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

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: Toyota suppliers grow - Closed mines are reopening - Spencer County to have tourist rush

FROM CARS TO COAL, southwest Indiana is enjoying a robust industrial surge. New developments at The West Gate @ Crane Technology Park promise opportunities for at least three of the 13 counties in the southwest Indiana region. And tourism, too, is boosting the area's economy.

Toyota suppliers grow,

Besides the economic shot-in-the-arm that comes from 5,000 employees, $2.6 billion in investments and annual production of 300,000 vehicles, Toyota's decade in Princeton has spawned supplier industries throughout the region, says Todd Mosby, executive director of the Gibson County Chamber of Commerce. "There's not an adjective strong enough to describe it," he says of the area's outlook.

Close to home, he points to Vuteq Corp. in Princeton, which supplies Toyota with instrument panels. The company is expanding its 180,000-square-foot plant by 100,000 square feet and increasing employment from 250 to about 380.

In adjacent Knox County, internal door-frame manufacturer Futaba Indiana of America is wrapping up its latest expansion, a 360,000-square-foot addition for its stamping operations, which begin in July, reports Gary Gentry, president of Knox County Development Corp. Futaba supplies the Toyota plant.

Tenneco, which makes exhaust systems for Toyota, moved into the Vanderburgh Industrial Park, where it employs about 50 and expects to expand, says Nancy Deig, economic development specialist at Evansville Regional Economic Development Corp.

Two other transportation-related industries making news are in Perry County. Tell City's ATTC Manufacturing Inc., which recently completed an $11 million expansion at its auto machining facility, is now spending another $35 million to add nearly 75,000 square feet of new space and increase employment from 270 to 345. And in Troy, Automated Machine Products Inc. is building a $2.45 million machining operation that will employ 15 initially, says Greg Wathen, executive director of the Perry County Development Corp.

Meanwhile, Pike County would like to attract Toyota suppliers and logistics companies. "We're working with an engineering firm on developing a 50- to 60-acre industrial park," reports Paul Lake, director of the Pike County Growth and Development Council. The phased development will likely be county-owned.

Demand for coal. "Coal mining is picking up," reports Marilyn Salesman at the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. "Closed mines are reopening and we're getting a new mine." Sunrise Coal is building a...