Page 28 - Harnett Life Winter 2020

CCCC assisting

Champion Homes

with innovative

training plan

Champion Homes is one of the largest
homebuilders in North America, a company
constructing affordable modular and mobile
homes at a time when access to affordable
housing is a real concern. Because of that
growing market, Champion Homes in Lillington
is hiring. Central Carolina Community College
is assisting Champion Homes with an innovative
training plan.

SANFORD — You might think it cannot be hard to find em- for 50 employees and have an empty plant sitting right next to
ployees to fill good, middle-class jobs, especially in this tough me where I could put another 200 employees, if I could only
economic environment with high unemployment and compa- get the workforce.”
nies restructuring in a global pandemic. But that’s exactly the
challenge Champion Homes is facing — and why the com- So, what’s making it so difficult to hire qualified employees?
pany recently turned to Central Carolina Community College Johnson says it’s an overall decline in young people gravitating
for help. toward manufacturing jobs. With a stronger emphasis on four-
year college, many people have forgotten that there are other
Champion Homes is one of the largest homebuilders in North paths to economic success. In his case, Johnson says Cham-
America, a company constructing affordable modular and mo- pion offers a good middle-class wage with paid holidays, vaca-
bile homes at a time when access to affordable housing is a real tion, medical and 401(k) plans. Houses are manufactured in a
concern. Because of that growing market, Champion Homes in safe, indoor environment.
Lillington is hiring. Not just a few people, says general man-
ager Jim Johnson, but a lot. He’s facing an urgent need for em- And with the need for affordable housing to continue for the
ployees just to keep up with his current demand for the homes foreseeable future, Johnson says Champion’s “value proposi-
in the Southeastern United States. tion offers a long-term rewarding career, not just a job.”

“The current and foreseeable demand is clearly outweighed by But with fewer people prepared for this kind of work, it’s hard
our capacity to produce, so we’re in an extreme growth mode to find employees. “What all of us in industry are facing is the
here in Lillington,” says Johnson. “I have an immediate need challenge of staffing our manufacturing plants,” Johnson says,

Page 28 Harnett Life ~ Winter 2020