use, where do you get it from and how do you use it? For some reason, the reservation systems we use every day seem to have an extremely basic level of marketing material. Sure you can pull out email addresses, but how deep can you drill down?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to drill down as deeply as Facebook Ads does?

In case you haven’t tried Facebook ads, the program allows you to define who you want to target by their location, their age group, and their interests with a number of other qualifiers that allow you to target your dollars to your true potential guests.

Since we don’t currently have any programs that allow such a vertical search, here is what I would love to see:

1.) Provide the email address for guests with the ability to sort by date in/date out. While this may be possible to pull today, I’m willing to bet that email addresses for people that are storing units with you or for long term guests are included in the file. If I am offering an overnight stay, I

don’t want to email that to my long term guests.

2.) Let me add information as I gather it such as number of children, anniversary dates, etc. With this information, I can wow my regular guests with birthday cards, anniversary cards or something special to celebrate the long term relationship with my park.

3.) I need to track the frequency of a guest’s stay. In order to institute a frequent guest program, I need to be able to send specials out to this select group. Recognizing a frequent customer is paramount in the marketing world. If you haven’t heard

about it already, Morton’s Steakhouse took Twitter by storm when they reacted to a tweet by a frequent customer and showed up at the airport with a Porterhouse steak dinner when the customer arrived. (Read about it here: http://bit.ly/q6oMzx) This was picked up by FoxNews among others and spread across the country. I want to be able to WOW my guests and while I may not get on FoxNews, hopefully my guests will want to spread the word.

4.) Give me an age range to select from for guests. Now I can promote a special event for young families or a different event for snowbirds. I can make

some educated guesses about an individual if I have an idea of their age range.

5.) Give me some ad hoc fields that I can enter information into. I would like to know if this is a new RVer, an RVer with a new unit, or maybe even an RVer who only stays overnight on a regular basis on their way to a winter location.

6.) Let me sort on the location of the guests. After all, wouldn’t it be great to be able to send an invitation out to people in the winter letting them know when the park is going to open for the season? I have noticed a number of parks that have specials for the guests who come in the week before opening day to help with the getting the park ready to open.

7.) I need to know what accommodations the guest used while they stayed at the park. Did they come in a large coach, a fifth wheel or a travel trailer? Something that is even more prevalent today is the question of whether or not they stayed in a cabin/cottage/park model. I want to know what kind of offers to make to my guests based on how they use the park.

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8.) Give me a way of linking guests. Many people come with friends or relatives and want to be close to each other. Just think of the pleasant surprise a guest would experience if they were to call for a reservation for a second visit and the front desk could ask, “Will your friends be traveling with you?”

9.) Let me sort the information based on average how long a guest stays. If a guest usually spends a week at the park, I want to make any offers to that guest reflect the knowledge of their normal stay. I don’t want to have to explain that an offer of 10% off of a stay is only good for stays of less than 4 nights since the weekly rate already reflects a discounted price. This only serves to make the guest feel unrecognized which is a major NO-NO in the marketing world.

10.) Give me a marketing module that doesn’t take a programmer to figure out, doesn’t require repeated key strokes and that integrates with the rest of the reservation program.In today’s world, it is more important than ever to treat guests as individuals. The more individualized the experience the more likely the guest is to spread the word about the great time they had. And no amount of advertising can beat WOM (word of mouth) for bringing in guests.

Added to this are the advances in social media which need the underlying information about current guests to aid in the attraction of future guests.Hotels have been using this type of marketing for a number of years successfully. Why can’t RV parks/resorts/campgrounds have the same edge on marketing? What do you think? Would you be interested in a marketing module that would give you this kind of capability?

Pamela and her company, FocusedWords, are dedicated to helping you promote and market your RV Park/Resort/Campground to RVer’s everywhere. Be sure to follow her on Twitter: @RVStops and @FocusedWords. Check out her blog at www.FocusedWords.com/blog.

