BlueCotton of Bowling Green announced a $5.58 million expansion of its Bowling Green production operations Tuesday.

The company, which was founded in 1991, will acquire a 112,000-square-foot facility to house new production lines to meet growing demand, creating 94 new full-time jobs, some of which have already been filled, according to a news release.

BlueCotton is a custom screen-printing and embroidery operation that began in the living room of a Bowling Green apartment and opened a retail store in 2009 on Broadway Avenue.

“If you want to see a true Kentucky success story, look at BlueCotton,” Gov. Matt Bevin said in a news release. “It’s steadily grown from a startup into a manufacturing and custom service provider with clients around the world.”

A company leader said BlueCotton’s growth has not been at the expense of the company’s culture.

“While we are experiencing exponential growth, the great thing about BlueCotton is that we are able to maintain the small company culture,” company Chief Financial Officer Warren Guyer said in news release. “Our employees love the unique things we have to offer, like monthly lunches, casual dress code and family outings. These are things we absolutely love and that make working at BlueCotton so great.”

Company officials said its online presence established in 2003 has led to revenue growth that has averaged 20 percent each year from 2003 through 2015, the release said.

The company grew out of an opportunity “gone bad,” according to the company website.

“A business venture gone bad left them with close to 1,000 T-shirts and a huge credit card bill to boot,” the website said. “In an attempt to alleviate their cramped apartment of the surplus T-shirts and pay bills, they started selling T-shirts to the Greeks (fraternities and sororities) at Western Kentucky University. One thing led to another and this happy accident eventually became the real deal!”

Company President and founder Mike Coffey said the expansion is a chance to make a local investment.

“We are excited about the new opportunities that are in front of us and we are so happy to be able to make this investment right here in our hometown,” Coffey said in the release. “Warren County gives us access to great resources and the business climate in South Central Kentucky is strong thanks to our local Chamber of Commerce as well as other community leaders. We look forward to growing our company and making a positive impact on our community.”

BlueCotton has been included on Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America the last eight years from 2008 through 2015.

BlueCotton has expanded twice since it originally moved to Vanderbilt Court in 1999. In 2007, it built a new facility, and in 2011 it expanded its original Vanderbilt Court space. In June, BlueCotton moved to its new space on Mitch McConnell Way in the South Central Kentucky Industrial Park.

The company has hired 30 of its 94 anticipated new staff members, bringing its full-time employment to about 80.

Tuesday’s BlueCotton announcement is the 14th economic development announcement in 2016 for the chamber. Announcements thus far have represented a total capital investment of $459.1 million and 673 new jobs.

In 2014, BlueCotton Founder and CEO Coffey was named Small Business Person of the Year by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, BlueCotton received an Expansion Award honoring this project at the Chamber’s 2016 Targeted Business and Industry Awards Banquet.

— For more information about BlueCotton, visit www.bluecotton.com.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.