New Ferndale manufacturer wants to tackle housing, other projects one piece at a time
A new Ferndale manufacturing company could be in line for a growth spurt, one piece at a time.
360 Modular Building Systems got its start last month a little earlier than it expected as it quickly worked with the City of Bellingham to build temporary 50 emergency weather shelters for the homeless at the Geri Softball Fields. The facility is at 5530 Nordic Place, near the Ferndale Haggen grocery store.
The company’s goal is to decrease the cost of building things like houses, apartments and hotels by taking modular construction to a new level. The company started with around 12 employees and is planning to grow the workforce to 80 in the next 12 months, said Amanda Zender, general manager for the company.
How does the business work?
By doing work typically done at construction sites inside its 80,000-square-foot facility. For example, if the company is contracted to build a hotel, it will do so pieces at a time and stored in a box. A hotel room with a bathroom will be built in Ferndale right down to the toilet paper holder, then shipped to the construction site, Zender said.
The hotel can be pieced together “like Lego” bricks in three to four months on the site, rather than the 18 months it would take to do it onside.
The business plan is to have a wide range of projects, so 360 Modular will need to rely more on workers and craftsman and less on automation, said Allen Gordon, president of the company. Gordon has run a similar operation in South Dakota, Superior Building Systems, for about 20 years.
Gordon also said that when possible they plan on drawing from local and regional companies to get the supplies they need to build the modular products.
What will they make?
Zender gave several examples of what they are looking at or already working on, from residential projects in places, such as Alaska and Southern California, to a boutique line of custom cabin homes. Most modules will be shipped by truck, while some will be put on barges, she said.
With this kind of system in place and the work being done indoors, Zender said the business model is to have production happening year-round, which means they should maintain a steady workforce.
The company sees a big opportunity to win construction contracts for apartments and other multifamily buildings in the Pacific Northwest, Gordon said. Western Washington in particular remains in a housing crunch, with low inventory continuing to push up home prices and rent.
With the temporary shelters the company built for the City of Bellingham turning out to be a nice first project, Gordon said they are now seeing interest from other communities in those shelters.
“Our goal with any of this is to build the best possible project we can,” Gordon said. “With the employees we have now, they will help build this company into a winner.”
