Southeast Indiana update: Top business stories.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: Regional Report Southeast

DEARBORN COUNTY

Gaming and industry give Dearborn County a stable economic outlook, reports David Poole, director of economic development for the Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce.

Gaming dominates the local economy, with 2,400 employees at the Argosy Casino and Hotel, which opened five years ago. Since then, revenues to the city of Lawrenceburg have topped $192 million, in development agreement cash and gambling tax revenues.

"We've built levies to take land out of the flood plain for a destination retail area. And our newest levy project is a $36 million undertaking," Poole says. "None of this could have been done without gaming funding."

In industry news, construction of the 29-acre Burger Ziegler Industrial Park near Interstate 74 in Harrison Township is under way. The park received a $100,000 infrastructure grant from the Indiana Department of Commerce to help with waterline costs.

Expansions include an $8.5 million new building for Northbend Pattern Works in the new industrial park. The company makes patterns for the auto industry, currently employing 28 with plans to increase to 40.

In Greendale, 60 new employees bring total employment to 150 at the Pri-Pak private-label packaging plant following its $6 million retrofit. The company bottles for more than 25 different companies.

In Lawrenceburg, tool-and-die maker Ashley Ward expects to start construction this spring on a $4 million facility that will employ about 40 within two years.

A sale of the 600-employee Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Inc. distillery in Lawrenceburg, the county's second-largest employer, is pending. Paris-based Groupe Pernod Ricard and United Kingdom-based Diageo PLC are working out details; some divisions of the combined business may be sold.

Aurora Casket is the county's third-largest employer, with 470 on the payroll.

JEFFERSON COUNTY

A new industry and several expansions highlight activity in Jefferson County, reports Randy Johann, executive director of the Madison-Jefferson County Industrial Development Corp.

MTM Steel Inc. in Madison is the new industry. It began operations in July with seven employees, operating a 60-inch slitting line. It's a sister company to Midwest Tube Mills Inc., which moved to Madison in 1999, now employs more than 150 and this year will install its sixth tube mill. The business produces welded seam tubing, primarily for the agriculture and furniture markets.

A $15.5 million press expansion was completed at Arvin Sango Inc. in...