Hogsett, Develop Indy tout efforts to foster jobs, corporate investment

Mayor Joe Hogsett is touting his administration's success this year in fostering job creation and corporate investment, albeit several years down the line in some cases.

Hogsett and Develop Indy, Marion County’s economic development organization, announced Wednesday that their negotiations with companies resulted in 74 relocation or expansion deals leading to pledges of 13,320 new or retained jobs, along with $558 million in capital investment promises.

In such deals, city officials typically grant the companies incentives such as tax breaks on new or renovated buildings, or newly purchased equipment.

As of the same date last year, Develop Indy had 86 successful relocation or expansion deals leading to 6,613 job promises and $1.37 billion in promised investment.

Hogsett’s deputy chief of staff Taylor Schaffer said the 2018 figures are promises, not necessarily jobs that have already come online.

“Some of them are multi-year, multi-phase projects,” she said, noting that some jobs or investments were planned for multiple years in the future.

The commitments include Infosys’s plan to add 1,000 jobs to its redevelopment project at the former Indianapolis Airport terminal, boosting its planned workforce here to 3,000 people. (The first 2,000 promised Infosys jobs were part of 2017’s economic development figures.)

They also include smaller commitments like e-government provider HighPoint Global’s promise to add 60 new jobs here, and business software firm Socio’s plan to add 100 new jobs in coming years.

The job promises Develop Indy netted have an average wage of more than $31 per hour, according to the mayor's announcement.

“Our strong employment numbers should pay off for working families,” Hogsett said in a statement.

Develop Indy, a private not-for-profit, is housed under the Indy Chamber umbrella but works with the Indianapolis mayor’s office to fulfill Joe Hogsett’s economic development agenda.