Costs take a toll at Jeld-Wen

A company that makes doors in Everett has laid off 66 workers, blaming competition from cheap imports and the increased cost of North American wood.

“The spread in material and labor costs has become too large for us to effectively compete in this particular product category,” said Chad Turner, the vice president for wood door manufacturing at Jeld-Wen, which is based in Klamath Falls, Ore.

Before the layoffs, which took place three weeks ago, Jeld-Wen employed more than 200 workers in Everett at its door manufacturing plant and adjacent cutting plant on the Everett waterfront. The company traces its roots in Everett to Nord Door, which started in Everett in 1925.

A spokeswoman said the operation was hurt when the U.S. government earlier this year slapped a retaliatory tariff on imported softwoods from Canada. The tariff helped American sawmills by eliminating the Canadians’ price advantage, but it made Jeld-Wen’s raw material costs jump as much as 20 percent for some types of lumber, including Douglas fir.

That pushed Jeld-Wen’s costs well above that of foreign competitors, spokeswoman Teri Cline said.

The company last year established a custom hardwood door production line in Everett to offset the loss of business in the low-end softwood door business. According to Turner, sales in the high-end category are growing, leaving the possibility that the company could rehire some of the laid-off workers in the future.