Triad Financial Services, among the leading lenders in manufactured housing, has announced that Cody Pearce has joined the company as co-CEO.
With more than 25 years of experience in the manufactured housing finance sector, Pearce brings a wealth of industry knowledge, leadership, and innovation to Triad.
As co-founder and former President of Cascade Financial Services, Pearce helped build a leading national lending institution that became both a formidable competitor and respected peer within the industry, Triad stated in a news release. Pearce’s appointment marks an important milestone for Triad, it said, as the company continues to expand its lending footprint and deliver innovative, attainable financial solutions to individuals and families across the country.
“Cody is a proven leader and a true expert in the manufactured housing space,” Triad Co-CEO Lance Hull said. “His track record of building and scaling one of the most respected lending institutions in our industry speaks for itself. Cody and I have long shared a deep mutual respect — not only for each other, but for the values and vision that drive this business. I believe he is the right person, at the right time, to help lead Triad into its next era of growth and innovation. Together, we bring complementary strengths — and together, we will be stronger.”
Pearce’s addition reflects Triad’s ongoing commitment to not only advancing its business goals, but also its mission of accelerating the dream of homeownership and building stronger communities nationwide, it said.
A Cavco Industries home building facility. Photo courtesy of Cavco.
Houston-based Company Would Add to South Central Presence
American Homestar Corporation, a Houston-based company that runs a pair of home building facilities and 19 retail locations, is set to be acquired by Cavco Industries, the country’s third largest manufactured housing builder.
American Homestar is best known for its brand Oak Creek Homes.
In addition to building and selling homes, American Homestar offers a small number of manufactured home loans and acts as an agent for third party insurers. It has 800 employees, and recent annual revenue of about $190 million. Net income was $16.6 million during the most recent 12 months. During that time, American Homestar produced more than 1,600 homes.
Cavco stated in a prepared release that it will acquire American Homestar for $190 million in cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The acquisition is intended to be funded entirely from the company’s cash on hand and is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.
“Throughout the acquisition process, we developed a tremendous respect for what Buck Teeter, Dwayne Teeter, and the entire American Homestar team have built,” Cavco President and CEO Bill Boor said. “For decades, they guided the company through industry downturns and challenges, consistently adapting and ultimately thriving.
“American Homestar is a leader in our industry because it embodies the Teeters’ values and focus on providing quality homes for deserving families,” Boor said. “We at Cavco are grateful for their trust and are excited to join forces in the South Central U.S.”
American Homestar was founded in 1971 by Buck Teeter, and is now run by his son, Dwayne Teeter.
“American Homestar focused on providing high-quality, affordable housing while also fostering a stable and rewarding work environment for its employees. As we enter this exciting new alliance with Cavco, we know this combination is a perfect cultural fit and that our people will be part of a dynamic, growing company, well-positioned to compete in an ever-changing environment,” Dwayne Teeter said. “We thank Bill Boor and the entire Cavco team for their interest in American Homestar and their commitment to making this transaction happen.”
In addition to implementation of shared best practices, the acquisition provides the opportunity for meaningful cost, purchasing, and product optimization synergies. It should strengthen Cavco’s position in the South-Central U.S, providing an increased presence across Texas and surrounding states.
The labor market in June came in ahead of analyst predictions, with 147,000 jobs created during the month, well ahead of the anticipated 106,000.
Much of the boost came from government and health care, the BLS report said.
Additionally, April and May job numbers were revised up 16,000, bringing the recent gain to more than 163,000 jobs.
Unemployment stayed steady at 4.1 percent.
Labor force participation changed little at 62.3 percent in June, and the employment-
population ratio held at 59.7 percent.
Government employment rose by 73,000 positions in June. Employment in state government increased by 47,000, largely in education, with an added 40,000. Employment in local government education was up by 23,000. Job losses continued in federal government, down 7,000 positions. Employment in the sector is down by 69,000 since reaching a recent peak in January. One important note on government employees, those on paid leave or receiving severance are counted as employed.
