Top officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development toured Champion Homes’s manufacturing plant and retail center in Leola, Pennsylvania.
The visit included HUD Assistant Deputy Secretary and Region 3 Regional Administrator Joseph DeFelice and HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Frank Cassidy, along with other agency representatives.
The officials viewed the construction process firsthand and toured two single-family manufactured home models: the Embrace Sunlight and the Embrace Calm.
“We are honored to have welcomed HUD executives… to tour our homes—and even more excited that they experienced firsthand the efficiency and quality of our construction process,” Tim Larson, president and CEO of Champion Homes, said in a press release.
“These visits reflect HUD’s growing support in addressing the nation’s affordable housing shortage with offsite construction,” Larson added.
The tour follows HUD Secretary Scott Turner’s walkthrough of Champion-built homes showcased at the Manufactured Housing Institute Congress & Expo in Orlando, Florida.
“The excitement around our housing solution was evident as the group toured the facility and walked through our homes,” said David Reed, regional vice president of Champion Homes.
During the visit, officials observed the company’s streamlined factory assembly line, which integrates all phases of home construction under one roof. This method reduces delays, increases quality control, and helps counteract common setbacks found in traditional on-site builds.
Champion executives also noted the broader economic advantages of offsite home production, such as mitigating rising labor costs and shortages. By housing operations in a controlled environment, the model offers skilled laborers consistent employment regardless of weather conditions.
“For all of this to work, all of the different factions have to come together—the manufacturer, the state, the federal government and the third-party inspectors focused on the same goal,” said Rich Olenhouse, general manager of the Leola facility.
Champion Homes, a subsidiary of Skyline Champion Corporation, operates 46 manufacturing facilities across North America and employs more than 9,000 people. The company builds manufactured and modular homes, ADUs, park models, and commercial structures for multiple market segments.