As its housing division starts to grow, Twin Anchors Manufacturing is putting more focus on that branch, newly renamed Kyllo Homes.
Owned and operated by the Kyllo family since 1977, the company has continued to thrive through their ability to diversify as markets fluctuate. Having started out manufacturing just houseboats under Twin Anchors Marine, they transitioned to include worker accommodations under TA Structures after the U.S. market became increasingly difficult to compete in.
"That diversification really saved us," CEO Greg Kyllo said, adding they had to do it again a few years ago when the oil and gas sector slowed down.
To remain viable while also addressing the housing shortage, they have now moved into recreational park models and modular homes under what was originally TA Modular.
Finding that sounded a little cold and uninviting, marketing director Samantha (Kyllo) Hansma suggested TA Homes, but learned that a large company of the same name in the U.S. already had the edge on advertising and social media under that brand.That led them to Kyllo Homes, which keeps it in the family and better reflects their vision, as does the Homes with Heart slogan.
"Really, we're building homes for people, and modular doesn't necessarily provide the warmth or appeal for the market," Kyllo explained. "We're not just building a box, we're building somebody's house."
He's also working on a 48-lot subdivision by the manufacturing plant on Old Town Road using these modulars to provide employee housing. Kyllo pitched the proposal to the planning and development committee in April, and is currently in discussion with the district and hopes to have the permits and approvals in place this fall to start work next spring.
While the new name isn’t indicative to any changes from what TA Modular was doing, they will be putting a bigger focus on Kyllo Homes due to the housing shortage across the Shuswap and province, and the division's greater growth potential.
“So that’s kind of what drove it, it was more to move away from the modular and into the home side of it," Kyllo explained of the rebranding. "And as I’m looking at potentially getting back a little more active in the company, we’re looking at other ways that we can further expand our manufacturing and looking at getting into subdivision development.”
Kyllo Homes and the direction it’s going isn’t directly related to Kyllo’s departure from politics, but he explained that he currently spends about 85 per cent of his time doing MLA and constituency duties, which leaves very little to put into the company. He’ll now be looking to transition to being more involved in the company, but will still stay involved with the riding association and the BC United party.
“We’ve always been a family business...,” his wife Georgina added. “So we’re pretty excited about, as Greg transitions out of politics we’ve got this time now to get a succession plan in place for the new Kyllos coming in to help run the business as well.”
That includes their five-year-old grandson Harvey who, when she asked if he wanted to ride the quads to deliver luggage when he's older, said "no Nani, I want to build boats with Pops."
Photos and further information can be found online at kyllohomes.com.
