Central Indiana update: the region's top business stories.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: Festool headquarter moves to Lebanon - NSK Corp moves to Franklin - Integrity Biofuels begins production at Morristown

CENTRAL INDIANA IS welcoming two new corporate headquarters to the state: Germany-based FESTOOL is moving its U.S. headquarters from California to Lebanon, and NSK Corp. moved from Chicago to Franklin.

A power-tool manufacturer, FESTOOL is building a $2 million headquarters and training center to employ 30 in the Lebanon Business Park, reports Kristie McKillip, Boone County Economic Development Corp. executive director.

NSK Corp. built its $1 million office and training center last summer, joining its NSK Precision America plant in Johnson County and bringing combined employment to 400. The company makes precision ball screws and linear guides.

Carmel welcomed Specialty Risk International and its 65 employees to its newly built 40,000-square-foot headquarters. "They're adding about another 300 jobs," says Jeff Butt, president of Hamilton County Alliance.

New industries. Hammond-headquartered PacMoore this month opens a plant in Mooresville, employing 109. The food processor blends and packages dry ingredients, such as sugar and cinnamon for toast, says John Taylor, executive director of the Morgan County Economic Development Corp.

The state's first soy biodiesel plant is beginning production in Morristown. Integrity Biofuels acquired an existing facility and warehouse last August and now employs seven; it will use 6.7 million bushels of Indiana-grown soybeans and produce 10 million gallons annually.

Biodiesel is produced from renewable fats and oils, such as soybean oil, and works in any diesel engine with few or no modifications, the company says.

New and improved. The $250 million Clarian North Medical Center covering 700,000 square feet on 107 acres opened in December in Carmel. The facility includes a 170-bed hospital.

In Franklin, Franklin Power Products, employing 250 who make gas and diesel engines, has brought multiple locations together in one facility, a vacant building the company expanded for the consolidation, says Cheryl Morphew, executive director of the Johnson County Development Corp. Its investment topped $11 million. And Amcor P.E.T. Packaging, which makes plastic beverage bottles, bought new equipment and boosted employment from 65 to 90.

Major construction is in the works at two...