Kimball International Inc. is planning to expand its National Office Furniture facility in Fordsville, Kentucky. The manufacturer of furniture for offices and the hospitality industry plans to create up to 42 new jobs in Ohio County and invest $318,000 into the project.

“The company plans to use the 195,000-square-foot facility for the production of Kimball Hospitality furniture. This move will not only add new jobs to the area, but will also bring product previously made in Asia back to the United States. Production is expected to start later this month.

“We are very excited about the expansion of our operations in our Fordsville facility,” said Kevin McCoy, President of National Office Furniture. “We feel that the most important contributor of our success is our people. Product and processes can be copied; people cannot. We believe our people in Fordsville made it possible for us to make this investment.”

Kimball opened in Fordsville in 1973. The facility, which currently employs 181 people, produces National Office Furniture for companies around the world. The Indiana-based company also has a manufacturing plant in Danville.

Kimball is another example of a company that has found success in Kentucky and is growing,” Governor Steve Beshear said. “I want to congratulate the company for reinvesting in Ohio County and adding to the economic footprint in western Kentucky.”

As an incentive to encourage the investment and job growth in Fordsville, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $300,000 through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.