Cabinetmaker picks Utah

An Ohio cabinetmaking company will build a $100 million manufacturing plant in West Jordan that will employ 600 people initially and about 1,300 when at full capacity.

KraftMaid Cabinetry Inc., based in Middlefield, Ohio, east of Cleveland, will join state and local officials today in announcing details, but Kim Boos, KraftMaid's marketing manager, said Wednesday that the company will build a 700,000-square-foot plant to serve customers in the company's western and central markets.

"It will be primarily a manufacturing facility, and once the plant is at full capacity, it will employ approximately 1,300 people," Boos said. "They won't all be added next year, when the plant opens, but as capacity of the plant grows, so will the employment level."

The company plans to break ground for construction late in the second quarter of 2005 and have production begin in the second quarter of 2006.

An incentives package approved by Utah officials last year aims to make the new jobs high-paying. Boos said she did not have details about wages at the Utah plant, but "in northeast Ohio, KraftMaid has always provided a very competitive salary range and a very comprehensive benefits package."

"We probably won't be able to begin hiring until later this year, after construction is well under way and we begin to install machinery," she said.

The West Jordan facility will be KraftMaid's fourth. The Hoover's Web site said Middlefield is "in the heart of Amish country" and that KraftMaid operates two plants there — one specializing in cabinetry parts milling, cabinet assembly and shipping, and the other specializing in frame construction and finishing and specialty part finishing. A plant in Orwell, Ohio, finishes cabinetry doors and drawer fronts, it said.

The company was founded in 1969 and was purchased by Masco Corp., based in Taylor, Mich., in 1990.

KraftMaid's speciality is "semicustom" cabinetry, between the "stock" and "custom" segments of the industry and aimed at providing built-to-order cabinets without the custom price or lead time.

State officials said in October that Utah was competing with New Mexico for the new facility but did not name the company at that time. Boos said five states were initially evaluated.