Northwest Indiana's largest employers.

• Author: Falzone, Kris
• Position: Regional Spotlight: Northwest

INLAND STEEL CO.

East Chicago; Emp.: 11,000

Since 1902, when the first steel ingots were poured at the Indiana mill, Inland Steel has grown into the nation's fourth-largest integrated steel producer. The company, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Inland Steel Industries, can manufacture 6 million tons of raw steel annually. Inland planned to close its coke-making facility in December, reducing employment by about 500. However, major capital investments during the last five years have improved competitiveness of Inland Steel's bar and flat-product operations.

USX CORP.--U.S. STEEL GROUP

Gary; Emp.: 8,000

The sprawling Gary Works produces 60 percent of the 10 million tons of steel the country's largest steel company ships annually. Founded in 1906, the 6.5-mile-long mill shapes the region's industrial landscape. U.S. Steel, a unit of Pittsburgh-based USX Corp., has invested $1.1 billion in its flagship Gary Works since 1981 to take advantage of new technology, including pulverized coal injection and a double-sided electrogalvanizing line. The plant now emphasizes quality and efficiency in producing flat-rolled, plate and sheet steel.

BETHLEHEM STEEL CORP.

Burns Harbor; Emp.: 6,000

This Bethlehem, Pa.-based company's Burns Harbor Division, located on the Lake Michigan shore near Chesterton, produces about 5.3 million tons of plate, hot- and cold-rolled sheet, as well as hot-dip galvanized, galvannealed and electrogalvanized sheet steel each year. Opened in 1964, it is the youngest of Northwest Indiana's integrated steel mills. The newest production line--a hot-dip coating operation capable of producing 450,000 tons of galvanized and galvannealed sheet steel annually--began operating in 1992. In 1994, the company plans to install granulated coal injection facilities to feed the plant's two blast furnaces.

NIPSCO INDUSTRIES INC.

Hammond; Emp.: 4,600

NIPSCO's principal subsidiary, Northern Indiana Public Service Co., provides electricity to about 400,000 customers across the northern third of Indiana and gas to more than 600,000 customers. The company is based in Hammond but moved most of its administrative and customer-service operations to a 43-acre campus in Merrillville in 1989. The holding company, NIPSCO Industries, was formed in 1988, partly to keep the company competitive in a changing regulatory environment. Its more recent interests include economic development in its service territory, operation of a pipeline stretching from Schererville...