A manufactured home company has won the Harnett County Industry of the year award for 2008.
Champion Home Builders Company of Lillington was presented the award Thursday night during the Harnett County Industry Appreciation Day event.
Sponsored by Harnett County Economic Development at Chicora Country Club in Erwin, the award ceremony came during an awards banquet that followed a day of golf for employees and managers of the county's many industries.
"In the first year, they built, by hand, one or two homes a week," H.C. Economic Development Existing Industry Manager Angie Stewart said. " 'Small but ambitious' are words used in their early marketing material.
"Ambitious has certainly rung true as the company has grown and earned the current distinction of the largest modular home builder in North America," she said.
Champion Homes Human Resource and Safety Manager Elizabeth Carter accepted the award for the company.
"To Harnett County Economic Development and the people who live here and have supported us both in the past and the present, we thank you all," Ms. Carter said. "This is truly an honor."
Champion began its industrial life in Dryden, Mich. in 1953. The company came to Lillington in 1969 to a site at River Road and employed 70 workers. A second plant was built off U.S. 401 between Lillington and Bunnlevel in 1973 and the two sites were consolidated in 1999. The company currently has more than 150 employees and for the past three years has maintained a turnover rate of less than 1 percent.
In 2001, the company was the first manufactured housing company in the country to receive Energy Star certification from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and was named the DOE Energy Start Partner of the year, another first for the manufactured home industry.
In 2005, the company was the first manufactured home company to build privatized modular housing for the military and has provided Federal Emergency Management Agency housing for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Champion is also the top-producing modular home manufacturing facility in North and South Carolina, the most profitable modular home manufacturing facility in the country.
The company was also the first manufactured home company to earn the Carolina STAR award for safety presented by the North Carolina Department of Labor.
It is those kinds of successes and innovations, Ms. Stewart said, that makes them a worthy recipient for the 2008 Industry of the Year award.
"In their words, the journey "has not been without mistakes." Ms. Stewart said. "However, by learning from mistakes and fostering change, the company has continued to grow and remains strong. By thinking ahead, they have accomplished more."
Ms. Carter said the company owes a most of their success to their employees.
"I has been a lot of hard work and dedication, not only on our part, but by our employees," Ms. Carter said. "Without them we could not have done it."
Appreciating Industries
Harnett County Economic Development Program Coordinator Penny Drouillard said she felt it was very important to let the county's industries know they're appreciated.
"The main thing is to let industries know how we appreciate what they do and that they're important to our county and its economy," Ms. Drouillard said. "Economic Development is not only about creating new industry, but supporting and retaining our existing industries since most of our growth comes through their expansion."
Harnett County Commissioner Tim McNeill said the fellowship of the event was also important.
"The aim of this is to not only to show our appreciation for our existing industry, but to also foster good, open lines of communication between the industries themselves and county leaders," he said.
A captain's choice golf tournament was held earlier in the afternoon.
The winner of the tournament was a team from New Century Bank made of by Lee Adams, Clark Hales, Jonathan Williams and Pat Marshall.
"We enjoyed it," Eddie Norman of Saab Barracuda in Lillington said of the day. "It's fun to get together with friends and fellow business and have a day out of the office."
