INDIANA SPOTLIGHT
A Central Place and Time
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hen Norwood Promotional Products began looking for a new corporate headquarters late last year, the goal of the Austin, Texas-based company was clear: proximity to customers and operations. That pretty much narrowed the hunt to a few Midwestern states.
Chuck Knorp, Norwood's senior vice president, human resources, was a key participant in the company's six-month site search, donning a project manager's hat during the thorough effort.
"Our facilities tend to be in the Midwest and so do many of our top customers," Knorp says.
Norwood employed United Parcel Service to do a logistics study of the region, looking at the cost of doing business in potential locations, Knorp says. That narrowed the search to about 10 sites, he says. Access to a major airport, a major consideration, brought the number down by half. After eliminating Milwaukee, St. Louis and Cincinnati, Norwood came down to a choice between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky.
In the end, Indianapolis' competitive labor market and assistance provided by the State of Indiana as well as the Indy Partnership, were the deciding factors for Norwood, which plans to be in its new Indianapolis space in the Market Tower building by August. The move creates 80 full-time jobs, and about 15 people will transfer from Austin.
Norwood, the world's largest supplier of promotional products, was founded in 1989 and has grown rapidly with the help of seven acquisitions since 1992. Norwood currently employs more than 3,500 at 19 locations. The company markets 20 product lines with more than 6,000 promotional products.
"We looked at sites in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan," says Alan Ball, president of the High Point, N.C.-based manufacturer. Finally, the help provided by state and local economic development agencies proved to be the key. Ball says companies already in the Fort Wayne area helped answer key questions about the community.
Vita is investing more than $6 million in the Fort Wayne facility, which will employ 29. The project continues an investment spree for the company. In 2001, Vita installed a new $4-million production line in High Point, and in 2002, the company opened a new $5-million plant near San Antonio. The Fort Wayne plant, which will begin production early next year, will manufacture technical and specialty nonwovens for air filtration, automotive, industrial, furniture and bedding markets.
Autocar moved into its new headquarters and factory in Hagerstown in March. Moving from Union City, Ind., the company will use the facility to assemble its Autocar Xpeditor heavy-duty low-cab-over-engine (LCOE) trucks.
The company, which employs about 200 at its new site, was established in 2001 when Illinois-based Grand Vehicle Works bought the name Autocar and the Xpeditor truck line from Volvo Trucks North America. Autocar will also produce a heavy-duty diesel-pow ered chassis for its sister company, Workhorse Custom Chassis. The Xpeditor has applications in the refuse and construction markets.
Grand Vehicle Works has operations in nearby Union City and proximity to these companies and to suppliers was a factor in the move to Hagerstown, Autocar officials say.
A Japan-based manufacturer of automatic transmission clutch assemblies and components is coming to Berne, south of Fort Wayne and near the Ohio border. FCC Co. Ltd. will build a 500,000-sq.-ft. (45,450-sq.-m.) factory, creating 210 jobs over the next decade. FCC will supply automatic transmission clutch assemblies and components, segmented clutch friction disks and torque converter lock-up clutches for Ford Motor Co. The facility will be running by spring 2004 and will gradually add staff.
Competing with Ohio for the project, the Indiana Department of Commerce awarded a total of $1,264,000 in tax credits, training grants and infrastructure assistance. In addition, the City of Berne is providing $2.4 million in tax abatements, $300,000 to assist with site preparation, $400,000 to supplement the land purchase and $250,000 from its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) to support infrastructure improvements. Adams County and the Adams County Economic Development Corp. chipped in with $250,000 in EDIT revenues.
FCC operates 11 facilities in nine countries, including Japan, England, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. The company manufactures clutches for cars, motorcycles and utility vehicles for Honda, Saturn, Ford, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki, and has annual sales of $700 million.
In Terre Haute, Liechtenstein-based ThyssenKrupp Presta will establish a manufacturing operation to build steering columns for Ford's 2005 models. The company will spend $9.1 million to refurbish and equip an existing building in the Vigo County Industrial Park, creating up to 75 new jobs.
Indianapolis competed with several cities, including Florence, S.C., and Philadelphia.
