INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's economic development agency lured 23,017 private-sector jobs to the state in 2010, but only 7 percent of the jobs were located in Northwest Indiana.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp., the state's commerce department, announced Wednesday it worked with 200 U.S. and international companies to bring the promised jobs to Indiana. This year's total topped the 19,955 job commitments of 2009 and is higher than any year on record, according to the IEDC.
"This year's record results are a testament to the dedication of people throughout the state working hard to make sure that Indiana is the most competitive location in the world for business, and we look forward to spreading our state's message broadly in 2011," said Mitch Roob, Indiana's commerce secretary and CEO of the IEDC.
Automotive-related manufacturing led all industries projecting 7,219 new jobs, a 31 percent increase over 2009. The life sciences industry was in second place with 4,100 new jobs, followed by the energy industry promising 3,000 new jobs.
Commitments in other industries included 1,760 jobs in business services; 1,671 in information technology; and 1,329 in logistics.
Jobs created without state assistance or incentives are not included in these totals.
Few of the new jobs attracted by the IEDC will be coming to Northwest Indiana, which makes up about 13 percent of the state's population. Only 1,617 jobs, or 7 percent of the total, have been promised to the region, according to the IEDC.
One reason the agency cites is that many of the new jobs coming to Indiana have been created through corporate consolidation and subsequent expansion. The poor economy led many companies to close their offices and operations in several states and bring everything under one roof in Indiana.
But those companies are consolidating and later expanding in locations where they already operate, such as Northeast Indiana, which has been home to auto manufacturers for decades.