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

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: SOUTH-CENTRAL REGIONAL REPORT

LIFE SCIENCES, manufacturing and the arts are keeping south-central Indiana's economy growing.

Life sciences. Investments topping $102.5 million by four life-science companies in Jackson and Monroe counties headline the economic news. Cook Pharmica LLC, a spin-off of Cook Inc., has completed a $60 million renovation of two former Thomson Consumer Electronics buildings in Bloomington for its state-of-the-art contract-manufacturing facility for the biotech drug industry. Currently, 55 are on the payroll, with plans to add about 150 more in the next two years, reports Linda Williamson, executive director of the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. "It is truly a transformation of a 20th century facility into a 21st century facility," she says.

Meanwhile, Cook Inc. is growing, too, with another $12 million being spent on a fourth building at its Bloomington world headquarters in Park 48. The new office and warehouse facility will boost today's employment of 2,000 by another 250, Williamson reports. Cook produces diagnostic and interventional medical products.

Also in Bloomington, Bio-Convergence LLC is building facilities adjacent to Cook Inc. The $33 million project of 110,000-square-feet will focus "on cold chain storage and research and development for the biopharmaceutical industry," Williams says. The company, which expects employment to reach 175 within five years, also plans to manufacture sterile clinic-trial materials.

In nearby Seymour, Germany-based Schwarz Pharma is spending $5.8 million on an expansion at its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facility The company produces drags to treat the nervous system, urology, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. It employs 345 and will add about three new jobs.

Manufacturing. Manufacturers remain strong throughout the area, economic-development professionals report.

Growth continues at Aisin U.S.A. Manufacturing Inc. in Seymour, where the company has announced a $30 million expansion that includes purchasing and renovating a building in the East Side Industrial Park. "This will give the company two locations and employment of nearly 1,900," says Jim Plump, executive director of the Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. Aisin makes automotive drive-train equipment.

At Freeman Field Industrial Park, also in Seymour, specialty printer Moore Wallace, an R.R. Donnelley company, is spending $5.8 million on its facility and boosting employment from 160 to 181.

In Columbus, Toyota...