Cabinet Companies Plan Joint Production Facility

Two Hayden Lake cabinet-making firms will begin construction on a 15,600-square-foot facility at the New Frontiers Business Park later this month.

Jerry Short Cabinets & Millwork and Select Euro Systems plan to break ground on the partially bermed, wood-frame structure within two weeks. Completion is slated for March.

The building will sit on 1.8 acres at the 270-acre business park, located at U.S. Highway 95 and Lancaster Road. About 13,600 square feet will be used for manufacturing, with the remainder dedicated to office space.

“They’re still two distinct businesses and two separate manufacturing facilities. The building will be split in half,” said Jerry Short.

The two companies employ 18 and expect no immediate employment growth connected with the move.

Short’s firm, in business since 1979, specializes in traditional wood cabinets for residential customers. Select Euro Systems, a 10-year-old partnership, uses a frameless construction technique popular in commercial projects.

Select Euro Systems partner Jim Fink said the progression of business growth in Kootenai County factored in the decision to build at New Frontiers. “Things are moving to the north and we thought that development would put us in a good corridor,” said Fink.

New Frontiers developer Alan Golub has been the only tenant at the park since opening Electronic Packaging Associates there in March 1996. Golub’s firm manufactures tools used in forming wire leads on computer chips. He expects his $100,000 investment in paving Lancaster Road and addition of a second tenant to attract other companies.

“When you see ground-breaking, it generates interest,” Golub said. “We’ve outlined the future and now we can show that it’s not just pie-in-the-sky; it’s concrete activity.”

Golub reportedly turned down offers from prospective tenants who wanted to operate from metal buildings on his 48 construction sites because he wanted to maintain aesthetics at the park. His own business is housed in a modern glass and wood structure at the northwest corner of the development.

“If we take it slow and set the tone now,” he said, “we set the tone for 270 acres.”

, DataTimes