Pamela has redesigned her website, www.FocusedWords.com, to provide a place for you to tell Rally groups what your park has to offer for their next rally. Be sure to fill out your park form with your facilities information.

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MIAMI – Emergency officials from Florida to the Carolinas were closely watching Irene Tuesday as the first hurricane to seriously threaten the U.S. in three years churned over energizing tropical waters. Forecasters say there is a possibility Irene could move into the Chesapeake Bay as a hurricane by Sunday. Projections from the National Hurricane Center in Miami show Irene could make landfall on the North Carolina coast, then move toward the north into the Chesapeake Bay area on Sunday. The storm has already cut a destructive path through the Caribbean.

Forecasters say the hurricane could grow to a monstrous Category 4 storm with winds of more than 131 mph before it's predicted to come ashore

this weekend on the U.S. mainland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami expected Irene to reach Category 3 strength on Tuesday, said spokesman Dennis Feltgen. Officials could begin issuing watches for parts of the U.S. mainland later in the day. Because the storm is so large, Florida could begin feeling some effects from the storm late Wednesday. Current government models have the storm's outer bands sweeping Florida late this week before it takes aim at the Carolinas this weekend, though forecasters caution that predictions made days in advance can be off by hundreds of miles. Georgia is also likely to be affected.

NORMAN — Cleveland County Sheriff’s deputies arrested an Oregon man and recovered nearly 70 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $385,000 during a traffic stop Friday near Interstate 44 and Southwest 134th Street in Oklahoma City, a sheriff’s spokesman said today. Deputies arrested Geoffrey Allen Woods, 51, Rogue River, Ore. He was booked in to the Cleveland County Detention Center. Court records show he was charged Monday in Cleveland County District Court with trafficking in illegal drugs, possession of controlled substance without tax stamp affixed and unsafe lane change. Woods’ arrest came after a Cleveland County deputy

observed a recreational vehicle traveling southbound on I-44 cross the white lane divider five times in less than a mile.

The deputy stopped the vehicle for failure to maintain lane. Woods was identified as the driver. A K-9 deputy and handler were called to the scene. The driver consented to a search of the interior and exterior of the vehicle. As the dog searched the vehicle, he alerted to the possible presence of drugs. Deputies inspected further and found two large trash bags with a large amount of a green, leafy substance in a bedroom closet.http://normantranscript.com

As an entrepreneur, Tom Dempsey saw an opportunity to make camping, already a relatively affordable vacation option, more comfortable for a new generation.

At Sylvan Sport, Dempsey and his team of designers set out to put the cool back into pop-up campers.

They came up with the Go, an 800-pound lightweight but solidly constructed platform that turns into a spacious living quarters that you can tow behind a Prius, instead of a huge pickup. The Go is billed as “Mobile Adventure Gear”

rather than a trailer, which brings to mind the old-fashioned aluminum box on wheels.

“Pop-up campers are part of the entry-level RV world, which hasn’t really changed in the last 40 years,” Demspey said. “We wanted to take the pop-up camper out of the RV world into the REI world.”

Some 200 Gos have been sold to date, and Dempsey sees interest expanding. Triatheletes, kayakers, musicians, families, and couples of all ages have taken to the Go.

Portland, OR (August 23, 2011) - After launching their "Operation Sunshine" full time RV adventure in 2000, the RV Cooking Show is returning to the Rose City to headline the 2011 Portland Fall RV & Van Show September 15-18 with four RV-centric topics and dishes to match. Producer and host Evanne Schmarder will host live RV Cooking Show sessions designed to educate and entertain RVers and campers of all experience levels. Examining topics including Getting There, Staying Smart, Free Fun and Preserving Memories, Schmarder will share pearls of wisdom picked up along the way — interacting with her hometown audience — as well as prepare several simple dishes to delight the entire family. "11 years ago my husband and I – living in a Jantzen Beach houseboat across the Columbia River from the Expo Center – attended the Portland RV & Van Show, picked up our first road atlas and began planning in earnest to go full time RVing. When John Collette called asking if we'd return to present what we'd learned over the years and host a live version of our online RV TV series RV Cooking Show we were delighted. We've created