Health care added 39,000 jobs in June, similar to the average monthly gain of 43,000 during the last year. In June, job gains occurred in hospitals, at 16,000, and in nursing and residential care facilities, with 14,000. In June, social assistance employment continued to trend up at 19,000 jobs gained, reflecting continued growth in individual and family services , up 16,000.
Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including:
*Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction *Construction *Manufacturing *Wholesale trade *Retail trade *Transportation and warehousing *Information *Financial activities *Professional and business services *Leisure and hospitality
First Trust Chief Economist Brian Wesbury said the headline looks good, but that the details should dampen any urge to celebrate.
“Private payrolls were up only 74,000 in June and were revised down 16,000 for prior months, bringing the net gain to 58,000,” he and Deputy Chief Economist Robert Stein told subscribers to the First Trust newsletter. “In other words, the gain in June itself was roughly half due to government and all the upward revisions were due to the government, as well. Perhaps the worst news was a 0.3 percent decline for total private-sector hours worked.
The measure of core payrolls, excluding volatile sectors that rely on government, June accounted for 3,000 jobs.
New claims for unemployment insurance declined, 4,000 in early July to 233,000.
The James E Forrestal Building, Washington, D.C. offices for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Manufactured Housing Institute, in a newsletter email to members on June 30, reported that the pending U.S. Department of Energy rules for manufactured homes would be delayed for tier 2 homes until 180 days after DOE publishes its final enforcement procedures. The standard for tier 1 homes remains unchanged at 60 days post publication.
“MHI has been a leading voice and advocate in favor of this delay, noting the importance of the compliance date coming after the testing, compliance, and enforcement provisions are finalized” and for tier 1 compliance to come before tier 2, MHI said in its communication.
MHI praised the White House for urging action, and stated the “fundamentally flawed energy conservation standards for manufactured housing” threatened to reduce affordable housing supplies and raise housing costs for American households.
“Today’s action supports both affordable housing and American manufacturing jobs, and buys time to reevaluate the approach taken by the prior administration to energy conservation standards for manufactured housing, which were serving neither the interests of energy efficiency, nor affordable housing,” MHI stated. “We will continue to work with the Trump administration and members of Congress on a bi-partisan basis to address the fundamental flaws in the statute and streamline confusing and duplicative regulations with the goal of reducing the costs of owning and operating a home.”
What started as a one-man operation behind the family hardware store in Phoenix, Arizona now stands as an industry-leading manufactured housing company with a mission to help solve the housing crisis.
Where It All Began
Al Ghelfi, the early visionary who set Cavco’s course for home sales. Photo courtesy of Cavco.
In 1965, Al Ghelfi founded Roadrunner Manufacturing, also known as Cavalier Manufacturing, and began building recreational truck campers in his father’s hardware store lumber yard. Working with a local salesman, Ghelfi soon had a steady stream of satisfied customers buying his campers. And that’s where it all began.
Cavalier Manufacturing, now Cavco Industries, was the beginning of what has become a great American success story. Cavalier, which solely produced truck campers at the time, grew steadily during the 1960s. But the gasoline scarcity and subsequent price hikes in the 1970s prompted Ghelfi to reimagine his business plan.
Americans had suddenly stopped buying truck campers when recreational car travel became more expensive, and Ghelfi knew he needed to pivot. When product demand slowed, Ghelfi’s business partner suggested they declare bankruptcy. But Ghelfi had other plans. He bought out his business partner and opted to move forward with building mobile homes — no gasoline required.
“We will be the best one-per-day mobile home builder in the world, Ghelfi was quoted as saying. “That’s all we’ll build.”
When Cavalier Manufacturing shifted from building recreational truck campers to building housing, Ghelfi rebranded Cavalier Company as Cavco Industries.
