Record job growth of 22,627 for 2007 skips Northwest Indiana

Indiana had another record- breaking year for job commitments in 2007, but only 4 percent of those new jobs will wind up in Northwest Indiana.

More than 150 companies from across the state, country and world committed to create 22,627 jobs in the state in 2007, according to Gov. Mitch Daniels' office. The figure breaks the 2006 record for job commitment and represents a number that has consistently grown since the inception of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. in 2005.

Only 785 of those jobs are destined for Lake, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties. No new jobs were destined for Porter County as yet in 2007.

However, about 25 of the projects listed in the 2007 tally have not been publicly announced yet, and it is still possible some of the activity will be in the northwest and north central part of the state, Jane Jankowski, who is with the governor's office, said.

"Of course the IDEC is working on projects all the time. There are always things in the pipeline for Indiana," Jankowski said.

Jankowski said the 158 projects represent commitments from both new and existing businesses and will be located throughout the state in all areas. All expect to meet their job commitments by 2012 and some have already begun hiring.

Amazon.com is expected to create 75 new jobs at its Munster distribution center. It's neighbor McJunkin Corp. is expected to bring another 32. In LaPorte, Indiana Flex Fuels LLC is expected to create 27 jobs while Sullivan Pallatek is expected to bring another 52.

One of the biggest job commitments in the region comes from ArcelorMittal, which said it will add 230 jobs in Gary, according to the government report.

The company recently announced it is increasing capacity at its plate facilities, including those in Burns Harbor and Gary, due to the U.S. government's high demand for military armor.

"As you can see from the wrap up of 2007 announced today, we have had three consecutive record breaking years," Jankowski said. "The governor has high expectations we will do equally as well in 2008."