Dow AgroSciences on Thursday morning announced plans for a $340 million expansion of its Indianapolis headquarters that is expected to create 577 high-paying jobs over the next five years.

The huge investment will greatly expand the company's research and development capacity and is a major win for the Indiana life sciences industry.

The company expects most of the positions to pay between $65,000 and $95,000 annually.

Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of Midland, Mich.-based giant Dow Chemical Co., produces agricultural products, such as seeds and pesticides. In recent years, it has moved heavily into biotechnology, and plans to roll out five products by 2012 that could generate $800 million annually in new sales.

The first phase of Dow AgroSciences’ expansion will be the addition of a 14,000-square-foot greenhouse and a 175,000-square-foot research and development facility at its corporate campus on the city’s northwest side. The greenhouse should be finished by year’s end, according to the company, while the R&D facility slated to open in early 2012.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. gave Dow AgroSciences $12.5 million in performance-based tax credits and another $205,000 in training grants to encourage the company’s expansion. The city of Indianapolis will kick in another $500,000 from its Industrial Development Grant Fund to help pay for road, sewer and water improvements related to the project.

Indianapolis has also committed to establish a property tax increment financing, or TIF, district to help Dow AgroSciences defer $20 million in project costs. The TIF district must still be approved by city and state officials.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mayor Greg Ballard joined Dow AgroSciences CEO Antonio Galindez on Thursday morning to announce the expansion.

“R&D leadership in the life sciences is a dream of every state in the union,” Daniels said in a press release. “Here in Indiana, it’s not a dream, but a vibrant reality, and Dow AgroSciences’ steady growth is a major reason why. This expansion makes Indiana a true world capital of agricultural science.”

Today’s Dow AgroSciences announcement comes on the heels of two expansions last year. In July, the company signed a 15-year lease spurring construction of an 80,000-square-foot R&D building adjacent to its headquarters. In September, Dow AgroSciences revealed it will expand its presence in Purdue University’s West Lafayette Research Park, adding up to 30 jobs there.

Dow AgroSciences was originally formed in 1989 as a 50-50 joint venture between the Elanco Plant Sciences business of locally-based Eli Lilly and Co. and Dow’s agricultural products division. Dow acquired complete ownership in 1997. Dow AgroSciences now employs 5,400 people globally, with 1,200 at its local headquarters.