State Deputy Secretary of Commerce Dale Carroll says Ashley Furniture will build a new center on a 350-acre site off of Biltmore Road in Davie County. Ashley is a Wisconsin-based company. It makes and imports upholstered furniture and leather and hardwood pieces.

State officials made the announcement this afternoon at the Furniture Market in High Point. Carroll says the $80 million facility is expected to create 550 jobs over a period of five years.

Justin Catanoso, Business Journal contributing writer and Wake Forest University Journalism Program Director, said there's still a long way to go to recover lost manufacturing jobs in the Triad - but Ashley's investment could help spur more growth in the furniture industry down the road.

"Ashley in particular is one of those companies that has really weathered the recession and hung on. This is a vast company, so there is some hope that this is a ripe target for more development in the future," said Catanoso.

Ashley earns more than $3 billion a year in revenue and has more than 400 retail outlets, a number of them in the Triad. The company has about 18,000 employees.