Telic Corp., a developer and manufacturer of United States military equipment, announced Thursday it will invest more than $1.2 million in the former Newport Chemical Depot in western Indiana, creating up to 500 jobs by 2010.

The company, which also provides security, technical and administrative services worldwide, currently has operations in Crawfordsville; Albany, Ky.; and Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Telic up to $3.8 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $125,000 in training grants based on the company’s job-creation plans.

Telic plans to establish an administrative support, manufacturing and development center at the Newport site, which is about two hours west of Indianapolis. The jobs would pay an average of $37 an hour, the company said.

Telic’s job-creation plans follow another economic-development announcement in Vermillion County. Clinton-based White Construction Inc., a contractor for renewable energy projects, said Wednesday that it will invest more than $10.2 million to expand its headquarters, creating up to 70 jobs.

“This is the second day in a row we’ve been able to announce new jobs in Vermillion County,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said in a prepared statement. “It’s a joy that never gets old in any part of the state, but we’re especially glad to see the Newport site being reborn and on its way to hosting more and better jobs than ever before.”

Telic is the first business to announce plans for the depot site, which for decades produced and stored a deadly nerve agent. The depot is winding down operations after destruction of its VX stockpile was completed last year.

A local reuse board has been working on a plan to open about half the Newport depot's 7,100 acres to potential business development.