Cavco continued to flourish and broaden its market by producing manufactured homes. Ghelfi’s business was booming, and Cavco’s revenue quadrupled in the late 1970s.
An early image of Cavco’s executives talking outside the plant in Phoenix.
Cavco Pioneers A New Market: The Park Model Industry
Cavco has a long history of developing innovative products and close customer relationships, so it is no surprise that Cavco led the industry in the development and production of park model homes beginning in 1988.
During this era of innovation, Cavco built for the outdoor hospitality industry, supplying vacation rentals, “glamping” cabins, cottages and other specialty projects to campgrounds, RV parks and other recreational hospitality businesses.
To date, Cavco has sold thousands of park models, cabins, and cottages and was largely responsible for the park model boom that first swept Arizona in the 1990s.
In 2023, Cavco partnered with a solar contractor, installing a solar array at the new Glendale park model facility to provide solar capacity to generate sustainable power. The rooftop modules and parking canopies produce approximately 60 percent of the electrical power for this temperature-controlled indoor facility.
“For our first solar project, we were looking for a way to minimize our electric costs in our first air-conditioned manufacturing facility. Solar energy is a cost-saving investment in every climate and helps us achieve our mission to build homes in a way that keeps costs low.”
— Cavco Senior Vice President of Corporate Development Steve Like
From September 2023 to March 2025, this first project eliminated 1,400 tons of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of planting 27,500 trees or eliminating more than 8.5 million miles in driving a gasoline-powered car. Plans are in the works to solarize three more Cavco plants.
Cavco brought out a new home at the International Builder’s Show in 2025. The indoor-outdoor appeal of the place offers multiple levels surrounded by deck space.
Cavco Partnerships, Expansion, Acquisitions
In 1996, Centex Corporation ventured into the world of manufactured and modular home building, choosing to acquire for $75 million an 80 percent ownership stake in Cavco. Seven years later, Centex exited the manufactured housing industry, and Cavco was once again an independent company, now listed on the NASDAQ.
Over the past two decades, Cavco has continued to grow to meet customer demands by hand-selecting and acquiring manufactured and modular homebuilders across the country. These acquisitions include:
• Fleetwood Homes — 2009 • Palm Harbor Homes —2011 • Chariot Eagle RV Park Models — 2015 • Fairmont Homes — 2015 • Friendship Homes — 2015 • Destiny Homes — 2019 • Commodore Homes — 2021 • Solitaire Homes — 2023
Cavco Names New President and CEO
After serving on the board of directors since 2008 and as chairman of the board in 2018 and 2019, Bill Boor became president, CEO and director of Cavco Industries in 2019. As a result of his passion for affordable housing and for the Cavco employees, his leadership systemically changed the company and impacted the industry.
As chairman of the Manufactured Housing Institute, Boor lobbies at the state and federal level for zoning changes and other affordable housing initiatives. He also testified at the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, representing the industry in energy efficiency and environmental, social and governance (ESG) deliberations. Boor is committed to providing affordable, high-quality and energy-efficient homes for customers and to creating a safe, rewarding workplace for employees.
“I stepped into the CEO role of a very successful company,” Boor said. “Rather than continuing on the established path, we quickly redefined our operating philosophy, integrated our operating businesses and made an explicit strategic commitment to the development and success of our people. We’re a tighter and more aligned company with a shared vision of making an impact in affordable housing.”
It didn’t take long to see that Boor cared about more than simply growing the company’s bottom line. As an outgrowth of One Cavco — the cultural core values he introduced — this ongoing investment in Cavco’s employees led to extensive safety improvements, product innovations, and developmental programs.
Cavco initiated its Safety Now program in 2020. As a result, over the last four years, the company’s Total Recordable Injury Rate, or TRIR, has steadily improved. In 2024, 90 percent of Cavco’s manufacturing locations achieved a TRIR below the manufactured housing industry average of 7.7.
