A local industry is seeing signs that the housing market and the economy are on the upswing.

Ritz-Craft Homes in Hamlet, which builds modular homes, was hit hard when the housing bubble burst last year.

“It’s been tough on the industry,” said Dale Dixon, operations manager for the Richmond County plant. “But the silver lining is we reach out so far from Virginia to the Florida Keys and Louisiana that it helps pull in a little bit.”

Dixon said in February the company cut back its staff to about 30 but started hiring again about three weeks ago. Right now the company employs about 52 people. During its heyday it employed about 105.

Daniel Davis is one of the employees Dixon recently hired back. Davis was let go in February and was unemployed for nearly six months before starting back with Ritz-Craft two weeks ago.

“It’s been kind of rough,” he said.

Davis said the toughest part for him has been the financial strain of unemployment. He said he is glad to be back with the company because he enjoys the work and the people.

Dixon said he may soon hire back five or six more employees.

In August the Commerce Department said the pace of single-family home construction edged up almost 2 percent in July. It was the fifth straight month for an increase. Building permits for future construction climbed nearly 6 percent, according to the report.

But even though things are looking up for the company, they’re still having a tough time with some things.

Dixon said the hardest thing for the housing industry lately has been working with the banks.

“To me the biggest thing for people is getting loans to go through and the appraisal system is tough right now,” Dixon said. “When dealing with different states, it’s tough. Right now what it is, is banks have started loosening up a little bit and people are going through their local banks instead, as are builders and contractors, because they’re a lot easier to work with.”

“There’s so much involved right now in getting a house through the system,” he continued. “Red tape hurts everyone and slows us down.”

Dixon said there has been a lot more interest recently and a lot more production. He just hopes that this upward trend will continue through the winter.

“This is the toughest I’ve seen things since 1985, when I started in this industry,” Dixon said. “I’ve seen some lulls and tough times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but nothing this bad.”

Dixon said the company is producing about one to three homes a week now depending on the size of the home. A 2,000-4,000 square foot home can be constructed rather quickly, but a 6,000 square foot home can take about a week to build.

And while Ritz-Craft has seen business increase and been able to hire workers again, many other area employers have not.

Mike Railton, assistant manager for the county’s Employment Security Commission and JobLink, said there’s been no significant increase in the number of people hiring.

“We really haven’t seen a turnaround yet,” he said.

But he has seen an increase in the number of people coming in seeking skills training.

“We hope BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) has hope on the horizon for the area with the need for lots of skilled trade workers like brick masons, welders, plumbers, anything in the construction industry,” Railton said. “Those jobs haven’t come up yet, but there’s still lots of talk.”

Railton said JobLink has many opportunities for the unemployed in Richmond County.

“We have a phone, copier, fax and printers they can use, we can assist with resume preparation, online applications and even with online unemployment claims,” Railton said. “We also partner with Richmond Community College who is providing a basic skills class at our location.”

Railton said there are 12 hot jobs which the community college has certification classes for through it’s continuing education program where students can be certified for a new job in just six months.

For more information on the Jobs Now program through the Employment Security Commission, call 997-9180.