By Joseph Deinlein
The Daily Item
HUMMELS WHARF —
A Monroe Township modular home builder is not going out of business, but a lack of production orders is forcing a layoff of 90 percent of its work force.
Penn Lyon Homes will keep a few office workers to handle phone calls and service orders, company founder Roger Lyons said Tuesday.
“The economics of what’s going on in the housing market is reaching us as it has other companies in the area,” he said. “And we don’t really know if that’s going to turn around.”
Rumors the almost 30-year-old company was closing have been making the rounds for a few weeks, but no official word was given. Even state representatives and the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce had heard the rumors, but could not confirm them.
Lyons said he waited to speak to the media to ensure all things were in order.
A meeting with the state Department of Labor and Industry’s Rapid Response Team has been scheduled for Sept. 10 for Penn Lyon workers, said department spokesman Christopher Manlove.
The meeting will allow “affected employees to receive information that will help them transition to unemployment, education and re-employment services,” he said.
The company’s work force of 92 has been reduced over the summer as the number of orders have dropped, Lyons said. There are about 10 people left to finish the last order.
“Because we didn’t see any recovery in those orders, we have decided to hold this career session for the employees to help them in finding jobs,” Lyons said.
He and other officials are meeting with the company’s financial institution “to see what can be done to correct any of the problems.”
Times have been tough for manufactured and modular home builders.
There are about 40 such companies in Pennsylvania, and all have had to downsize in some way in the past year, said Mary Gaiski, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association in Harrisburg.
The industry is tied directly to the housing industry nationwide, which has been on shaky ground for the past two years. Banks are not lending money as readily as in the past, and there is trepidation to give mortgages to even those with good credit, Gaiski said.
The only bright spot was many first-time home buyers taking advantage of a one-time federal tax credit at the beginning of the year.
Business was running well into the beginning of the summer, when the tax credit expired, Lyons said. Now, it will take more than just a “couple orders” to get the production line at the Airport Road plant operating again.
The process has not been easy for Lyons, who helped to found the business in 1981. He said some of the employees had been there for many years.
“We’re a proud company,” he said. “We build good products. It’s an unfortunate situation that’s come upon us. We want to do the best in this situation with the employees here.”
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