Top Prizes.

• Author: KAELBLE, STEVE
• Position: Statistical Data Included

Major economic-development projects of the past year

Billion-dollar economic-development prizes. Officials in virtually every state salivate over the prospect of attracting such development. Indiana, it seems, has attracted more than its share of mega-prizes in the past several years.

The Hoosier state was the envy of many communities when it landed the United Airlines maintenance hub in 1991, a development with a price tag in the billion-dollar range. A string of big successes commenced in the latter part of the decade, with the Toyota truck plant announcement in 1995 followed by the AK Steel selection of an Indiana site in 1996. Another billion-dollar investment in Kokomo resulted in DaimlerChrysler's Indiana Transmission facility.

The economic-development headlines since the start of 1999 carry on more of the same tune...another billion-dollar announcement and more growth in the automotive sector. Following are some of the economic-development highlights, compiled from contacts with local economic-development corporations, the Indiana Department of Commerce and site-selection analyst Conway Data:

ELI LILLY & CO.

Indianapolis

In big-stakes economic development, nothing is ever a given. Even though Indianapolis is the home of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co., plenty of other locations were hoping to get a piece of the expansion pie Lilly was slicing in 1999. But Lilly remained committed to Indiana, pledging to spend $1 billion in capital investment over a 10-year period.

The expansion plan includes development and infrastructure improvements at two of Lilly's main Indianapolis campuses--Lilly Corporate Center and Lilly Technology Center--and will create new jobs both in Indianapolis and at other locations throughout Indiana.

The projects are expected to create a total of 7,500 high-paying jobs. Most of these people will be scientists, physicians, computer specialists and other technicians.

TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING INDIANA

Princeton

This plant in Princeton announced a major expansion even before the first pickup truck rolled off the assembly line, boosting anticipated production from 100,000 vehicles a year to 150,000. Now there's still more growth. The latest news came in late 1999, when the automaker announced plans to pump $800 million into an expansion that will double capacity to 300,000 units and add 2,000 jobs by 2003. The expansion will bring Toyota's total investment in southwest Indiana to $2 billion.

When the latest...