WINSTON-SALEM, NC - United Furniture Industries moved one-step closer to opening a manufacturing and distribution center in the Winston-Salem area after $150,000 in performance-based incentives was approved by the Forsyth County commissioners.

First reported in the Winston-Salem Journal, the incentives would require United Furniture to create 200 full-time jobs within three years, in addition to the 47 jobs it currently hosts in the nearby business park. The county would provide the money over a seven-year period, during which United Furniture would have to retain the employment level.

The Journal reported performance-based incentives were already approved by the Winston-Salem City Council, with the possibility of more dollars in incentives to come from the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

The U.S. manufacturer of Simmons Upholstery furniture, United Furniture would also invest $5.8 million to upgrade the proposed 850,000-square-foot facility, the Journal reports.

Earlier this year United Furniture Industries announced it was looking at several regions across the U.S. for a $40 million manufacturing plant expansion that would result in a 25% increase in capacity, adding a 1 million-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility, and employing 200 jobs.

This comes on the heels of the company's expansion last year at its Nettleton, MS, facility. United Furniture currently has approximately 3,000 employees with facilities in Mississippi, North Carolina and California. Production space totals more than 4 million square feet, according to its website.

The exclusive U.S. manufacturer of Simmons Upholstery since 2008, UFI also produces stationary sofas, Beautyrest upholstery, reclining sofas, recliners, sectionals and Hide-A-Bed sleepers. It was founded in 2000 through the merger and acquisitions of Comfort Furniture, Parkhill Furniture and United Chair.