In an effort to tackle the affordable housing crisis close to home, Homes for Our Own was launched in 2022. Primarily funded through employee contributions and matching company funds, this initiative supports employees who would like to purchase their first home. The effort provides financial education that serves them for a lifetime, as well as contributing matching funds for homeownership.
Cavco also implemented Master of Craft, a structured career development plan for frontline staff that received an APEX Award by Training magazine. The award is presented to the top corporations worldwide that have set the benchmark for employee training and development.
In 2023, Cavco launched its Anthem series, the first nationally available, multi-family HUD-approved duplex homes. This product innovation marked a significant step in Cavco’s commitment to help end the affordable housing crisis. The Anthem duplex provides an affordable answer to what federal and local governments have been asking for by doubling the housing density on the same available land.
Cavco Grows Strong
With 31 production facilities at the close of 2024, the combined Cavco brand represents more than 560 years of manufactured and modular homebuilding industry experience. Additionally, the company includes 79 retail locations and employs approximately 6,200.
As the company celebrated its diamond anniversary, Cavco is introducing a new tagline — “Where Exceptional Meets Affordable.”
“In four words, the tagline resonates with customers and supports our One Cavco commitment to provide the industry’s most exceptional homes at affordable prices,” Cavco Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications Colleen Rogers said. “Our brand represents this commitment to build homes with unmatched value — and with the exquisite finishes and family-friendly designs our customers want.
“This commitment continues to be the foundation of our success and drives us forward,” she said.
In March 2025, Cavco aligned its extensive manufacturing brand lineup under the Cavco name, strengthening its national brand identity and recognition. This repositioning leverages the resources, experience, and vision of the Cavco brand with the unique, local expertise and reputation of the regional manufacturing facilities.
Additionally, the company is streamlining its product segmentation to maximize digital marketing effectiveness and simplify the homebuying process. Moving forward, homes will be identif ied by defined product lines rather than legacy brand names. This shift ensures prospective homebuyers, dealers, communities, and developers can more easily find the right Cavco-built affordable home that meets their needs.
“With Cavco’s growth and our focus on the customer experience, the time is right to rethink how we can improve the customer’s ability to quickly focus their home search,” Boor said. “This realignment to a single brand that focuses on product characteristics will transform how we go to market across our national manufacturing operation, leveraging our investment in digital marketing, and opening new national marketing opportunities. It’s a big win for Cavco, our retail partners, and most importantly, our homebuyers.”
The VA Group is representative of a small subset of potential service sector contractors available to help home sales organizations and many other critical business groups to be more productive and profitable.
Based in Las Vegas, but with a workforce from abroad, the VA Group provides virtual assistants who use AI, among many other tools, to speed up everyday workflow.
“Most of our team members are in the Philippines and South Africa, but we also have virtual assistants from Venezuela, Argentina, and many other countries,” Erika Carla, a member of the VA Group team said. “They are vetted and undergo screenings, including English proficiency tests, criminal background checks, and skill set matching.”
The benefit of a qualified VA, Carla said, is the flexibility. A VA can work during the client’s work hours for better communication, and during flex hours as needed.
Carla said entering a contract with the VA Group covers a lot of ground, but requires a 20-hour per week commitment.
“Our minimum is 20 hours a week because we give our qualified VAs job security at that rate,” she said.
Virtual assistants from the VA Group can do administrative work, including calendaring, scheduling, followups, incoming and outgoing phone calls, emails, and prioritization of tasks including internal communication, research, records maintenance, and database management.
But that’s just the starting point.
In client prospecting, a VA from the group will make as many as 300 cold calls per day, and 5,000 emails per week. The group can provide CRM database management or a dedicated campaign manager.
They also do brand strategy, design, and accounting.
VAs for Housing Professionals
Anequim has been operating in the manufactured housing industry for nearly two years now, and provides customizable workforce solutions for organizations that need a strategic partner.
