For an area that is heavily invested in woodworking jobs, Wednesday’s announcement of area modular manufacturing companies beginning to recall furloughed workers is welcome news.
The news was not startling. Sales increases are not through the proverbial roof in the housing segment locally or nationally for that matter. But the signs of recovery are clearly in the right direction.
Mifflinburg-based Ritz-Craft has recalled half of its furloughed workers. Steve Forcheskie, general manager of the local firm that sells modular homes through builders in 29 states with manufacturing plants in North Carolina, Michigan and Mifflinburg, expressed cautious optimism.
Orders have been up and down in recent weeks. Forcheskie said the year started out well with strong signs, but recent weeks have seen a tightening up again. He attributes the decline in part to tightened banking issues for consumers trying to get financing.
Marty Sickle, sales manger of Integrity Building Systems in Milton, agrees. Banking issues hold people back from making purchases. Integrity is not yet ready to bring back its furloughed workers. Integrity has been holding our own, but it is not like it was, Sickle said. Thirty people were laid off in November.
Dan Steimly, CEO of Icon Legacy Custom Modular Homes in Selinsgrove, says his company has seen increases during the year to date. He plans to return furloughed workers soon and even add a dozen new jobs. Steimly too said that banks need to be more personable with buyers.
Pennsylvania ranks high in the woodworking manufacturing segment with 36,500 jobs, according to Keystone Wood Products Association. The actual number of woodworking specialists is substantially higher because the association figures do not include jobs in the forestry, paper or furniture segments.
What is even more impressive is that 15 percent of all state woodworking jobs that the association tracks are located in the area of Northumberland, Union, Snyder and Montour counties. While it is a feather in our local cap of riches to have 5,622 woodworking specialists, it cuts both ways when unemployment approaches double-digit numbers out of a total workforce of about 90,000.
