Are Kreg Tools Made In The USA? Here's What You Should Know

If it's a question of history, Kreg Tools is unmistakably American. It all started with one enterprising woodworker, Craig, and his wife, Kathy, in Iowa, after he came up with a jig to help create neat side pockets in wood. This creation, the ancestor of a DIYer's modern must-have pocket-hole jig, became very popular, and it soon became a successful company. While the facility Kreg Tools has historically operated out of may have moved a few times, the company is still headquartered in Iowa over three decades after its founding.

Today, Kreg designs and engineers many of its tools in its Iowa headquarters, and a number of its core jigs, clamping products, and cutting systems are assembled there. However, not every product is entirely U.S.-made. Packaging often carries the label "Made in USA of U.S. and imported materials," which reflects a mix: some pocket-hole jigs and accessories are produced domestically, while consumables like screws and certain newer products — such as the 720 pocket-hole jig — are manufactured overseas, often in Taiwan or China. This blend of domestic assembly and imported components is actually common for a company of this size. In practice, Kreg Tools may have a larger percentage of its products made in America than many popular "Made-In-America" brands.

As far as home-grown American family businesses go, Kreg Tools is a premium example. Unlike the history of Japanese competitors, like Makita or Ryobi, Kreg's story starts in a home, not a spinoff of another company. In 1986, Craig Sommerfield was working on kitchen cabinets for his home in Iowa when he needed a cleaner, stronger way to attach face frames. Drawing on his background as a tool-and-die maker, he fashioned a simple aluminum jig with a steel insert that let him drill precise angled "pocket holes." Friends quickly noticed the clever design and asked for their own, so Craig started making them during the week and selling them at woodworking shows on the weekends.

In 1989, "Craig's Jig" became the Kreg Jig when Craig launched Kreg Tool Company. A patent soon followed in 1990, and just a few years later, the company moved out of the family's basement into a dedicated 5,000-square-foot facility in Huxley, Iowa. The big break came in 1995, when Wood magazine put the Kreg Jig on its cover, launching Kreg Tools to nationwide recognition. By the late 1990s, Craig's son, Todd, joined the business and helped grow it with new products.

When the 2000s rolled around, Kreg Tools had breakthrough innovations like the K2000 jig, the first one made from durable injection-molded plastic. The company also expanded distribution nationwide through an arrangement with Lowe's. Kreg diversified further with router tables, measuring systems, and eventually, powered cutting solutions. Now Kreg Tools has evolved from a family-run business to an employee-owned company with global reach, even launching Kreg Europe in Germany, and relocating to a new 150,000-square-foot campus headquarters in Ankeny, Iowa, in 2021.