Roche Diagnostics spokesman Joel Reuter says the company's site review began last fall and heated up with formal discussions in January. Roche looked at several areas around the country where it already had operations in place.
"We've had a long, rich history in Indianapolis and there is a lot of positive momentum here with the state's life sciences initiative, very strong local leadership and great academic collaboration with Purdue University, Indiana University and others," he says. "It's also a great place for our people to work. Staying in Indianapolis was a natural choice for us."
Roche currently employs 2,150 in Indiana with an average salary of $63,000. The Indianapolis campus is nearing completion of a previous $13-million expansion which is adding 108,000-sq.-ft. (10,000-sq.-m.) to an existing building to house manufacturing, laboratories and office space for Roche's blood glucose monitor and blood coagulation test strips. Roche's 150-acre (60.75 hectare) campus has 15 buildings and 1.3 million sq. ft. (120,770-sq.m.) of space.
"Our overall expansion will be incremental," Reuter says. "We will be making infrastructure improvements to the campus. We are at or near capacity right now and will be growing aggressively over the course of 10 years."
Duke will develop two buildings for Case New Holland (CNH) at its Lebanon Business Park. Construction is under way on the facility with CNH planning to occupy a total of 1,092,000 sq. ft. (101,446 sq. m.). CNH, a global manufacturer of farming and construction equipment, will invest $28.7 million in the project that will create 697 jobs by the end of 2005.
The Bombay Company will occupy 300,000-sq.-ft. (27,870-sq.-m.) of Duke's Plainfield III distribution facility, near Indianapolis. Bombay chose the site for its Midwestern distribution hub because of its good access to major highways.
Chuck Knorp, Norwood's senior vice president, human resources, was a key participant in the company's six-month site search, donning a project manager's hat during the thorough effort.
"Our facilities tend to be in the Midwest and so do many of our top customers," Knorp says.
Norwood employed United Parcel Service to do a logistics study of the region, looking at the cost of doing business in potential locations, Knorp says. That narrowed the search to about 10 sites, he says. Access to a major airport, a major consideration, brought the number down by half. After eliminating Milwaukee, St. Louis and Cincinnati, Norwood came down to a choice between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky.
Indiana 2003: Population: 6,146,507A Demographic Profile Pop. Growth (1990-2002): 10.8% Urban Population: 62.5% Rural Population: 37.5% Households: 2,364,910 Median Household Size: 2.6 Median Household Income: $42,151 Median Age: 36.4 Per Capita Income: $25,933 Annual Spending Per Capita: $16,423 White-Collar Occupations: 52.7% Blue-Collar Occupations: 33.6% Percent with College Degree: 13.5% Total Work Force: 3,019,372 Total Crime Index (US avg. = 100): 100.0 Annual Avg. Temperature: 52.6°F Consumer Price Index: 146.4 EASI Quality of Life Index: 88.0 Source: Development Alliance (www.developmentalliance.com) |
In the end, Indianapolis' competitive labor market and assistance provided by the State of Indiana as well as the Indy Partnership, were the deciding factors for Norwood, which plans to be in its new Indianapolis space in the Market Tower building by August. The move creates 80 full-time jobs, and about 15 people will transfer from Austin.
Norwood, the world's largest supplier of promotional products, was founded in 1989 and has grown rapidly with the help of seven acquisitions since 1992. Norwood currently employs more than 3,500 at 19 locations. The company markets 20 product lines with more than 6,000 promotional products.
Vita Nonwovens
Lands in Fort Wayne
"We looked at sites in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan," says Alan Ball, president of the High Point, N.C.-based manufacturer. Finally, the help provided by state and local economic development agencies proved to be the key. Ball says companies already in the Fort Wayne area helped answer key questions about the community.
Vita is investing more than $6 million in the Fort Wayne facility, which will employ 29. The project continues an investment spree for the company. In 2001, Vita installed a new $4-million production line in High Point, and in 2002, the company opened a new $5-million plant near San Antonio. The Fort Wayne plant, which will begin production early next year, will manufacture technical and specialty nonwovens for air filtration, automotive, industrial, furniture and bedding markets.
