IEDC reports record-setting year for job commitments

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. on Tuesday announced a record-setting year for job commitments.

The IEDC, which leads the state’s economic development efforts, said it secured 293 commitments from companies around the world to locate or expand in Indiana.

Those companies said they planned to spend more than $7.04 billion on their Indiana operations and add up to 30,158 jobs in the next several years. The total jobs commitment was the largest in the IEDC’s 12-year history.

The jobs are expected to offer average wages of $27.20 per hour, or more than $56,500 annually—the highest annual average wage achieved by the IEDC. The average wage is 26.5 percent higher than the state average wage of $21.51 per hour.

Businesses making the largest job commitments in 2017:

—    Infosys (2,000 committed jobs in Marion County);
—    Dia & Co. (872, Johnson County);
—    Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana (600, Gibson County);
—    UPS (578, Hendricks County);
—    Ingram Micro (550, Clark County);
—    Axiscades (500, Bartholomew County);
—    HMD Trucking (500, Lake County);
—    Beijing West Industries (BWI) North America (441, Hancock County);
—    Grand Design RV (416, Elkhart County);
—    Liberty Mutual (400, Hamilton County);
—    KAR Auction Services (400, Hamilton County);
—    Knowledge Services (400, Hamilton County).  

The IEDC said nearly half (138) of the companies making commitments were manufacturers. Those companies accounted for $5.5 billion and 10,885 job commitments.

Commitments also came from 64 technology and tech-enabled firms and 19 agriculture and agribusiness companies.

The IEDC said 39 foreign-based companies committed to locating or growing in Indiana, investing more than $1.3 billion in the state and creating up to 5,555 jobs.
     
The state offered an average incentive of 19 cents per new payroll dollar in 2017, the IEDC said.