Apex Homes tries to buy a majority of its supplies from local companies, Kuhns said.

Central Pennsylvania has been an excellent location for the manufactured-housing industry, said Mary Gaiski, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association in New Cumberland.

A stable labor force and accessibility to major transportation routes, coupled with the availability of large plots of land for storage, made the area desirable, she said.

Homes manufactured in the region are shipped as far north as Maine and into the Carolinas to the south.

At the peak of production, about 16,000 units per year were manufactured statewide, but production is down about 40 percent, Gaiski said.

Three other local modular housing manufacturers were contacted, but either the calls were not returned or they did not wish to speak about the issue.

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