Affordable housing manufacturer indieDwell has temporarily shut down its Pueblo production facility due to cashflow issues, leaving 55 employees without work for the time being.

“We have not laid anyone off recently, but the factory has been closed due to cashflow issues and that is leaving us without materials to work on our projects,” said Mikki Gates, indieDwell human resources manager. “Our current plan is to reopen our production line once we've received the funds that are expected.”

Gates said the company has not set a reopening date.

“We are waiting on funds from various sources, so hopefully soon,” Gates said.

Two employees of the company who asked the Chieftain to not use their names for this story confirmed that a large part of the issue that is one client in California has not paid on its contract.

"Our whole workforce is disbanded and shattered. A lot of us are depressed, upset and mad," one worker said.

A former indieDwell employee who asked not to be named said he was one of about 45 workers laid off from the Pueblo production factory Jan. 6. Gates confirmed the layoffs, reporting that indieDwell "reduced production down to one line from two as an adjustment to our upcoming production schedule for 2023."

The laid-off worker said they believe the company is violating the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which is a law that requires employers to provide employees experiencing employment loss with a 60-day notice prior to a layoff, although some exceptions apply, according to the state labor department.

The WARN act protects workers, their families and communities from the impact of mass layoffs.

Another worker said Tuesday the recent shutdown has gone on for a full week and "they (indieDwell) really haven't said much except it may be another week," before work resumes at the Pueblo plant.

"I really like the place and like the people I work with. In the past it has been 'take a day off here or there' and now we're off for a week. It is frustrating and it is scary because we still have a lot of work to be done and people need affordable housing," the worker said.

Because this is the third time the employee has experienced a loss of paid hours with indieDwell, he said he applied to CS Wind in hopes of getting a job at the wind tower manufacturing plant in Pueblo.

A third worker said he was told they likely won't return to work at indieDwell until April 30, but "that's not set in stone." That employee said the company "went out of the way to start helping us get unemployment and compensation for loss of hours."

Two of the current workers said they were due to be paid Friday but did not see those wages in their bank accounts until Tuesday.

"It's a rollercoaster ride and I am trying to keep a positive attitude, but I am really kind of concerned for my future. I've got a mortgage, insurance costs, a car payment and now I don't know if I can even afford my cable bill," one of the workers said, pointing out he, too, is looking for a new job.

He said his position at indieDwell was the first construction job he had that offered health insurance and retirement benefits, so he told his wife, "I am really making an effort in this job."

More on indieDwell: Pueblo's indieDwell rolling out first Colorado homes for its hometown and La Junta

Pueblo’s indieDwell production facility opened July 6, 2020, to build tiny homes and affordable housing units inside a 100,000 square-foot facility at 205 N. Elizabeth St., formerly the AG Warehouse.

While the company made its start building homes with shipping containers, it has since offered metal-framed buildings so customers are no longer limited to the 8-foot-wide shipping container size and can purchase homes with widths of 12, 14 and 16 feet.

Through an incentive agreement with the city of Pueblo and Pueblo’s Economic Development Corp., the company, which is based in Boise, Idaho, where it runs another manufacturing plant, committed to bringing 170 jobs to Pueblo when it reaches full capacity.

In 2019, Pueblo City Council approved providing more than $1.5 million in half-cent sales tax economic-development funds to the company, with the money provided by the city used to purchase equipment and provide pre-employment training at Pueblo Community College, among other uses.

Pueblo Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Jeff Shaw told the Chieftain Monday that the indieDwell plant is not shutting down.

The business is “experiencing a challenge in waiting for payment from some customers,” which is a sign of the current economic situation, Shaw said. “They are waiting for people to pay their bills so they are shut down, but hopefully will be back up and running soon."

Shaw said indieDwell’s CEO for the Pueblo operation, Ron Francis, is on a sabbatical from mid-March to mid-May. In the meantime, interim CEO Miguel Hernandez is overseeing the operation, Gates said.

According to an Idaho media outlet, BoiseDev, indieDwell stopped manufacturing in Caldwell, Idaho, and laid off or furloughed 61 employees in May 2021. The company said it hoped to hire some of them back, but one Pueblo worker said, "this sure seems like Idaho."

More on indieDwell: 'Lifting the neighborhood': Pueblo's first container home hits the market

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Affordable home builder temporarily closes its Pueblo production line