About Karsten Homes
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Oregon Exteriors (from www.karstenhomes.com) |
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| Special Edition | ||||||
 SE-01 standard exterior features include 8' hip dormer over entry with two columns and lap siding accent, 9'5" sidewall height with top grid windows in living, dining, and family rooms, kitchen, and master bedroom. (Shown with optional shutters.)
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(from www.karstenhomes.com) - The Karsten Homes CEO maneuvers around a stack of vinyl siding, skips over the paint spray hoses littering the production floor, and lifts himself into one of the homes on the bustling assembly line at the Stayton, OR home manufacturing facility. He hurries over to a teammate, (that’s what Karsten Homes employees call each other), and like a seasoned football coach, he simultaneously encourages, prods, and questions, looking for any hints of production bottlenecks while hoping to inspire enhanced performance.
It’s a typical day in the life of a CEO at a very atypical housing company. Harry Karsten has been running Karsten Homes since its inception, and he strives for the ideal: happy, talented, motivated workers producing happy, satisfied homeowners. In its simplest form, that’s the Karsten Homes game plan.
In addition to Stayton, this scene is repeated continually at all four Karsten Homes’ production facilities, including Sacramento, CA, Albuquerque, NM, and at its newest plant in Breckenridge, TX.
“It’s as simple as this - you succeed with the right values,” says Karsten. In fact, he carries those company values on a card in his hip pocket. Each Karsten teammate carries an identical card and memorizes those four Karsten values because they are the backbone of what the company stands for. Besides, if you’re a Karsten teammate, Harry is likely to ask you to recite them.
“Uncompromisable Ethics. That’s our first value because everything we do is based on absolute honesty and integrity,” says the teammate, knowing the answer before Harry has even asked the question. The CEO smiles, pats the teammate warmly on the shoulder and moves on to find another for the next combination pep talk and production evaluation.
Karsten Homes is a relatively new company, formed in 1995 in
Sacramento under the direction of Harry’s brother, Andy
Karsten. It has quickly grown to its current size, and was recently
purchased and became a subsidiary of Clayton Homes Manufacturing,
Inc., a renowned national company. But the Karsten management
team of family and close associates and the nucleus of its production
staff have been together for nearly four decades. And though Karsten
sets the industry standard in construction quality, it’s
not the homes they build alone that set them apart.
“Our competitors can copy our floor plans, but they can’t
copy the way we do business,” Harry likes to say. “The
way they do business” is what distinguishes Karsten from
every other factory-built home construction company in the industry.
“Let me tell you how they’re different,” says Pat Loomas, president of Azalia Gardens and Laurel Oaks, two Karsten housing communities in the Pacific Northwest. “I’ve dealt with lots of homebuilders in my career. If they build you a home that, say - has the heat registers or electrical receptacles in the wrong locations, you’ll call the home office and talk to a manager of this or a senior vice president of that. They’ll take your complaints under advisement, and that’ll probably be the end of it.
“With Karsten, you call Harry directly or Buck, (Buck Wooton, GM of the Stayton plant), and they’ll tell you they need to fix that,” added Loomas. “Guess what? The next home you get, it’s fixed.”
Harry approaches his plant manager at the Southwest production facility. He’s been with Harry for 35 years. “Respect for the individual is what we’re all about,” recites the manager. “That means a pleasant work environment, which is based on teamwork, recognition of the individual and the opportunity for growth.”
Karsten Homes probably has the happiest, most motivated workers in the industry. Many have been with the Karsten team their entire careers. That’s why they set the standard in construction quality among all factory-built housing manufacturers. They know each other, they know the Karsten system, and they know what’s expected.
They now build n early 2,000 homes annually distributed throughout 17 Western and Southwestern states. And in most markets they have caught and surpassed the construction standards of the various local building codes.
“They build a better home than the local stick builders, (site-built),” claims Azalia Gardens resident Bill Corrigan, who recently moved into his new Karsten home with wife Karen. “My husband’s been associated with the home building business for more than 30 years, and he knows,” Karen adds. “Our Karsten home is just better.”
That’s in large part due to the third Karsten value:
“Quality – that means continuous improvement in manufacturing,
design, sales, human resources, and all other company processes,”
says a long-time Karsten foreman of the floor department in Sacramento.
Harry has cornered another teammate for an impromptu strategy
session.
The Karsten family and team actually began their home building careers in the mid 1960s, co-founding Golden West homes in a single factory in Southern California. That company grew into an industry leader with 11 production facilities spread across the western U.S. It was among those builders that set the standard, first in the emerging multi-section market four decades before to today’s impeccably constructed, high value luxury homes. The Karsten family later sold Golden West and started the current Karsten company, which is now among the fastest growing homebuilders in the country.
“We really do take care of our customers,” Harry emphasized. “That includes teammates, suppliers, home shoppers and homeowners. It’s not just talk. Most companies promise they care, but then they add: ‘as long as it doesn’t cost too much.’ We never throw in that part. People understand the difference, so they buy our homes.”
Harry’s greatest satisfaction is the trust he has engendered over nearly four decades in the building industry. “My reputation means a lot to me,” he said. “People trust me. You earn that everyday by being fair with people and doing what you say you’re going to do. You can’t buy that.”
Harry greets a new teammate in the Final Finish Department at the Breckenridge plant. She’s still wet behind the ears in Karsten Homes' longevity terms, having arrived only two months before. Has she memorized the Karsten values yet? “100% Homeowner Satisfaction – that’s our final value and that promise allows our customers to create the home of their dreams in an environment which assures an enjoyable buying experience before, during and after the sale.” She completes the recitation with a broad smile. Harry nods approvingly and moves on.
Karsten Homes may be one of the few homebuilders in America today where that teammate promise is really possible. And at Karsten Homes, they’re making it happen one homeowner at a time.
