Top prizes: major economic-development headlines of the past year.

• Author: Hromadka, Erik
• Position: BUILDING INDIANA - Company overview

Major Moves $3.85 billion. "It is the single-biggest step that we will ever take," Gov. Mitch Daniels says of the Indiana Toll Road lease, explaining that Indiana is the only state to solve its transportation-funding shortfall and will now have a major competitive advantage. "Every area of the state will see a record amount of construction," he explains.

The governor unveiled plans for the lease proceeds in a 10-year highway construction program that includes dozens of projects around the state and increases new road construction from $213 million in 2006 to $431 million in 2008 and $775 million by 2010. Major projects include the extension of Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville, upgrading the Hoosier Heartland Highway from Lafayette to Logansport and U.S. 31 from South Bend to Indianapolis and building new bridges across the Ohio River at Madison and from Clark County to Louisville.

Alternative Fuels $711 million. "Agribusiness is a core element of our economic comeback plan, and renewable energy production is the lead item in the agricultural component of our strategy," says Daniels. New facilities have been announced in the past year to produce biodiesel from the state's soybean crop and ethanol from its corn.

The small town of Claypool in northern Indiana will be home to the world's largest biodiesel plant, being built by Louis Dreyfus Agriculture Industries LLC. The project includes an investment of $135 million and is expected to create 85 new jobs producing up to 250,000 gallons of biodiesel per day or more than 80 million gallons per year. An integrated on-site soybean processing plant will provide about 260,000 metric tons of soybean oil for the biodiesel production.

New ethanol plants announced in the past year include a $141 million project in Cass County by Midwestern grain producers The Andersons, Indiana Bio-Energy's $125 million investment in Wells County and a $104 million plant m Tipton that is planned by ASAlliances Biofuels. Rush Renewable Energy LLC is investing $81 million to build an ethanol plant in Rush County and Central Indiana Ethanol is building a $53 million plant in Grant County.

A different type of alternative fuel plant is being built in DeKalb County, where ForeverGreen Enterprises plans to spend $72 million constructing a hydrogen plant. While most hydrogen plants use natural gas, the company plans to break down waste materials into their basic elements to extract hydrogen.

Alcoa, Newburgh $330...