Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Pennsylvania-based maker of wood door and cabinet components, is building an $18 million manufacturing plant in Tooele to help it better address the needs of its customers in the western U.S., including the new KraftMaid plant under construction in West Jordan.

The 115,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be completed by year's end and is expected to employ 180 within three years, said Steve Holcomb, Conestoga's director of sales and marketing.

"We've been shipping tens of millions of dollars worth of products to our customers in the West for years," said Holcomb, who is based in East Earl, Pa. "And it just reached the point where we felt we could better serve our customers by locating a facility within the region."

Holcomb said one of Conestoga's largest customers - KraftMaid - recommended it build its plant in Utah. "They spoke very highly of the state and how pleased they were with the area and the work ethic of the labor force," he said.

Utah was chosen as the site for the new Conestoga plant over several states in the region.

"KraftMaid wasn't their entire reason for locating to Utah - they have a lot of other business interests - but it helped," said Shawn Stinson, spokesman for the Economic Development Corp. of Utah, which assisted Conestoga in making its decision.

Stinson said two to four additional companies soon might be announcing they are coming to Utah as a result of KraftMaid's decision to build in West Jordan. Once completed next year, the $100 million KraftMaid plant is expected to eventually employ 1,300 workers.

Conestoga was founded in 1964 and manufacturers components for a number of kitchen and bath cabinet manufacturers. It employs 2,200 people in seven facilities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and Arkansas.

Its new plant, which is under construction in the Utah Industrial Depot in Tooele, sits on a 20-acre parcel, Holcomb said. In addition to the new plant, Conestoga is anticipating leasing additional warehouse space within the industrial park.

"Tooele turned out to be the right fit and the right location for Conestoga," Stinson said. "They were delighted with the close proximity of I-80 and the nearby rail lines."

steve@sltrib.com