WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – In a first of its kind partnership, the Navajo Nation has awarded a $24 million grant from the American Rescue Plan Act to ZenniHome, a producer of sustainable, affordable factory-made homes using the highest quality materials.
The grant will be used to expand ZenniHome’s production capacity by building a second factory at the former Navajo Generating Station site.
This will address the critical housing need and stimulate economic development on the Nation.
“I expect this to create the highest producing housing factory in the world,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said Monday. “It will enable ZenniHome to begin to manufacture more than 25 homes a day once the factory expansion is completed by the end of 2025.”
ZenniHome secured a 75-year lease at the former NGS site. The company began to manufacture homes in LeChee in 2023.
The President called the partnership “a significant step forward to achieve our 1,000-home initiative. These homes will be built on Navajo, by Navajo, and for Navajo.”
A 2011 Navajo Nation Housing Report states 90 percent of all Navajo Nation housing is in need of replacement or major repairs. The Nation needs as many as 34,100 new homes to meet its current need for new housing, according to a 2011 Navajo Housing Authority assessment which conducted a survey in 2009.
However, this number is likely much higher with the increase in tribal enrollment, the time that has passed since the survey, and other factors such as the pandemic.
The report also stated that more than 34,300 existing homes need repairs.
With this grant, ZenniHome will begin to build a second factory that will be a massive expansion of its operations. The ARPA grant will help the company secure $36 million in additional financing to complete the project.
The new factory will be on land already secured in ZenniHome’s lease area at the former NGS site. For this reason, the Navajo Nation plans to direct funding to this location to best leverage its limited dollars and to ensure significant growth of manufactured home capacity on the Navajo Nation.
This project will offer not only employment to many impacted by the NGS closure in November 2019 but also generate a ripple effect that will create 500 direct jobs and approximately 5,000 indirect jobs.
This substantial increase in employment will significantly enhance the Navajo Nation economy.
The grant funds were originally intended for site feasibility studies. However, it was decided to reallocate the ARPA grant to ZenniHome when it was determined that this was the most effective use of these funds for the Nation as a whole.
The grant’s redirection to factory expansion ensures an immediate and tangible impact on the Navajo Nation’s housing shortage and economic revival.
The shift from theoretical analysis to actionable investment in infrastructure and job creation reflects President Nygren’s pragmatic approach to community development and resource management.
“ZenniHome is committed to address the housing crisis head-on,” said ZenniHome CEO and founder Bob Worsley. “This partnership will ensure that every family has access to quality, affordable and lasting homes.”
The LeChee location was selected as the Regional Housing Manufacturing Facility for the Tuba City area because of its availability of land and existing infrastructure capacity.
No other proposed factory capital projects are close to development within the remaining time by ARPA deadlines and statutes. This decision encumbers and secures funding that could have been otherwise reverted to the federal government.
This first of its kind public-private partnership between the Navajo Nation and ZenniHome underscores a mutual commitment to build a substantial new industry to export from the Navajo Nation. The partnership further enhances its sovereignty by creating housing for the Nation with its own people.
Priority access to the factory’s output of housing units, substantial tax revenue from home sales, business lease payments, priority pricing for the Navajo Nation and individual Navajos and a Navajo preference in employment policy are among the key benefits for the Navajo people.
ZenniHome currently employs 135 Navajo workers with an annual payroll of over $8 million.
The company runs a daily employee shuttle from the Tuba City area. This allows some Navajo workers to ride in from the surrounding communities.
More than 100 other Navajo workers commute every day from Tuba City, Kaibeto, Bodaway-Gap, Tonalea, Coppermine, Shonto, LeChee, Inscription House, Kayenta, Black Mesa, Cove and Navajo Mountain.
The housing initiative aligns with ARPA’s objectives by investing in critical infrastructure that supports community resilience and long-term economic recovery after the Covid epidemic.
This facility expansion will create the most productive and automated housing factory in the world with output of more than 25 homes daily.
This ARPA commitment to ZenniHome is in addition to the $50 million CHID grant that was announced two weeks ago to provide a minimum of 250 ZenniHomes to high-need residents all across the Navajo Nation. Together, these efforts are a critical part of President Nygren’s 1,000 homes initiative.
This strategic engagement is designed to combine the strengths of the Navajo Nation and ZenniHome to deliver significant benefits to the Navajo Nation. These include:
- Economic Empowerment and Job Creation: The factory expansion will create employment for Navajos, both directly at the factory and indirectly through related industries. There is a focus on jobs that offer training and longterm career opportunities.
- Affordable Housing: ZenniHome’s innovative housing solutions are priced under $200,000 for a turnkey 3-bedroom home that includes water, sewer, electricity and basic appliances.
This represents a stark contrast to the typical $400,000-650,000 for turnkey homes currently built by others on Navajo Nation and makes sustainable and quality housing accessible to more Navajo people. - Additional Benefits for Navajo Nation: ZenniHome will explore sub-assembly manufacturing opportunities across the five Navajo agencies to spread jobs and economic benefits throughout Navajo Nation.
- A commitment to collaborate on housing initiatives focused on the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, veterans, and transitional housing for those overcoming opioid addiction.
- Priority production line time for Navajo Nation projects to ensure timely access to housing.
- Off-grid options to provide water, internet, sewer and electricity for homes too far from utilities.
- A Navajo preference in employment policy at ZenniHome to support our community’s workforce.
- Preferential pricing for the Navajo Nation and its members to underscore our commitment to affordability and access.
- Establishment of a training center at the former Navajo Generating Station site for nationwide Navajo installer training programs.
- Deployment of mobile ZenniHome models at events across Navajo Nation. This will include fairs to showcase housing options.
- Installation of ZenniHome units across all 5 agencies for public tours to demonstrate our innovative approach to housing.
- Pioneering housing assistance such as down payment assistance and mortgages for Navajo Nation market rate buyers.
- Master planning of the former NGS site.
“By working together with ZenniHome, we are not just building homes,” President Nygren said. “We are promoting a more sustainable future for the Navajo Nation where every citizen has access to affordable, quality housing and the promise of economic growth and stability.”
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