“Anequim delivers fully customizable workforce solutions tailored to each client’s needs while prioritizing compliance, efficiency, and long-term growth,” Anequim CEO Gwen Aspen said.
Through an integration with Rent Manager, Anequim offers a 24/7 call center, and a back-office support team without having to commit to a full-time employee.
The company, based in Omaha, Nebraska and with a workforce largely in Mexico, provides a vetting process that puts the client in control. The workforce provides human resources, payroll, and compliance services, as well as account management with a growth mindset.
Anequim Chief Marketing Officer Nicole Zeno said their workforce is made available long-term successfully with no significant initial investments.
“Anequim’s success is tied to the ongoing success of our clients, making the partnership truly sustainable,” she said.
Rocket Station, another provider, makes available virtual assistants with a focus on housing, including in areas of property management.
Ira Gayatin, business development lead with Rocket Station, said the relationship with a client starts with interviews and several weeks of onboarding to help align the team and its tools toward the desired outcomes.
“This is where custom solutions would kick in,” Gayatin said. “Our VAs get soft skills and housing training for computer and phone work, sales, customer service, transaction coordination, and social media management.”
“As long as we can document the whole process, the VA can do it,” he said.
A client offers search qualifications — such as capability with a particular technology, years of professional experience, or by a personality trait indicator. From their immediate roster of 500 candidates, or the wider field of 1,800, Rocket Station provides three or four potential VAs for the client to meet and interview.
The business is based in Dallas and much of its workforce is in the Philippines.
A virtual assistant from Rocket Station can be hired for $13 per hour for part time, 20 hours per week, or for $11 per hour for 40 hours, including weekend hours.
There is a one-time implementation fee of $1,995.
Remote Staffing for Real Estate Investment
Gallagher and Mohan specializes in outsourcing for the real estate investment industry, with experience in the major asset classes.
“We have offices in Washington D.C., Atlanta, and New Delhi, India,” Gallagher and Mohan representative Marko Simic said. “We have 250-plus employees and work with more than 120 real estate clients across the United States and Europe.
“There are many ways we can work together,” Simic said. “Our clients use our service to scale and streamline their underwriting, asset management, investor reporting, market research, lease administrator and accounting processes.
The agency has multifamily financial analysts, asset management analysts and accountants that focus client needs. The remote staff works through Teams, for instance, and can engage with a client and their customers in support of efforts within property management software and solutions including Yardi, AppFolio, MRI, Sage, Procure, Entrata, and others.
Simic said his team has partnered with more than 100 real estate firms, including LaSalle, CBRE, Marcus & Millichap, Palatine Capital Partners, and The Milestone Group.
Andrew Hughes was confirmed as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in June by a Senate vote of 51-43.
Hughes will serve as HUD’s chief operating officer, working under the leadership of the Trump administration and Secretary Scott Turner to restore HUD to its core mission of fostering strong communities that support quality, affordable homeownership opportunities and promoting economic development and self-sufficiency for all Americans.
“Andrew Hughes is a servant leader and is the right person, at the right time for this assignment to carry out HUD’s mission,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. “I had the pleasure of serving alongside him during the first Trump administration and witnessed firsthand his leadership, wisdom, and love for this country. We share a clear vision for HUD’s future, and it is truly a blessing to have him in this role. He will serve the American people well.”
As deputy secretary, Hughes will play a vital role in implementing HUD’s mission and managing the day-to-day operations of the department. His nomination was endorsed by former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and numerous housing and community development organizations.
“Serving at HUD is more than a job — it’s a calling,” Hughes said. “I’m humbled to help lead an agency that expands opportunity for all communities — rural, tribal, and urban. Together, under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Turner, we’re focused on ensuring more Americans can achieve not just housing, but the stability, self-sufficiency, and upward mobility that define the American Dream.”
