By Derek R. Smith, Daily Reporter
dsmith@greenfieldreporter.com
GREENFIELD -- Covance has set its sights on a new phase of growth that could double its number of Greenfield employees to 625 in the next few years.
The new jobs would come in the areas of nutritional chemistry services, analytical services, a Bio-marker Center for Excellence and drug discovery services. The 315 jobs range from entry-level support people to managers, scientists and senior scientists.
The workers would average a base wage of about $60,000, plus benefits, said Jon Koch, vice president and general manager of Covance's local laboratories.
Covance estimates the total annual wages at $26 million - about $82,500 per worker in total compensation, according to a tax abatement application.
These high-paying life sciences jobs are the type coveted by all communities, said Dennis Maloy, executive director of Hancock Economic Development Council.
However, the expansion is not a done deal.
Covance wants several 10-year tax abatements from the county in return for investing an estimated $41.4 million to add the employees and rehabilitate five buildings at its Greenfield campus.
The abatements are for property improvements, new research and development equipment and new IT equipment. Hancock County officials must approve the abatement because the Covance campus technically is outside the Greenfield city limits.
"We do think Greenfield is well-suited for a number of the proposals," Koch said Wednesday in a phone interview. "The abatements would strengthen the case for Greenfield."
An abatement eases the tax burden for a business, usually in return for a commitment to bring jobs to a community.
The county council has already approved a preliminary resolution for the Covance abatements. A final vote on the resolution is Aug. 12.
Covance's estimated investment includes about $14.5 million for new research and development equipment that Koch said would be largely used for analytical purposes. Another $12.9 million would go for information technology infrastructure like computers and servers.
Expansion probably wouldn't require much new construction on the Covance campus, Koch said.
About a year ago, Covance bought Greenfield Laboratories from Eli Lilly and Co. Today, Covance employs about 310 workers on the 450-acre campus. As recently as two years ago, Lilly had close to 1,000 employees on the campus.
Greenfield is one of three Indiana sites for Covance. Last June, Covance opened a new 80-bed clinic in Evansville to enhance its clinical pharmacology services, according to last year's annual report.
The Princeton, N.J.-based company has about 9,600 global employees and seeks to capitalize on the growing demand for outsourcing by companies like Lilly.
Covance Chairman Joe Herring said in a 2008 report that despite challenges related to the economic downturn, the company won record new orders of $3.42 billion, which drove a 62 percent increase in backlog.
"This led to market share gains across our key service offerings... Over the next five years, we, along with many industry analysts, expect the level of outsourcing to increase significantly."