each one of the sessions to deliver maximum RV know-how...an RV travel guide with a cooking class on wheels twist. Love to travel? Love to eat? We can't wait to meet you!" remarked Schmarder. Portland show producer Collette added, "We are excited to have Evanne's RV Cooking Show at our 28th Annual Portland Fall RV & Van Show. We've designed an RV site show set to make Evanne feel right at home — complete with a big, beautiful ‘green’ RV, well-equipped outdoor RV kitchen, grill, picnic table, chairs and more. Show attendees have told us again and again how much they enjoy learning about the lifestyle and creating delicious RV-easy dishes. Evanne will make them feel right at home...on the road."

Evanne Schmarder

Doug and Donna Tippett have been camping at Carefree RV Resorts’ Fort Tatham RV Resort in Sylva, N.C. every summer for more than 30 years

SYLVA, N.C., Aug. 23, 2011 – For most of the year, the weather in the southern half of Florida is about as good as it gets.

But during the summer months, when heat and humidity take their toll on the Sunshine State, Doug and Donna Tippett of Bradenton, Fla. head to Fort Tatham RV Resort in Sylva, N.C., in the Great Smoky Mountains.

“We’re here for the whole summer,” Doug Tippett said, who has leased campsites every summer at the park for more than 30 years.

“It’s a family tradition,” Tippett said, adding that he now leases two campsites, one for his travel trailer and one for his park model, a roomier cottage like RV that provides extra space for visiting friends and family.

The Tippett said they raised their four children and grandchildren with a family tradition of camping at Tatham RV Resort in the summertime.

“You do need air conditioning here,” Doug Tippett adds. “But it’s cooler than most of the country.”

So what do the Tippetts do all summer?

“We have campfires every night,” Doug Tippett said, adding that he also enjoys frequent ice cream socials, potlucks and barbecues with the other campers. “We also have delicious corn boils, chile suppers, fish fries and peanut boils when we are lucky enough to get one of our local residents to share their peanuts with us. One of the things my wife enjoys are the local farms and farmers markets that sell blueberries, tomatoes and peaches, which she loves to can. All of these are within a very convenient distance of the campground.”

And even though the Tippetts spend the summer more than 600 miles from home, they still get to enjoy the company of their favorite neighbors from back home. “We know a lot of people here from Bradenton. Many of them have been coming here as long as we have.”

Tatham RV Park is one of 37 parks in the Carefree RV Resorts chain, a national network of RV resorts that offers activities, rental accommodations and long-term camping opportunities in some of the most scenic vacation destinations in the country.

Conveniently located for daytrips to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tatham RV Park has both RV and tent sites as well as park model rentals with full

hookups as well as bathroom and laundry facilities. A playground is also onsite and trout fishing is also available on two streams, though Doug Tippet says he likes to spend time playing golf at nearby golf course.

“The fishing pond is great for the kids and the playground has been a big hit for the children,” he said.

ANGEL FIRE, N.M. -- Angel Fire Resort today announced approved plans to develop a modern, state-of-the-art, 260-space RV resort in Angel Fire, N.M.. Over the course of the next few years, this luxury park will be constructed on 94-acres of mountain meadow land with scenic views of the Angel Fire ski mountain to the south, and Mt. Wheeler, New Mexico’s tallest peak, to the north. “Angel Fire Resort is committed to creating an RV hospitality experience unlike any other in North America,” said Daniel E. Rakes, general counsel of Angel Fire Resort. “We’re working with the top experts in RV resort development to identify the

