Cumberland County modular home builder files for bankruptcy

An article in the Central Penn Business Journal

Cumberland County-based Innovative Building Systems LLC, the parent of several modular home building companies, including Excel Homes Group LLC, has halted operations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The move impacted 280 Excel workers in Lower Allen Township and 11 in Perry County, according to a recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice filed with the state.

In its bankruptcy filing, IBS listed assets of about $5.2 million, and liabilities of nearly $17 million.

Last year, Jolene Myers, president and CFO of IBS, told the Business Journal that the company was looking for more acquisitions as it continued to rebound from the economic downturn.

IBS built 1,000 homes in 2014, with revenue of about $100 million. The 2014 production represented a 30 percent increase over 2013, but about a third of what Excel produced in 2004 and 2005, Myers said.

Excel produced about 3,000 homes annually during that 2004-05 period.

In a subsequent court filing, a class-action lawsuit was filed against IBS for failing to provide at least 60 days advance notice of termination. The lead plaintiff, Justin Forry, who worked at the IBS facility in Rocky Mount, Va., is seeking unpaid wages and benefits in violation of the WARN Act.

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