Western Indiana update.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: Top Business Stories

VIGO COUNTY

Terre Haute's Vigo County Industrial Park was chosen in March as the site for a new plant for Liechtenstein based ThyssenKrupp Presta.

The steering-column manufacturer already has 12 on the payroll, with 35 set to be hired by year-end and 75 by next year, says Claudia Tanoos, assistant director of the Terre Haute Area Economic Development Corp. "We're thrilled to death."

The company is investing $9.1 million to refurbish the 68,000-square-toot facility that formerly housed Wheel Tough. It plans to begin production late this fall or early winter, supplying Ford Motor Co.'s 2005 models.

Aisin Brake & Chassis Inc. has begun production at its new 150,000-square-foot plant, also in the Vigo County Industrial Park. It makes brake shoes and braking plate assemblies for the Princeton Toyota plant, employing 50, with plans to continue hiring. "They are still in the startup mode," Tanoos says.

"New companies are glamorous," Tanoos admits. At the same time, she says, "The meat and potatoes of our work are the ones already here, and we are definitely nurturing them, too."

One way is by developing the cluster concept, she says, identified in the reorganized economic-development group's strategic plan. "We've identified some clusters, and one that really hit is advanced manufacturing." Volunteers from her organization are working with the Western Indiana Workforce Investment Board to develop that cluster.

Digital Audio Disc Corp. in Terre Haute is a powerful contributor to the county's economy. It just completed a $20 million expansion that added 15 new DVD production lines. It employs 1,030, making low- and high density disc products, including PlayStation games, CD audio discs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, videos, DVD-ROMs and the new Super Audio CD.

Other top employers, both in Terre Haute, are Bemis Co., employing 1,150 who make polyethylene bags and flexible packaging primarily for the food industry, and Applied Extrusion Technologies, with a workforce of 650 who make polypropylene film.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Growth at several industries and steady work at 1,600-employee R.R. Donnelley--which printed the latest "Harry Potter" book--bodes well for the economy, reports Andy Sinclair, executive director of Crawfordsville/ Montgomery County Economic Development.

The biggest news is a $10 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion of Lithonia Lighting that will add 185 jobs to the current workforce of 380. Construction began in August, with completion slated for spring 2004. Acuity Brands Inc., which purchased the Crawfordsville light fixture plant in 2001, is closing its Northbrook, Ill., reflector facility and moving those operations to Montgomery County.

Others expanding in the last year are Heidtman Steel, which added a new product and equipment at its 100-employee...