most desirable amenities, and to guarantee the best resort practices, so that we greatly exceed the expectations of today’s passionate RV travelers.” The new RV resort will include a well-appointed private clubhouse, paved roads, fully concreted, over-sized spaces with easy pull-through access and 50-100 amp electrical pedestals, bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities, convenient Wi-Fi access, 100 heated storage units, 10 cabins, outdoor fire pits and jacuzzis, putting and chipping greens, horseshoe pits, dog friendly areas and more. Each RV space will be large enough to handle the slide-outs of today’s biggest recreational

vehicles. RV spaces will be available for short and long term rentals. The approved location for the RV resort is adjacent to the Carson National Forest and the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway. With frontage access to US Highway 64, it provides guests with convenient proximity to the wide array of outdoor recreation amenities in Angel Fire, including golf, skiing, horseback riding, cycling, hiking, snowmobiling,

fishing and more. The RV resort will also have its own private access to Carson National Forest, where visitors can bike, hike and snowmobile. The Resort is seeking permitting for ATV trails with the US Forest Service. “Taken together with the new Angel Fire Resort Golf & Country Club, and the extensive renovations to the Lodge at Angel Fire, this new RV resort adds considerable momentum to

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Angel Fire’s position as a premiere family vacation destination in the Rocky Mountains,” said Rakes. Living Designs Group (Taos, N.M.) is working with Angel Fire Resort to oversee the design of the new RV resort. This award-winning design company has worked on such notable New Mexico projects as the 4-star El Monte Sagrado luxury resort and the new Angel Fire Resort Golf & Country Club. The resort’s plans were approved this month by the Village of Angel Fire’s town council as well as the planning and zoning committee. Immediate next steps are to extend utilities and infrastructure to the site

starting in September 2011. About Angel Fire Resort Angel Fire Resort is a top year-round mountain resort destination in New Mexico. Situated at over 8,600' elevation in the Southern Rocky Mountains, Angel Fire strives to offer the best value and choice for family outdoor recreation activities to its members, guests and visitors--including skiing, snowboarding, golf, mountain biking, tennis, fishing, hiking and more. For additional information on Angel Fire Resort, resort membership, or opportunities for real estate investment in Angel Fire, please call 800.633.7463 or visit the resort's website at www.angelfireresort.com.

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SAVANNAH, GA - The National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC) is reaching out to the travel, tourism, casino, paddlesport, amusement park and other outdoor recreation industries to encourage their participation in the association’s annual Outdoor Hospitality Conference and Expo, which takes place Nov. 28th to Dec. 2nd here.

"The conference will provide excellent

opportunities for anyone connected with the travel and tourism industries to learn how to broaden their business base in partnership with campgrounds, RV parks and resorts across the country,” said Paul Bambei, ARVC president and CEO.

He added that the five-day conference and tradeshow will include numerous networking opportunities as well as 43 seminars on business management,

staff training, motivation, green technology, public relations and marketing, most of which have broad appeal to diverse segments of the travel and tourism business.

“We are all catering to the

traveling consumer, so it makes sense for us to do everything we can to share what we know about emerging business trends as well as best management practices in our respective businesses,” Bambei said.

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Some of Visa’s rules have changed and it finally helps the merchant instead of the customer.

Now, if someone presents you with a Visa rewards card you are able to ask for a different type of card and tell them why!

For example if someone presents you with a Visa Rewards card you can tell them that you have to pay to accept credit cards and that the rewards that they get by using the card is paid for by YOU and all merchants that accept the card because the fees to accept rewards cards are charged at a higher rate than a regular Visa card or a debit card.

The fact that the merchant pays the reward instead of the issuing bank and was unable to request a different type of card is something that we have written several articles about in the past, railing against it because they were not fair to the merchant.

We never agreed with the “grin and bear it” attitude of card issuers which were backed by Visa’s rules.

Previously merchant weren’t allowed to ask for a different type or brand of card. Finally, something has been done about it. The one thing you aren’t able to do, however, is refuse to take

the card if they still want to use it.

