BonnaVilla marks a milestone

BonnaVilla Homes marked a milestone Thursday, gathering its staff, largest dealer clients and executives from parent company Chief Industries to celebrate the 35,000th home produced at the plant on the west edge of town.
“As you reflect upon the fact that we have built 35,000 homes to date, you start to realize that it’s all about our stakeholders,” Chief Industries chairman and CEO DJ Eihusen told a large group gathered in front of symbolic house No. 35,000. “We take that very seriously, in fact it’s in our mission statement how we value the stakeholder.”
Eihusen thanked the plant’s host city of Aurora, which has been home to BonnaVilla since 1970, as well as several of the company’s largest dealer partners, all of whom are part of a Builder Advisory Council which offers input on specific housing trends. And finally, Eihusen tipped his hat to the employees who have been putting out quality products for the past 53 years.
“When that very first home came off the line can you image what that was like?” he said. “I’ll bet you that home took more hours to build than any home we’ve ever built. It had to be mass confusion back in 1970, but they did that and we’re very, very grateful to that group.”
In an effort to put BonnaVilla’s impact on the housing supply into perspective, Eihusen had this to say.
“For those of us from Nebraska, in this area it would be all of the households that are in Grand Island, Hastings, Wood River, Doniphan and Aurora,” he said. “That’s how many houses we have built. Think about that. And as we always say, we don’t build a house, we build a home, and that’s something very, very special.”
General Manager Mike Morrow echoed similar thoughts about BonnaVilla valuing its stakeholders, saying it’s the trifecta of employees, customers and a solid corporate culture that has helped the Aurora plant endure.
“From a corporate standpoint, having a parent company that strengthens stability is a large reason why we’ve been able to survive some of the slow times over the years and thrive in the good times,” Morrow said. “A lot of times when you talk about what goes into a house, you’re talking about the siding and the drywall and the doors and the windows. To me, what we’re talking about here is those three ingredients — the people. We’ve got the customers, we’ve got the employees and we’ve got the parent company.”
The 35,000th house, Morrow noted, is just symbolic, offering  a reason to talk about and acknowledge the three things that have given BonnaVilla the continuity and consistency to deliver homes at a high quality since 1970.
“That 35,000th is a testament to what BonnaVilla is,” he said. “The faces might change and the logo might change a little bit, but at the end of the day what BonnaVilla is and has been with Chief since 1970 is because of those ingredients. It’s the people — the customers, the employees and the parent company.”

Dealer testimonials
Accolade Homes near Colorado Springs was recognized Thursday as BonnaVilla’s top dealer, giving representative Brent Chaussee the honor of holding the sign announcing the 35,000th unit.
“This is huge for us,” Chaussee said when asked about the milestone. “We strive hard to sell the very best product we can and BonnaVilla is that product. There are just a lot of things that they take to the next level that other manufacturers don’t do, so it’s the quality, the craftsmanship and the types of materials that go into the house.”
Beyond the product itself, Chaussee said he appreciates the support and professionalism he sees from BonnaVilla Homes.
“BonnaVilla is so diverse and they have such a great support team, great management,” he observed. “They are a great company to deal with. I mean, in good times and bad they are there for you all the way through, and that speaks volumes compared to being a number with another company. You’re an actual part of the family with BonnaVilla, and that’s important.”
Big Mountain Homes has been selling and distributing BonnaVilla-built homes in Wyoming, North Dakota and parts of Idaho for more than 17 years, giving Bernie Biegler a seat on the Builder Advisory Council.
“Quite honestly, this is what lets my business be in business,” he said. “I use different factories, but this is definitely the best one we work with. It’s been a great relationship because they are just good people, offering good service and a good product. They stand behind it and they service it, and for us as dealers who represent that product that’s everything. Our name and our reputation are dependent upon their ability to do that.”
Daniel Harrison also travelled from Colorado to join the celebration Thursday, sharing that BonnaVilla’s ability to provide a quality product has helped spur a population spike in the Fort Morgan/Wiggins area east of Denver, which he said has grown by approximately 2,000 in the last few years.
“We are now putting in our 35th four-plex built here at BonnaVilla,” Harrison said. “That’s all within one zone, and a mile and a half down the road I’m going to build another 40 because there is so much need there. It’s about one a month-ish we get coming off the line here, and you can’t do that in stick-built because you can’t get the workforce. There will be a lot more Chief buildings going in there, which is a big deal, especially in that one little area.”
All three dealers said they appreciate the opportunity to share their views as members of BonnaVilla’s Builder Advisory Council.
“We want to give input of what the market is doing, give input on what we’d like to see  and why we’d like to see changes,” Chaussee said. “It’s a process where they can start making the changes if they’re seeing a pattern. If several dealers are having the same problem, then they are going to go ahead and fix that by upgrading a faucet or whatever it may be, to make the product that much better based off of our input. We appreciate that.”