A new business is set to expand in the Pocatello, Idaho community that could see the addition of up to 40 employees. Modular Zip Kit Homes owner Chris Jaussi expects to find a manufacturing facility in the area within the next two weeks and hopes to begin hiring by June 1, according to what Idaho State Journal tells MHProNews.
“We were looking at Pocatello and a few other locations and the guys at Bannock Development were extremely helpful,” Jaussi said. “They got right back to me, lined up a few buildings we could look at and introduced us to key people up there.”
A division of Timberhawk Homes located in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, Zip Kit has outgrown current capacity and decided eastern Idaho has the skilled workforce, excellent building locations, transportation systems and proximity to specific markets.
“We were looking for a place where there was a decent labor force and was a good mid-sized city, something that wasn’t too expensive,” Jaussi said. “And Pocatello came up on the radar. Because of the interest in our homes in the areas around Jackson Hole and other expensive mountain areas, we thought it would be nice to be closer to those locations.”
Involved in the construction industry for decades, recently Jaussi and his team at Zip Kit decided to also focus on small, precision-built modular homes to meet the need for less expensive homes that younger people can afford.
“In the future, I think there should be a number of developments where people can buy a really nice, modern home that’s only 700 square feet. If you can get that on land for under $100,000, I think that’s a big untapped market.”
He continued, “I think that the millennial generation would rather live in a small house and have a lot more freedom than live in a big house they can’t afford. For married couples and younger people, I think 600 or 700 square feet is a very livable, nice house.”
In addition to adding to the employment rolls, instead of posing a threat to site-built home builders, Jaussi hopes to partner with a developer who shares the same vision of developing a neighborhood of smaller, affordable homes.
As MHProNews has reported, modular home building is developing at the other end of the country as well, linked here. ##
