Anderson competed for jobs going to Delaware County

ANDERSON - Hundreds of new jobs coming to Delaware County could have easily landed on the west side of the county line.

Anderson city officials spent about 18 months trying to woo Brevini, an Italian power transmission maker, to a spot within the city, Economic Development Director Linda Dawson said.

The company is expected to announce today that it will hire around 400 workers for a new facility at Interstate 69 and Indiana 332, seven miles north of the Chesterfield-Daleville exit.

"It is definitely a commuting distance," Dawson said. "As opposed to this project locating in another state or in another part of our state that is not within our commuting patterns, this is very positive."

But 400 jobs within the city limits would have been a boon for Anderson's tax base and a community where unemployment has surpassed 7 percent in recent months.

Dawson said Brevini found the Flagship area by Exit 22 the most attractive after the city pitched several locations, but the site lacked a pre-built facility.

"Where we ran into real competition was that Delaware County had an existing building that was greatly discounted in price, and we did not have the proper type of building that had an interstate location," Dawson said.

"They had to look at new construction here, which is obviously more costly."

Terry Murphy, vice president for economic development for the Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance, would not comment on the jobs announcement until after today's 3 p.m. news conference. A Web page accessible through his origination's Web site described one available building at Park One. It listed the building's total area at 60,480 square feet and a "reduced price" of $3.4 million.

Dawson said Anderson first learned that Brevini was looking to open a new U.S. facility through a city resident who was aware of the company and thought it would make a good match for Anderson. She asked that the man's name be kept confidential.

After several meetings between company and local officials, Dawson said, Brevini hired Greg Winkler, marketing consultant for the city under Mayor Kevin Smith, to analyze the incentive packages from Anderson and Muncie.

Smith said Tuesday the announcement indicated that his outside sales approach to marketing the city had worked.

"While I'm certainly disappointed that Anderson wasn't able to close the deal," Smith said, "I'm certainly pleased that the jobs are coming to the region and available to Anderson residents."

Mayor Kris Ockomon called the announcement "a good day for everybody" and said the city produced the best offer it could.

"I think we can still be very competitive," Ockomon said. "I learned a lot in that negotiation process. It was a decision about money."

The city offered Brevini "a very attractive incentives package," according to Dawson, totaling around $3 million in benefits.

In exchange, the company was expected to make an estimated local investment of $60 million. Nestlé Corp., by comparison, is making an estimated $600 million investment with its new Anderson facility.

"We prepared this package to where we thought the city and the taxpayers would continue to benefit," Dawson said. "Any larger incentives package would not serve the role we're here to do as taxpayers. This is especially true when the community that we're competing against is a neighboring community and our residents have a chance at the new jobs."