CASSOPOLIS — Cassopolis residents Bill and Sue Loux were all smiles last Thursday afternoon as they took a pair of oversized scissors and cut through a ribbon that welcomed them to the village business community.

Last Thursday, Wausau Homes opened at 123 S. Broadway St. in downtown Cassopolis. In addition to opening its doors to the public, the Wasau Homes team — including owners Sue and Bill Loux, Jason Hayden, Ed Badner and Brian Giroux — hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception with the Cassopolis Vandalia Chamber of Commerce.

A custom home building company founded in 1960, Wausau Homes allows customers to choose from more than 150 customizable designs. Each Wausau Homes builder is an independent local business. The Cassopolis business will build in Cass and St. Joseph counties, in addition to areas in Berrien County and two Indiana counties.

According to Bill and Sue, the company utilizes firm pricing and will complete projects within 90 days.

“We, with Wausau Homes, take the stress out of home building. You can have your home your way and done on time at a firm price,” Bill said. “One of the biggest stresses with home building is that you don’t know it is going to cost. We tell you exactly how much it is going to cost.”

Having worked in real estate for 39 years through Loux and Hayden Reality, Bill and Sue said they decided to open Wausau Homes in Cassopolis as they have noticed over the last year a lack of used and sellable homes in the Michiana region.

“This is basically going to be a complement to [Loux and Hayden Reality],” Sue said. “We decided to do this because there is a shortage of used homes. If we cannot find you a used home, we thought we could get you into a new home … This makes us basically the general contractor, and we use local contractors to help us construct the homes.”

“We felt there was a shortage of homes being built here, and we want to be a part of the building of this community,” Bill added. “We think this will be a nice complement to this area.”

Once they decided to open a building company, the Louxes said they knew they had to open a location in Cassopolis, where they have lived all their lives. For the time being, the couple said they plan to remain in Cassopolis and grow their client base.

“We are going to stay in this area,” Bill said. “We are a part of this community. We love the people in this community.”