A mobile-home builder in Waco, Texas is getting an $850,000 economic development grant to move into the former Patriot Homes building, Waco Tribune-Herald staffer Phillip Ericksen and Mike Copeland report.
The Waco City Council and the McLennan County Commissioners Court approved the grant for Jessup Manufactured Housing LLC, a seventh-month-old company, this week.
Jessup will add $1.25 million worth of equipment to its facility and hire up to 200 full-time employees by 2020, with plans to hire 150 by the end of the year, Ericksen and Copeland write. The city and county will split the cost of the economic development grant.
“These are really skilled positions basically building homes,” said Kris Collins, senior vice president for economic development at the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. “We know that that’s an area where we have considerable depth of workforce. That makes this a really attractive place for Jessup to establish its presence.”
David Jessup had worked for Tennessee-based Clayton Homes, which still has plants in Waco, for 20 years and quit to start his own operation.
The company will build single-wide homes of less than 1,200 square feet for shipment to independent retailers in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arkansas and possibly Mississippi, Jessup said. The retail price will hover around $45,000 to $49,000.
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