Company news

Medical device maker Biomet Inc. plans an expansion of its northern Indiana facilities that could add about
280 jobs, according to the Associated Press. Company officials have discussed the plan with Kosciusko County officials as
they've sought tax breaks on the $26 million project. Biomet attorney Richard Helm says the expansion in Warsaw would
retain about 80 jobs and lead to some manufacturing being moved there from New Jersey. The project would also expand Biomet’s
Warsaw distribution center.

Eli Lilly and Co. will cut 170 jobs—mostly in Indianapolis—from its manufacturing and quality
division by the end of the year as it continues its efforts to slim down before losing revenue from patent expirations on
its bestselling drugs. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker’s latest move will cut nearly 5 percent of its 3,600-person
manufacturing work force in the United States. Lilly will ask for voluntary departures, but it also will eliminate the jobs
of others involuntarily. Some jobs have already been eliminated through attrition. Lilly has announced nearly 2,000 job cuts
toward its goal of 5,500 cuts, which the company set in September. The company is also trying to eliminate $1 billion in annual
expenses by the end of 2011. At that time, it hopes to have a worldwide staff of about 35,000. It currently employs 12,400
in Indiana.

Hundreds of patients will be shifted from Indiana's state psychiatric hospitals into community-based care under a plan
that officials say will eliminate more than 500 jobs, according to the Associated Press. The biggest changes and the layoffs
will come at the Logansport and Richmond state hospitals, while units at the Evansville and Madison hospitals will be converted
to care for those with serious mental illnesses. The moves by the Indiana Family and Social Services Adminstration are expected
to reduce the number of patients at the six state hospitals by about 30 percent and save $15 million a year. The Logansport
State Hospital will have 355 of its 900 workers laid off and 80 vacant positions eliminated. The Richmond
State Hospital will lose 106 of its 600 workers.

A medical device company is seeking a property-tax abatement to offset costs associated with a $1.1 million expansion of
its facility at 3735 N. Arlington Ave. in Indianapolis. New York-based Greatbatch Medical Inc. expects to
create eight jobs at an average wage of $12.75 an hour and retain 146 jobs at an average wage of $14 an hour, according to
the abatement request. Greatbatch specializes in cardiovascular products but is expanding into the orthopedics market, which
is prompting the expansion, the company said.