Merchants are now allowed to steer customers toward their preferred payment card, such as a “non-reward” credit card; or to another preferred form of payment, and offer incentives to do so such as, offering a discount for using their debit card, PIN debit or cash. Merchants are also able to offer a free or discounted product for using the preferred payment.

Just think of all the advertising options like, use your PIN debit card and get a free 8 oz cup of coffee. Merchants are also able to post their preferred methods of payment by size, prominence and order.

These rules were changed because of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and several state attorneys general to resolve antitrust investigations into Visa’s merchant acceptance rules in the United States.

On July 20, 2011, the court approved the settlement and entered final judgment in the case.

These were several important changes to Merchant Acceptance that involved Visa rules and went into effect July 20, 2011. Merchants are increasingly able to better manage their costs associated with Credit Card fees.

We have just been notified of these changes and

wanted to get it in the first available issue of Industry E-News possible to let Merchants know about this very important change.

Deanne Bower is Vice President and a Limited Partner of Art Lieberman of MCPS for Campgrounds, a credit card processor sponsored by Woodforest Bank NA. Deanne has been in the Credit Card industry for several years. Deanne has been helping conduct free webinars online and seminars on credit cards in many State and Regional Association Conventions. Deanne is also Associate Producer of the Virtual Outdoor Hospitality Expo. She can also be contacted at rvcreditcards@yahoo.com.

EARLEVILLE, Md., Aug. 23, 2011 – Like many families, Cindy Fleming’s family has many annual traditions.

But none is more deeply rooted – or has had a bigger impact on her life – than the tradition of spending the summer at Buttonwood Beach RV Resort on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland’s northern Eastern Shore.

Fleming and her family have been coming to Buttonwood Beach every summer for more than 30 years.

“I met my husband there when I was 13,” said Fleming, 45, who recently celebrated her 23rd

wedding anniversary at the campground with friends who have built a lifetime of summer camping memories at the resort.

Deb Carter, a manager at Buttonwood Beach RV Resort who has worked at the park since it opened in 1973, said many of the families who started camping at Buttonwood in the 1970s are still there, along with their children, grandchildren and extended families.

“A big part of my life is there,” said Gordy Lewis, 48, of Westchester, Penn., who has been camping at Buttonwood with his family every summer since he was 12. “I have so many friends down there. My nieces and nephew also

come and spend time there during the summer.”

Phyllis Lynch said she started camping at Buttonwood with her family when she was about 10 or 11. She met her husband there, and now they continue the summer camping tradition with their three kids, who range in age from 15 to 21.

“It’s crazy to watch the generations turn over and watch them doing the same things we were doing,” said Lynch, who works as a real estate broker in Pennsylvania and Delaware. “Our kids come down on the weekend with us. Their friends are the children of the friends we grew up with. They are living the same life we lived, and doing exactly what we did back in the 70s, but in a more modern way. They spend a lot of their time jet skiing and boating.”

Most Buttonwood campers have transitioned from towable and motorized RVs into 400-square foot recreational park trailers or “park models,” which are roomier and more residential in look and appearance than typical RV.

Park models average about $40,000 and can be set up on leased or purchased campsites in RV parks and resorts across the country, said William

Garpow, executive director of the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association, adding that about a third of the nation’s privately owned parks make spaces available for park model owners.

“It’s really an affordable way to vacation,” Lynch said, adding that her unit at Buttonwood is literally 50 steps away from the beach and about 100 feet from a swimming pool. “To me, it’s my home away from home,” she said.

And even after Labor Day, when the kids go back to school, many families will still be coming to Buttonwood on the weekends until the park closes for winter in November.

“When we’re at Buttonwood, we can relax,” Fleming said, “because we’re totally away from the ‘real world.’”

“It’s a refuge, a place to escape,” Lewis said, adding, “I’m sure I’ll be there every summer until I die.”

WASHINGTON -- President Obama is barnstorming the heartland to boost US jobs in a taxpayer-financed luxury bus the government had custom built -- in Canada, The Post has learned.

