Inside a bustling 32,000-square-foot modular home factory in Boulder, the rhythmic sounds of drills, saws and hammers now mark the school day for dozens of high school students learning trade skills by building real homes for local families. The hands-on program, a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Boulder Valley School District, the City of Boulder, and Habitat for Humanity, is giving teens technical training while expanding the region’s stock of affordable housing.
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On a recent day inside the factory, high school student June Baker was gathered over blueprints with teacher Darrin Rassmusen, troubleshooting what went wrong with a recent drywall installation. The issue came down to a simple—but expensive—mix-up.
“We have one wall A that's right and then one that's not built because I had to take it apart,” Baker said. “But I've learned from my mistake and they realized from that mistake that they need to start labelling each wall with numbers.”
The factory itself sits on school district land, built by the City of Boulder for $13 million with support from federal, state and philanthropic partners. Students earn course credit while gaining professional, industry-aligned construction experience. Habitat for Humanity oversees the program, ensuring quality standards while guiding students through each phase of modular home construction.
The facility opened in February, and by November, the first two modular homes were transported a few miles away to Boulder’s Ponderosa Mobile Home Park. There, cranes lowered the finished sections onto waiting foundations—a moment of pride for the students who helped build them.
High school senior Sean McCormick helped with the installation and said seeing the homes put into place changed how he viewed the project. “I think it was a big accomplishment for us and what we can do in the future,” he said. “It's not like we're building a little mini project, it's real world type stuff.”
McCormick plans to enter trade school after graduation, with hopes of becoming an electrician or pipefitter—career paths in high demand. A 2025 American Institute of Constructors report estimates the U.S. will need over 500,000 skilled workers in the coming years to meet construction demand, underscoring the urgency of training programs like this one.
The Ponderosa Mobile Home Park, where the new modular homes are being placed, was severely damaged by flooding in 2013. The city purchased the park, rebuilt key infrastructure, and partnered with Habitat for Humanity to upgrade its aging housing stock. Residents can choose to remain in their current mobile homes or transition into the new modular units.
“The families who are getting houses here have been living in substandard housing, some of them for decades,” said Dan McColley, CEO of Flatirons Habitat for Humanity. “This is their opportunity to own a well-built, energy efficient environmentally safe home.”
New homeowners will receive income-based, subsidized mortgages and will contribute “sweat equity,” working alongside students and professionals at the factory to help build the homes.
The modular homes measure 1,150 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. McColley estimates each home will ultimately cost between $350,000 and $450,000—a fraction of Boulder’s median single-family home price, which topped $1.3 million last year.
One of the future homeowners, Maribel Gonzalez-Rodriguez, currently lives in an aging mobile home just steps from where her new house sits. A single mother of four and longtime Boulder resident, she works in a downtown hotel kitchen and has struggled with limited space for years. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she’s thrilled to soon move her family into a larger, safer home.
Her new two-story residence will finally give her a bedroom of her own. Even more, she’ll have a direct view of the mountains—“the prettiest view in Boulder,” she said.
Program leaders say the Boulder initiative is the first in the country to combine a city-owned modular factory, school district curriculum, and Habitat for Humanity housing development into a single workforce-and-housing strategy. With the construction industry facing labor shortages and communities across the nation struggling with affordability, the model could serve as a blueprint for other regions.
As more students rotate through the factory and additional homes are delivered to Ponderosa, Boulder’s teenagers are not only learning life-changing trade skills—they’re helping shape the city’s housing future, one wall panel at a time.
Originally reported by Sam Fuqua in NPR.
