CONNERSVILLE, IN -- Semi-custom cabinetry maker Wayzata Home Products, a subsidiary of 6 Square Cabinet Co. in Minnetonka, MN, will invest more than $12.5 million in a new cabinet manufacturing plant and warehouse in Connersville, IN.

The move is expected to bring more than 300 jobs by 2018. A job fair will be held at the new Wayzata cabinet plant on Oct. 15-16 to hire 50 initially. "We want to ship product as soon as possible," Juang says. The plant is expected to be operational by early next year.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Wayzata up to $2 million in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation goals. The city of Connersville also provided revenue.

Taking over the industrial plant of a former Ford Motor Co. cooling-systems subsidiary, Visteon, Wayzata will use the new location to build, finish, assemble and distribute high-quality, semi-custom cabinets for its online retail brand CliqStudios.com.

Wayzata Home Products Founder and CEO Andy Juang describes this move as part of a larger strategy. The company plans to grow its internet brand and generate a demand for manufacturing by creating a larger market for its products and services -- marketing to over 120 million homes in the U.S., he says, and connecting with them through online commerce.

To ramp up to this scale, Wayzata Home Products needed a plant that could accommodate the anticipated volume. "We were looking for a bigger property," Juang says, "and we found that in the 1.8 million square feet in Connersville."