The $1.1 million vehicle, one of two that Quebec-based Prevost sold the government, has been tricked out by the Secret Service with state-of-the-art security features and creature comforts.

It's a VIP H3-45 model, the company's top of the line, and is used by major traveling rock bands.

"That's the more luxurious model," Christine Garant of Prevost told The Post.

"When we have the Country Music Awards, we sometimes see a lot of them," she said, noting that Kid Rock, David Lee Roth and Kenny Rogers also have owned them.

Obama's new ride is equipped to carry all the

baggage a president needs -- including the "football" that allows him to remotely control US nuclear weapons. There's electronic equipment allowing Obama to communicate and teleconference worldwide.

Like his GM-built limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," the bus has armored doors. The president also has large flat-screen TV sets and comfortable couches.

There's a bathroom, but unlike on Air Force One, no sleeping area.

The bus was ordered by the Secret Service in July 2010 and delivered two months ago.

The feds bought the two coaches for $2.2 million from Hemphill Brothers Coach, based in Tennessee. It installed custom interior upgrades into the Prevost shell, which accounted for about half the cost.

The contract lists the country of origin as Canada and place of manufacture as "outside U.S. - Trade Agreements," a possible reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Hemphill wouldn't comment on the bus. But an ad on its Web site for a similar bus costing $100,000 less than what has been dubbed "Greyhound One" boasts: "This coach is appointed with the finest materials and the latest in high tech electronics and was built for a top entertainer to travel efficiently without losing the luxuries of home.

"It is the perfect coach for entertainers, sports stars, NASCAR drivers, executive travel, or anyone accustomed to the very best."

Ed Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, said, "There are certain security and communications equipment that we'll have in there. It's just a better situation for us rather than leasing something and then putting in temporary equipment."

Hemphill Brothers lists Beyoncé, Cher, KISS, Van Halen, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, and Pope Benedict XVI as clients on its Web site.

The Secret Service says the buses will be available to other protectees who travel by bus, which could include the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.http://www.nypost.com

November 6-9, 2011 (Expo on Nov. 9)South Point Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NVContact: (406) 248-7444

November 10-11, 2011 On the InternetContact: (877) 901-3976

November 14-17, 2011Embassy Suites, Covington, KYContact: (513) 831-2100

November 28 – December 2, 2011Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort Spa & Savannah International Trade & Convention Center, Savannah, GAContact: (303) 681-0401

No matter how much we hear about worldwide diseases, the battle is local.Only people in faraway lands can fight epidemics that are breaking out in their lands. Each human being on earth must wash his or her hands with soap, frequently: that is local.

The only bacteria or virus that you or I can combat is the one in front of us, in the food we eat, the water we swallow, the air we breathe and on the feet or in the bloodstream of insects that touch or bite us.

This time of year is one of those precarious points where bacteria can thrive and cause sickness quickly because of heat and humidity.Along with flies and insects that also thrive during this season there is more outdoor human discharge, more use of swimming pools, more use of water that can quickly warm in puddles.

Algae thrive in still ponds and lakes because of the sun and heat. Fruit and vegetables come to market sometimes having been sprayed or washed with bacteria-bearing liquids that become the vehicle for

salmonella or other intestinal diseases.

We are biological beings living in a biological environment, an environment that at this time of year can become hostile quick as a wink.

Bottom lines:

• check your pool readings several times a day

• wash fruit and vegetables carefully and thoroughly. Be wary of berries and leafy foods that can harbor bacteria and toxins in spite of being rinsed.

• stay out of water that has any signs of algae

• make sure your staff wash their hands before handling food and after every use of the restroom

• encourage your guests to wash their hands frequently

• keep the lids tight on rubbish and garbage

• spray against flies and mosquitoes wherever practical

• do everything possible to eliminate tics, fleas, flies and mosquitoes from your premises

• follow the local news/health advisories.

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