Hughes has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on April 10, 2025 in regard to his nomination. He previously worked on Carson’s campaign for president in 2016, served as HUD’s liaison to the White House during the first Trump administration, and later as HUD chief of staff under Carson, and most recently served as chief of staff for Secretary Turner. Hughes, not yet 40 years old, is the youngest deputy secretary in HUD’s history.
The back porch entertaining area in a new Franklin home, on exhibit at The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show.
The Ins and Outs of Entertaining Outside
Suzanne Felber, The Lifestylist
At the recent Design and Construction Week in Las Vegas, it was obvious that outdoor living is becoming an important focus for new home buyers. Knowing that a home has room to entertain and enjoy the great outdoors, as well as under-roof enclosed living spaces, is becoming a big consideration when looking for a new home.
This year, Design and Construction Week had over 124,000 attendees, 2,500 exhibitors, and over 1.2 million square feet of exhibits. That ended up being a lot of walking, but it was also a wonderful opportunity to view and learn about what trends we will be seeing in 2025 and beyond.
The lines are blurring between outdoor and indoor living spaces. Both Champion and Cavco had two homes at the show, and they both received much attention. Cavco brought two 400-square-foot park models, including one with a rooftop observation deck that was always busy. A covered porch on the front of the home made it feel much more significant than its square footage. The Champion home had a front porch that lent itself to entertaining. Both homes featured a lot of glass with large doors that open to the outside areas.
One of the new trends in outdoor living that we noticed was innovations in grills and outdoor fireplaces. Smeg has a new line of electric grills, making it possible to use them almost anywhere. There are now many options for outdoor fireplaces that use electricity and are also a heat source for those colder days.
Communities also realize that outdoor living areas add lifestyle and value to a property like never before. It is also easier to live in a smaller space when there are community areas to enjoy.
The Reserve at Flores Valley is a new neighborhood community near San Antonio that encourages active, involved residents. Cavco’s In Neighborhood division, Clayton Homes, and Champion Homes all have new homes for sale in the community. The Reserve at Flores Valley features an enclosed soccer field, dog park, beautiful pool, and picnic pavilion complete with grills, which residents can enjoy all year long.
Fire pits are also a great addition to any outdoor space. They can be fueled with propane or firewood and use stones, lava rocks, ceramic logs, or even glass.
These create a great space to gather with friends or family. It’s also the perfect place to watch the sun come up with warm cup of coffee.
Pizza ovens are also becoming a favorite outdoor cooking spot. They range in price from $100 to thousands of dollars and are about more than just cooking pizzas. The clay and brick forms of these have been used for over 4,000 years and are ideal ways to roast vegetables, bake focaccia bread, create a cheesecake, or even make Bananas Foster!
The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show also featured innovative ideas for including outdoor living spaces in our homes. With consumers’ renewed interest in investing more in outdoor living spaces, Franklin Homes had a model with a covered porch area complete with a built-in bar, sink, and refrigerator. There is also an additional seating area with a stone fireplace and TV above — the perfect fall place to watch those college football games.
The Cavco Millenian model at Louisville also was built for outdoor entertaining. Its kitchen has a hydraulic lift window that opens to the outdoor entertaining space, which also has a large television and fireplace. The window makes it ideal for passing beverages or appetizers.
Outdoor kitchens are becoming more popular, with built-in appliances like beverage drawers and ice makers. All-weather cabinetry is now available in hundreds of colors and styles, making it easy to customize your space to your lifestyle.
As these options become more popular, the pricing seems to be improving, too, and favorites like pizza ovens are now within reach of everyone. I can’t wait to see what our manufacturers have in store for us in 2025.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner, at right-center, is guided through the three homes set up by Champion at MHI's Congress and Expo in Orlando May 5. Photo courtesy of MHI/Shawn Pence.
In mid-May, executives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development toured a Champion Homes facility and sales center in Leola, Pennsylvania.
