Contributed
(From left) John Calvert, market development manager for Southern Homes, accepts the Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association’s 2016 Manufacturer of the Year Award from Scott MacFarlane, chairman of the AMHA Board of Directors.

Southern Homes of Russellville – a division of Berkshire-Hathaway’s Clayton Homes subsidiary – was named 2016 Manufacturer of the Year by the Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association, according to a recent press release.

The award was presented as part of the organization’s Chairman’s Banquet, Oct. 27, during AMHA’s 45th Annual Meeting and Convention in Little Rock, Ark.

AMHA Executive Director J.D. Harper congratulated the company, saying, “The AMHA Achievement Awards recognize companies and individuals that have demonstrated dedicated service and unwavering support to the factory-built housing industry in Arkansas and to those Arkansas families that choose manufactured homes as their source of affordable home ownership. Southern Homes has shown great leadership and commitment to the industry and the Association in Arkansas over the past year. It is truly fitting that the company was chosen to receive the organization’s 2016 Manufacturer of the Year award.”

Founded in 1982, Southern Homes produces and markets “quality housing at affordable prices” to retailers and consumers in 15 states in the Southeast. The company employs more than 300 workers in its state-of-the-art 176,000 square-foot production facility, located on a 27-acre site off Highway 44 in Russellville. The company produces more than 2,000 new homes each year.

Southern Homes consistently ranks as one of the leading producers of new HUD-Code manufactured homes shipped into the state of Arkansas each year.

John Calvert, market development manager for the region, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Established in 1967, the Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the state’s manufactured home industry through legislative representation, industry and consumer education, public relations and communications efforts. AMHA members are businesses in all segments of the factory-built or site-delivered housing industry. including manufacturers, retailers, community owners and developers, suppliers, financial institutions and other affiliated businesses.