Originally founded in 1983 by Dick Haakenson, the Chehalis-based business Pacific Mobile Structures just finished celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023 and has grown from a local company to now having 11 branch locations in seven states.
This week, The Chronicle spoke with Dick’s son, Garth Haakenson, who is now the company’s CEO, and Gretchen Moore, Dick’s daughter, Pacific Mobile’s contract administrator, about what they do, as well as their goals for the future.
“It’s been a pretty fun year. We spent a lot of time just on the road making sure we got around to everybody,” Haakenson said. “We had some celebrations this year that we normally don’t have time to do and just took the time to reflect and look back on where we came from and where we’re headed.”
While originally the company’s CFO, Moore now considers herself “semi-retired.”
“I’m working just three days a week now doing our contract administration,” Moore said.
Despite the company’s growth over the decades, Haakenson added Pacific Mobile’s more than 280 employees pride themselves on being family owned in the modular construction industry.
“There’s really not a whole lot of us left,” Haakenson said. “The industry itself has gone from family-owned businesses into kind of being taken over by large, publicly traded companies with equity money, and they just think a little differently.”
Part of being family-owned also means being community involved, and over the years Pacific Mobile has funded various Chehalis community projects, including the Pacific Athletic Center.
“We were able to say there’s a need in town.There’s really not a lot of gym space or softball and baseball batting cages, things like that, so we thought, ‘Let’s do something,’ ” Haakenson added.
Aside from the Pacific Athletic Center, the company has also helped develop the Gail and Carolyn Shaw Aquatics Center, Penny Playground’s renovation and other projects.
“We were able to kickstart getting the first clubhouse for the Boys & Girls Club in Lewis County,” Haakenson said. “... We saw this in other communities that had this and the benefit it could have for kids, giving them a place to go after school and developing healthy lifestyles and academic success, and that’s a really cool mission, so let’s get involved with that.”
Because of Pacific Mobile’s growth, a lot of its business happens outside of Lewis County, but that still benefits the county, Haakenson added.
“If it wasn’t for that growth, we wouldn’t be able to make as big an impact locally as we have,” he said.
Moore, who is also involved with the United Way of Lewis County, added one of Pacific Mobile’s core tenets is to serve.
“That is really important to both Garth and I, to be able to give back to the community that we’re involved in and where we also started from, too,” Moore said.
Pacific Mobile helps the communities that house its branch locations, too.
While “Mobile” is in the company’s name, it offers both permanent and movable modular structures, all depending on what the customer wants, according to Haakenson.
Modular construction involves the majority of a structure’s building process — approximately 80% depending on the type of structure — done offsite in a factory location.
This enables builders to work in a more-controlled environment and ensures better quality management and application of construction protocols and testing, along with less waste and pollution, Haakenson said. The nearly completed structures are then transported to the construction site for final assembly.
Haakenson added modular construction also helps developers save money on building costs on top of reducing construction time since weather delays are no longer a factor. The buildings are reusable, too.
“It’s environmentally friendly and green. You don’t have to trash it or tear it down or let it become abandoned. It can be remarketed and repurposed into something else,” Haakenson said.
Some buildings Pacific Mobile still leases out have been in use for as long as 30 years, he added.
Pacific Mobile specializes in both selling and leasing modular construction and offers customers everything from mobile offices and storage containers to mobile apartments and Smart Academic Green Environment (SAGE) classrooms, Haakenson stated.
SAGE classrooms offer schools looking to replace aging buildings amid shrinking budgets affordable, resource-efficient modular classrooms that will last decades. They were designed in a collaborative effort alongside Portland State University and Blazer Industries approximately 15 years ago.
“We saw a product out there, portable classrooms … and the design has not really been changed in 30 or 40 years,” Haakenson said.
Aside from being more energy efficient, SAGE classrooms are more student friendly compared with older portable classrooms and feature higher ceilings and bigger windows to let in more sunlight, creating a more conducive learning environment.
SAGE classrooms are mobile as well, so if a school district needs to move them or reorganize a school’s layout, it can. Both the Central Kitsap and Edmonds school districts have utilized SAGE classrooms from Pacific Mobile for their students.
While Pacific Mobile has expanded a lot in the past 40 years, Haakenson said he wants to maintain the company’s community involvement while continuing to grow.
“We just want to keep doing what we’re doing,” Haakenson said. “The industry is changing a lot, and we just want to get really good at our core business, our core focus, and continue to grow and provide more opportunities for people to be a part of this.”
In 2022, Pacific Mobile acquired and merged with a Texas-based modular construction company and is now expanding toward the East Coast, mainly working with military contractors, military bases and U.S. Department of Energy sites. The company plans to possibly expand further, into Florida, according to Haakenson.
Pacific Mobile Structures has branch locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas. To learn more, visit https://pacificmobile.com/.
