MODULAR STRUCTURES OF PA INC history

Starting in 1908, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. sold prefabricated houses through its Sears Modern Home program.

After the development of the assembly line by Henry Ford in 1913, it became even easier to manufacture modular homes at a price that was affordable to many more consumers.

By 1953, The Mobile Home Manufacturers Association was formed.

In 1965 he had cofounded Aurora Modular Industries, which produced modular houses and buildings, mobile homes, and office trailers, as well as modular classrooms.

1976 was a huge year for the mobile homes in Pennsylvania and the rest of the country.

In early March 1977, the modular housing industry in Pennsylvania found itself confronted with a sales tax issue that was unable to be resolved by any of the various trade organizations in existence at that time.

Furthermore, in 1978, California voters approved Proposition 13, which resulted in the scaling back of property taxes, a traditional source of school funding.

Bonds to finance new school construction were then put on the ballot for voter consideration in 1982, making a greater pool of money available for modular classrooms.

In the same year that funds became available, Gerald B. Bashaw founded Modtech, and incorporated it two years later, in 1984, as Modtech, Inc.

He brought in Evan M. Gruber, a certified public accountant, in January 1989 to serve as his chief financial officer and later in the year Modtech completed its first acquisition, buying Q.E.D. Industries in a deal worth approximately $3.3 million.

On July 10, 1990, with a small group of industry professionals, a production force of about 100, and the support of a handful of key builders, Apex began production of our first modular home through our 40,000-square-foot facility in Middleburg, Pennsylvania.

A reflection of Modtech's strength came in January 1991, when California awarded $14 million in contracts for modular relocatable schools.

Not only did the state mandate that 30 percent of all new school construction be relocatable, it required that temporary trailers, which were estimated to number as many as 20,000, be phased out by 1993.

The California Legislature approved a $1 billion increase in school spending for the 1995-96 school year and a $3 billion bond issue earmarked for school construction was approved by voters to help alleviate overcrowded schools.

In 1996 alone the price of Modtech surged an impressive 270 percent, from $2.13 a share at the start of the year to $7.88 by the end.

Business was booming for Modtech in 1997.

Funds for new school construction were plentiful in California, where money was becoming available from the 1998 California School Construction Bond.

After being on and off again for several months, the deal was scuttled in August 2000 when Modtech withdrew its offer after a group of Miller shareholders blocked the sale in hopes of finding a better price.

Due in large part to a downturn in the economy, business eroded for Modtech in 2001, as sales fell to $201.1 million.

Modtech returned to profitability, albeit marginally, in 2003, posting net income of $1.5 million.

All told, sales improved to $185.2 million in 2004, although the company took a loss of $18.5 million, due primarily to the company underbidding on some projects, which ended up costing considerably more than expected because of a spike in the price of steel and other raw materials.

More changes followed in 2005, as Buckley detected inefficiencies and overlap in Modtech's California manufacturing operations.

In 2007 the MBSA celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of the association and looked forward to another successful thirty years of serving the industry.