Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

TAHLEQUAH, OK - American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ: AMWD), a leading supplier of kitchen cabinetry to the new construction and remodeling industry, announced today that it will open a new 300,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

The new plant will be located on a 40-acre site in the Tahlequah Industrial Park and operate a finishing system to support the assembly process. Once fully developed, the company plans to have invested approximately $20 million in buildings and equipment. Total employment at the plant, when fully operational, is expected to reach between 400 - 500 employees. This new assembly plant is expected to begin shipping cabinetry to customers in the South Central United States region by August 2002.

"American Woodmark’s Tahlequah plant will be a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will help meet our customers’ needs well into the future. The company selected Tahlequah because the community offers an economically competitive environment and will provide a high-quality way of life for our employees", says Dave Blount, senior vice president, manufacturing/logistics, American Woodmark.

"We are very excited about American Woodmark’s decision to build its new plant in Tahlequah", says Mayor Jerry Cook. "I want to thank everyone in our community who worked to make this happen. We look forward to a long partnership with American Woodmark."

"We are very pleased that our economic strategy and partnership with the City of Tahlequah has helped bring American Woodmark to the capital of the Cherokee Nation", says Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. "We are pleased to work with American Woodmark to provide good career-path jobs for Cherokees and other members of the local community."

A ceremony will be held on Wednesday, January 9, to mark the official groundbreaking of the construction site. The company will then begin accepting job applications in the late winter, early spring time frame.

American Woodmark Corporation, located in Winchester, Virginia, is one of the three largest manufacturers of kitchen cabinets in the United States and Canada with sales of $417 million in fiscal year 2001. Offering approximately 150 cabinet lines in a wide variety of designs, materials and finishes, American Woodmark products are sold through a network of dealers and distributors and directly to home centers, major builders and home manufacturers.

The company currently operates 11 manufacturing facilities in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana and Minnesota, as well as various service centers across the country. In addition, the company recently began construction on a 12th facility in Hazard, Kentucky: a lumber drying facility and dimension mill that dries and rough-cuts components that are used in the doors, drawer fronts and frames of cabinets.

American Woodmark shares are traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "AMWD". To find out more about American Woodmark, and view its vast array of cabinet styles, visit the web site.