HUD Assistant Deputy Secretary and regional administrator Joseph DeFelice and HUD Office of Housing Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Frank Cassidy toured the manufacturing facility to experience “firsthand the efficiency and quality of our construction process,” Champion Homes President and CEO Tim Larson said.
“These visits reflect HUD’s growing support in addressing the nation’s affordable housing shortage with offsite construction,” Larson added.
The group in Pennsylvania, on May 8, toured two of Champion’s newer single-family manufactured home models, the Embrace Sunlight and the Embrace Calm.
Attendees were able to see where the homes are built, showcasing the streamlined, efficient process that standard home building challenges, including delays and inconsistencies that come from multiple work crews involved in varying phases. Working in a factory allows for greater quality control, consistency, and speed, with each step integrated from start to finish.
Streamlining and coordinating the workforce in a centralized location helps to address increasing labor cost and shortage trends in the construction industry, while providing skilled labor a year-round workplace that’s sheltered from the elements.
“The excitement around our housing solution was evident as the group toured the facility and walked through our homes,” Champion Homes Regional Vice President David Reed said.
By transforming how we approach housing production, communities can create immediate, meaningful progress in addressing critical housing shortages
By Ryan Kilpatrick
Ryan Kilpatrick, Flywheel Companies
The housing crisis isn’t just a statistic — it’s a deeply human challenge that touches every corner of our nation and requires solutions now. Most markets are dramatically under-producing housing, falling short by a staggering three to five times the number of homes needed to support the growing number of households in a region.
Talk to local builders or lenders, and you’ll hear a familiar refrain of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Skilled trades are stretched thin. Financing options are limited. Developable land that is properly zoned is scarce. The entire ecosystem appears to be operating at maximum capacity, leaving little room for growth.
Beyond Roadblocks: A Practical Vision for Change
Creating a healthy housing ecosystem isn’t about waiting for perfect solutions — it means creating immediate, meaningful progress with an attitude of continuous improvement over time. And let’s be clear, no one can afford to wait years for systemic change.
Right now, local businesses are trying to hire. School districts are seeking educators. Young professionals are launching their careers. Seniors are struggling to maintain their independence.
To those who are close to the industry, it seems like the perfect moment in time to transition to more off-site construction where labor supply and environmental factors are less volatile, yet many local communities are nervous about adjusting permitting frameworks to accommodate off-site housing production.
The key is to start small, but think strategically.
Create Tangible Momentum
Cities and towns rarely mobilize around abstract concepts, but they can rally around concrete, visible progress. If you’re in an area that is just beginning to consider the potential for off-site construction, try a small number of simple but potentially inspiring starting points:
• Build a pocket neighborhood for year-round residents on a previously overlooked parcel. A small neighborhood of six to 12 quaint cottage homes clustered around a common green space with smart landscaping and parking tucked in the rear. It could be a quick win for a locale that is housing challenged. It also can become a great prototype for the local permitting office to get accustomed to the housing type and installation process.
Greenspur’s Bentonville, Arkansas, pocket neighborhood was built using SIP panels.
• Rehabilitate an underutilized mobile home park with new manufactured homes, improved infrastructure, and community amenities. While getting a vacant parcel of land zoned to allow for new manufactured housing can be difficult in many places, there are hundreds of older communities that could use attention. These can be excellent opportunities for site cleanup, better landscaping, and new homes to reset the local community’s understanding and acceptance of this type of housing.
The City of Los Angeles has supported more than 5,000 new ADUs in just the last five years.
• Partner with a handful of homeowners in a specific neighborhood to provide backyard cottages or accessory dwelling units. Work out the financing with three to five homeowners in a local neighborhood to ensure they will achieve a positive return on investment from rental income or savings that stem from caring for an aging loved one at home rather than paying for assisted living. Then quickly install all five backyard cottages over the course of a few weeks and host a neighborhood block party and open house so that the whole community can walk through these new units and hear from the homeowners about why they made the choice to add a modular unit, for instance, to their property.
