The IBJ
Cummins Inc. officials said today they picked Columbus for a new 600-worker diesel-engine line partly because the state agreed to take steps to bolster its advanced-manufacturing training and education programs.
The company called the commitment a "critical factor" in its decision to invest $250 million to put the line in an underused Columbus engine plant. It also considered putting the project in 11 other states, as well as other nations.
The Columbus-based Fortune 500 company said local and state leaders have agreed to seek $20 million from the Indiana General Assembly to improve advanced-manufacturing education and training offered by Indiana University, Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College.
In addition to pursuing that money, government leaders agreed to provide $30 million in tax credits and other incentives.
Cummins had said over the summer that Indiana was on the short list of possible sites to manufacture a new line of fuel-efficient diesel engines. At that time, the company tabbed potential employment at 600.
At a news conference this morning, company officials said employment would reach 200 by the end of next year and could grow to 800 over several years if demand the engine is strong. DaimlerChrysler has signed on to use the engine in SUVs and pickups.
The company said the new diesel line stems from a nine-year partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy that focused on developing high-performance, clean diesel engines that provide an average fuel savings of 30 percent over comparable gas engines.
The plant where the new line will be manufactured already employs 625, about half of whom make engine blocks and heads for heavy-duty diesel engines.
The plant, opened in 1926, was Cummins' first full-fledged manufacturing facility. It's been underused since 2002, when the company transferred assembly of heavy-duty engines to a facility in Jamestown, N.Y.
The announcement is the latest in a string of economic-development successes this year for Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration.
Earlier this year, Toyota Motor Corp. said it will build Camrys at Subaru of America Inc.'s underused Lafayette plant, creating 1,000 jobs, and Honda Motor Co. picked Greensburg for a new plant that will employ 2,000.
However, the state also is taking hits as domestic automakers retrench. Last year, DaimlerChrysler Corp. closed its Indianapolis foundry, eliminating the facility's final 900 jobs. This fall, Ford Motor Co. said that by the end of 2008, it will close or sell an east-side Indianapolis steering plant that employs 1,900.
The jobs at the new Cummins operation will be so attractive that workers probably will drive from as far as Indianapolis and Louisville, said Jeb Conrad, executive director of Indianapolis Economic Development, a division of Indy Partnership.
Columbus, a south-central Indiana city with a population of 39,000, already has a huge reliance on the Fortune 500 company. Nearly 800 people work at the company's downtown headquarters. Another 5,000 work at its manufacturing plants in Columbus and nearby Seymour.
The company also has been growing its Indianapolis presence. In 2004, it opened offices at One American Square downtown that now house about 50 employees. CEO Tim Solso splits his time between the company's Columbus and Indianapolis offices.
Cummins already is the third-largest private employer in the state and the third-largest company in terms of revenue, with 2005 sales of $9.9 billion.