In Recognition of the Highest Achievements in Manufactured Housing
George Porter has been in the manufactured housing industry for more than 35 years. In 1990, he formed a training company called Manufactured Housing Resources to teach proper installation practices. Porter’s guidance has been accepted in nearly every U.S. state and is used by nearly every manufacturer of HUD Code homes. Porter penned a pair of books on the subject and has written hundreds of articles for industry trade publications. He has presented to more than 10,00 professional installers in the U.S. and Japan. He is the national authority on manufactured home installation and participates in nearly all government programs concerning installation practices.
What do you view as the biggest accomplishment of your career?
Frost-free foundations were a big advance. Introducing setup crews to OSHA regs probably save a lot of lives and limbs but maybe the biggest advancement for the industry is that the quality of installations nationwide has been raised and there are now rules. This enables conscientious installer companies who want to do a proper job do not have to compete with a shoddy cheaper local bunch that doesn’t know and doesn’t care about what is right. It still happens sometimes, but the remedy exists in the standards and most of the governments around the country are using it to the great advantage of the industry as a whole.
What work or life skill do you give the most credit for your achievements?
Somehow I had the good fortune to find my niche. When strangers ask me what I do I sometimes tell them I am an interpreter… I translate engineering language into installer language. I have managed to convey information with demonstrations and videos to both engineers and installers about what each needs to do their job. There seems to be a dialogue between many of them now and that is a very good thing. Teaching and explaining these homes to people has been a real pleasure for me all these years. I hope the students enjoyed it a bit too.
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