The old Mission Linen building has been remodeled and painted Ireland green for temporary use by Morgan Willows Homes, Inc., which panelizes frames for stick-built homes.
Morgan Willows Homes CEO Jimmy Davis reported the company will operate in the Mission Linen building for eight months to one year, but eventually will be moving to a new location off East Newlands Drive.
Morgan Willow Homes moved from Washington state to Fernley and plans to make the local plant its headquarters, noted Business Manager Frank Kane.
Due to Fernley's close proximately to the west coast, as well as Mexico
and Canada, the location is idea.
Currently the company has hired 40 employees and once it expands to the
new facility it will hire up to 400 employees.
Davis remarked the newer plant will be approximately 200,000 square feet and will house four custom-built machines called Weimann, which are imported from Germany and cost about $20 million.
According to Morgan Willows information, "The machines will manufacture panelized, wood framing for homes and small business structures, and can do so in minutes. The panel can include windows, electric and other builder add-ons." Kane remarked employed at the company are skilled framers, architectural engineers and CAD technicians who combine to create a custom-build panel product.
Currently Morgan Willows Homes is working on a 328-home development in Winnemucca, as well as 80 homes for the University of California system.
Davis said penalization is the wave of the future and it can save builders thousands of dollars.
Further Morgan Willows Homes can install the windows and doors as well as wiring on a 2,500 square-foot home that can save a builder about $20,000.
Morgan Willows Transportation can transport the panelized products to any job site in the west.
At the job site, panels, according to Kane, are then assembled using work MWH crews or work crews from a builder or developer.
Davis said his business can save developers "time and money but also can reduce waste and avoid framer-acquisition issues such as availability, insurance" and more. According to Kane, once the plant is fully operational MWH has the capacity of building 9,000 frame units per year.
MWH is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and is located at 215 Lyon Drive. For more details, call 775.835.0222 or visit the website at www.morganwillows.com.