Cabinetmaker, KraftMaid Cabinetry Inc. picks Utah for new plant – $100 million West Jordan plant to hire up to 1,300

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.

By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

Full Story: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600109219,00.html