These aren’t just housing projects — they’re transformation initiatives for local governments and the communities they serve. Use them as opportunities to communicate broader housing needs and to show how off-site production can help to support meaningful and positive changes in their own communities. Start small, then scale. And talk about it incessantly.
More Than Construction: A Learning Opportunity
Each housing initiative is a chance to do two critical things simultaneously:
1. Create Housing: Address immediate needs for housing at a variety of price points
2. Build Community Understanding: Illuminate the broader context of housing needs and common barriers to housing where broader solutions are needed.
In your communication materials, you’ll want to ask and answer the crucial questions:
• Who will be served by this housing?
• Why are these residents important to our community?
• How many others share similar housing challenges?
• What would it take to scale this solution? What are the barriers in the way of doing more of these projects?
• Who can help in the community and how can they get engaged?
Turn Barriers into Opportunities
You’ll inevitably still encounter obstacles — overly restrictive parking requirements, the building department isn’t communicating well with the planning department, utility connection fees aren’t what you were told they would be, or a couple of neighbors simply don’t want to see any changes on that vacant lot. But here’s the revolutionary approach: view each barrier as a communication opportunity.
Use these barriers to educate the local residents and stakeholders about how this difficult process is indicative of the broader regional housing shortage. Build a broader understanding of how each piece of the process, no matter how seemingly small, is impacting the area’s ability to grow. And create alliances for systemic change. Don’t ever miss an opportunity to align your goals and objectives with those of another influential organization or person.
These initiatives will feel endlessly frustrating. But if you toil for months (or years) on one project and view all the problems as things you never want to face again, what was the point of the exercise? Instead, view all of those obstacles as the things to lean into the hardest.
The obstacle is the way.
The Path Forward: Intentionality as the Greatest Tool
Housing isn’t just about buildings. It’s about people. It’s about creating spaces where individuals and families can thrive, where communities can grow, and where potential can be realized.
Transformation doesn’t happen by accident. It requires delib- erate, strategic action — a commitment that goes far beyond a single project or isolated effort. Each housing initiative is a potential blueprint, a learning opportunity that could inspire hundreds or even thousands of similar developments. But this potential can only be unlocked through intentional, transparent communication, and rigorous problem-solving.
The Anatomy of Sustainable Change
Every project will face challenges, and some will be systemic — deeply rooted in outdated regulations or complex economic constraints. Others will be more immediate and practical: poor planning, project management hurdles, neighborhood dynamics, or resource misalignments. The true measure of a small government’s resilience isn’t the absence of these challenges, but its collective ability to:
• Recognize obstacles transparently
• Document and share lessons learned
• Develop adaptive strategies
• Build a network of support and knowledge exchange
Community as Collective Problem-Solver
The most powerful resource in addressing housing challenges isn’t money or policy — it’s collective will.
By starting small, staying persistent, and maintaining a com- passionate, strategic approach, we can transform our housing ecosystems — one initiative, and one conversation at a time. But this transformation demands more than good intentions. It requires unwavering commitment, political will, and a shared vision of community well-being.
Our housing future isn’t predetermined. It’s carefully, intentionally crafted — by us, for us, with every challenge we face and every solution we implement.
Ryan Kilpatrick, owner of Flywheel Companies, has a background in economic development, housing finance, community design, and development finance. He is the former executive director Housing Next, where he helped to define access to housing as a core economic development issue for West Michigan through data-oriented dialogue and partnership with employers, local municipalities, chambers of commerce, and developers. He is certified professional with the American Planning Association and the National Development Council’s Economic Development Finance Professional, and is co-author of the Michigan Statewide Zoning Reform Toolkit.
More than 1,500 manufactured housing professionals are expected in Las Vegas April 7-9 as the Manufactured Housing Institute’s Congress and Expo returns to the...
With more homes, more exhibitors, and more buzz than ever before, the 2026 Biloxi Show is expanding, and fast.
The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Show &...
