Champion Home Builders, a provider of manufactured and modular homes, will expand its North Carolina operations to create 182 jobs in Scotland County, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will invest $18.7 million into the acquisition and planned future development of a manufacturing campus in Laurinburg.
"Manufacturers continue to choose to call North Carolina home thanks to our state’s skilled and dependable workforce that can be found in rural counties like Scotland,” said Governor Cooper. “Champion’s decision to expand in our state shows their confidence in our education systems, which continue to deliver the well-trained workers every business needs today.”
Champion Home Builders, a subsidiary of Skyline Champion Corporation, was founded in 1953 and specializes in a wide variety of factory-built solutions including manufactured and modular homes, park model, and modular buildings. Skyline Champion operates 41 manufacturing facilities throughout North America. Champion’s project in Laurinburg will expand and upgrade a facility currently operated by a competitor that’s exiting the industry, retaining existing jobs at the site in addition to the new jobs being announced today.
“With Laurinburg, in addition to our other North Carolina campuses, we are better able to serve customers throughout the region with cost effective, streamlined product offerings that are greatly needed in the current economic environment," said Mark Yost, President and CEO of Skyline Champion Corporation. “We are honored that the Manis family trusted us to continue and expand the business they initially started in 1983.”
“Today’s decision by Champion helps North Carolina keep our place as the number one manufacturing state in the Southeast,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Our First in Talent plan for economic development, with its emphasis on training our workforce to meet company needs, will help us continue to create job opportunities for everyone.”
The North Carolina Department of Commerce led the state’s support for the company during its site evaluation and decision-making process.
Although wages will vary depending on position, the average salary for all the new positions will be $41,758, which is greater than the current average wage in Scotland County of $38,063. The community will see more than $7 million enter its economy from the project’s payroll impact, each and every year.
Champion Home Builder’s project in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $293 million. Using a formula that takes into account the new tax revenues generated by the new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $1,352,000, spread over 12 years. State payments only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIG projects result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grant’s reimbursement payments to a given company. The project is also subject to Champion Home Builders’ completing its transaction to acquire the operating assets of the existing company, expected to close by the end of May.
“It’s a strong signal when a company already doing business in our state decides to expand in an additional location,” said N.C. Senator Tom McInnis. “We welcome Champion Home Builder’s decision to grow in the business-friendly community of Laurinburg.”
“North Carolina offers one of the best business climates in America,” said N.C. Representative Garland Pierce. “We’re proud of everything our community offers to a growing business like Champion, and we welcome the opportunities these new jobs will bring to families across our region.”
Partnering with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the Golden LEAF Foundation, the Scotland County Board of Commissioners, the Laurinburg City Council and the Scotland County Economic Development Corporation.
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