WHITEHALL, WI - Ashley Furniture Industries broke ground yesterday on a $6 million expansion of its manufacturing complex to make motion furniture.

Embattled Gov. Scott Walker was among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony. "In Whitehall for groundbreaking of $6m expansion @ Ashley Furniture: 225 new jobs!," he tweeted.

Ashley will nearly double the size of the Whitehall facility in adding 75,000 square feet, according to the LaCrosse Tribune, scheduled for completion in December. The furniture plant currently employs 400 people.

Founded in 1945, Ashley Furniture, based in Arcadia, WI, has grown to become the nation's largest furniture manufacturer. The company currently operates six manufacturing plants and warehouses in the U.S. totaling more than 7.3 million square feet of space. Last month, Ashley announced plans to develop a 3.3 million warehouse and manufacturing campus in Advance, NC. That project includes plans for a furniture plant that would ultimately employ 550 workers.