Elkhart, Northern Indiana Event Center Host Annual Education Program
U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym took to the lectern as the keynote speaker Aug. 19 at the 2025 MH FacTOURy Summit at the Northern Indiana Event Center in Elkhart, Ind.
“This museum highlights what is so important and impressive about Elkhart County,” Yakym said of the event center, and associated RV/MH Hall of Fame attractions. “Elkhart is the most manufacturing-packed county in the entire U.S., not just manufactured housing, RV, marina, but in health care, furniture, and more.
“It’s with such incredible pride that we make these products,” he said.
In its fourth year, the event brings two days of educational seminars and factory tours to Elkhart, Ind. Industry professionals have the chance to learn from industry leaders, tour the region’s leading manufactured home building facilities, meet with factory representatives, see the latest manufacturing innovations, and foster new and ongoing business relationships.
“The MH FacTOURy Summit is a must-attend event for factory tours and educational seminars,” Indiana Manufactured Housing Association – Recreation Vehicle Indiana Council Executive Director Ron Breymier said. “Elkhart, Indiana has proven time and time again to be the center of manufactured home building and innovation in the Midwest, and we’re proud to host this event at the center of it all.”
At the Factories in Northern Indiana
Among the facilities toured by attendees this year included Adventure Homes, Cavco Nappanee, Champion Topeka, Clayton Middlebury, and Clayton Wakarusa. Attendees could choose from any of these five tours to attend throughout the day on Wednesday, August 21.
One key theme present during the factory tours was the variety of product available and the efficiency at which it was made.
“We build park models, HUD units, and Canadian units all out of one line here,” Jeff Tanner, a sales manager for Cavco Nappanee, said. “Nobody else builds more variety than we do here in the Midwest.”
Yakym said he will visit each of the counties in his district — Elkhart, South Bend, and Warsaw — at least three times each during the next month. Much of what he will be talking about to constituents, he said, is how to get people back to work, earning more and paying less.
“I am in Washington 35 weeks this year working on legislation,” Yakym told the nearly 100 attendees. “Costs have gone up up up… Absolutely through the roof. One of the ways we need to fix this (in housing) is by increasing supply.
“Everyone saw this coming, and very little has been done to address the need,” he said.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce some regulations that add to housing cost, and under a CRA, Congressional Review Act, a range of rollback will be made permanent.
“Once we pass a CRA and it’s signed by President Trump, that item forever becomes ineligible to be reintroduced. It’s permanent,” Yakym said.
Changes are to include a Made in America provision and full acceleration on capital expenditures to help in the recovery of investment dollars. The congressman provided an example based on their efforts to continue to build the presence of manufacturing companies in Northern Indiana.
“You can depreciate 100 percent of the shell of that building in one year rather than having to wait on depreciation during the course of 30 years,” Yakym said. “You don’t need tax increases, you need tax relief and spending cuts from your government.
A big part of the American Dream, Yakym said, for many generations has been owning a home of your own.
“For most Americans, the wealth they have is tied up in their home. That’s what you all provide every day,” he told his audience. “We want to make home ownership more affordable.”
— MHInsider Writer and Editor Sean Vichinsky contributed to this story
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