Innovative Hearth Products, the parent company of the Russellville FMI plant officially announced Thursday that they will be expanding the local manufacturing plant and adding close to 250 new jobs.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the plant on Lawrence Street, in the former H.D. Lee building, at 2 p.m. Friday.

An additional 210,000 square feet will be added to the existing 110,000 square feet facility. The plans are to have the facility completed by spring or summer of 2014.

It will house the manufacturing and distribution for the eastern half of North America, as well as the national customer center.

The expansion will result in the addition of more than 245 jobs.

In attendance will be numerous state and local officials celebrating the occasion: including Gov. Robert Bentley, Russellville Mayor David Grissom, Sen. Roger Bedford, Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, Probate Judge Barry Moore, the building’s owner Mike Madden, Glen Vinson, Chairman, Franklin County Development Authority, Mitch Mays, Executive Director, Franklin County Development Authority, Larry Archer, Chairman, Russellville Industrial Development Board, April Gray, Project Manager, Alabama Department of Commerce, Paul Housel, District Field Representative, Congressman Robert Aderholt, Mark Klein, President & CEO, Innovative Hearth Products, Chuck Kimmet, Vice-President of Operations, Innovative Hearth Products, Glenn Thomson, Executive Vice-President Sales and Marketing Innovative Hearth Products, and Mike Davis, plant manager.

“We sincerely wish to thank Gov. Bentley, Senator Bedford, Mayor Grissom, their staffs, and Mike Madden, our landlord, for their hard work and support to make this expansion possible. We are pleased to be able to support Russellville and Franklin County on this growth effort,” President and CEO of Innovative Hearth Products Mark Klein said.