Manufacturing jobs on the move
Dartmouth-based cabinet maker relocating a larger facility in Amherst
A Dartmouth-based cabinet maker and distributor is moving into the former Jeld-Wen building in Amherst’s industrial park.
Cabinet Central is holding a job fair at the Community Credit Union Business Innovation Centre on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 9 a.m. and is looking to hire a shipper/receiver, CNC operator, finisher, assembly/general woodworkers, a maintenance/ handy person and a skilled cabinetmaker/woodworker.
“We’ve basically outgrown our space here in Dartmouth and we cannot produce enough product to meet the demand,” company president Rob Chaisson told the Amherst News on Wednesday.
“We’ve always wanted to do a dealership network and when we started looking around for locations we found the old Jeld Wen building in Amherst that has a lot of space and potential. It just needs a little tender loving care.”
Chaisson, who operates the company with his son, said Cabinet Central is approximately three years old, but he has more than 25 years of experience in the business. He feels Amherst is a great place for a distribution centre because of its location in the central Maritimes and access to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island the United States.
“We’re going to start with six and we see it growing from there. We have the capacity to grow more,” Chaisson said.
The company makes cabinets, bookcases and custom counters as well as other products for the home including kitchens, bathrooms, closets and more.
He said there will be no job losses at its Halifax facility that will become more of a retail operation.
The staff there will be retrained for other positions and office staff will be staying at the Akerley Boulevard facility. Eventually, he said, once the new equipment is in place and tested it will be move to Amherst in the coming months.
He hopes to fully operational in Amherst by the end of March.