Auto Industry
Is Indiana Mainstay
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Autocar moved into its new headquarters and factory in Hagerstown in March. Moving from Union City, Ind., the company will use the facility to assemble its Autocar Xpeditor heavy-duty low-cab-over-engine (LCOE) trucks.
The company, which employs about 200 at its new site, was established in 2001 when Illinois-based Grand Vehicle Works bought the name Autocar and the Xpeditor truck line from Volvo Trucks North America. Autocar will also produce a heavy-duty diesel-pow ered chassis for its sister company, Workhorse Custom Chassis. The Xpeditor has applications in the refuse and construction markets.
Grand Vehicle Works has operations in nearby Union City and proximity to these companies and to suppliers was a factor in the move to Hagerstown, Autocar officials say.
A Japan-based manufacturer of automatic transmission clutch assemblies and components is coming to Berne, south of Fort Wayne and near the Ohio border. FCC Co. Ltd. will build a 500,000-sq.-ft. (45,450-sq.-m.) factory, creating 210 jobs over the next decade. FCC will supply automatic transmission clutch assemblies and components, segmented clutch friction disks and torque converter lock-up clutches for Ford Motor Co. The facility will be running by spring 2004 and will gradually add staff.
See the SITES Indiana Dept. of Commerce www.indianacommerce.com
Duke Realty
Autocar |
Competing with Ohio for the project, the Indiana Department of Commerce awarded a total of $1,264,000 in tax credits, training grants and infrastructure assistance. In addition, the City of Berne is providing $2.4 million in tax abatements, $300,000 to assist with site preparation, $400,000 to supplement the land purchase and $250,000 from its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) to support infrastructure improvements. Adams County and the Adams County Economic Development Corp. chipped in with $250,000 in EDIT revenues.
FCC operates 11 facilities in nine countries, including Japan, England, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. The company manufactures clutches for cars, motorcycles and utility vehicles for Honda, Saturn, Ford, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki, and has annual sales of $700 million.
In Terre Haute, Liechtenstein-based ThyssenKrupp Presta will establish a manufacturing operation to build steering columns for Ford's 2005 models. The company will spend $9.1 million to refurbish and equip an existing building in the Vigo County Industrial Park, creating up to 75 new jobs.
Roche Diagnostics
Stays Home, Expands
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Indianapolis competed with several cities, including Florence, S.C., and Philadelphia.
Roche Diagnostics spokesman Joel Reuter says the company's site review began last fall and heated up with formal discussions in January. Roche looked at several areas around the country where it already had operations in place.
"We've had a long, rich history in Indianapolis and there is a lot of positive momentum here with the state's life sciences initiative, very strong local leadership and great academic collaboration with Purdue University, Indiana University and others," he says. "It's also a great place for our people to work. Staying in Indianapolis was a natural choice for us."
Roche currently employs 2,150 in Indiana with an average salary of $63,000. The Indianapolis campus is nearing completion of a previous $13-million expansion which is adding 108,000-sq.-ft. (10,000-sq.-m.) to an existing building to house manufacturing, laboratories and office space for Roche's blood glucose monitor and blood coagulation test strips. Roche's 150-acre (60.75 hectare) campus has 15 buildings and 1.3 million sq. ft. (120,770-sq.m.) of space.
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"Our overall expansion will be incremental," Reuter says. "We will be making infrastructure improvements to the campus. We are at or near capacity right now and will be growing aggressively over the course of 10 years."
Case New Holland,
Bombay Plan DCs
Duke will develop two buildings for Case New Holland (CNH) at its Lebanon Business Park. Construction is under way on the facility with CNH planning to occupy a total of 1,092,000 sq. ft. (101,446 sq. m.). CNH, a global manufacturer of farming and construction equipment, will invest $28.7 million in the project that will create 697 jobs by the end of 2005.
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The Bombay Company will occupy 300,000-sq.-ft. (27,870-sq.-m.) of Duke's Plainfield III distribution facility, near Indianapolis. Bombay chose the site for its Midwestern distribution hub because of its good access to major highways.