Pallet Shelters for H-2A Workers Pt 2
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Housing for your workers? It's an issue many growers face every year. Everett-based Pallet Shelters may soon have a durable, easy to assemble, and affordable answer to that dilemma.
Pallet Shelter owner Amy King says they're awaiting government approval of two new designs with requirements different from their original made for disaster relief ...
KING ... "But, again, we designed them specifically for this market, for the agriculture market, so that growers could meet the requirements for H-2A."
King says assembly is simple ...
KING ... "We prefabricate all the panels here in our shop in Everett. They're all locally made in Washington and they'll come to you ready to put together. So, you literally put the base out, put the walls up on the sides.
We use quick-connect pins to put the pieces together. You line up the holes, slide the pins through, and you have a shelter in the matter of 15-20 minutes."
And, she says they come down just as easily at the end of the season ...
KING ... "You can also leave it up, but if you want to move it around from orchard to orchard you can do that. You can move it from one location to another very easily."
King says they've already had interest expressed from cherry growers ...
KING ... "I think we have a lot of growers who are very interested in our product. They're awaiting the DOH approval, as are we, so we're sort of on hold until we get our final approval from Department of Health. Once we have that, then I think we'll start to see some sales going through and people starting to put them up in their orchards."
King says they're durable enough to leave standing year-round, but are built for easy storage too.
King says they expect to find out about DOH approval within a few weeks and hopes to have them available for growers within a month or two.
In the meantime, go to www.palletshelter.com for more information.
