IT consultant's expansion plans include 130 new Indianapolis jobs by 2012

Scott Olson, The IBJ

solson@ibj.com

Indianapolis-based information technology consultant Apparatus Inc. plans to expand its local operations and create up to 130 jobs by 2012, the company announced this morning.

The company said it will invest more than $1.8 million to relocate its headquarters and service center from 912 N. Delaware St. to 27,000 square feet of space in the former WFYI studio at 1401 N. Meridian St.

Apparatus agreed to buy the building late last month. It has been vacant since the public television station moved a few blocks north to 16th and Meridian streets roughly 15 months ago. The firm expects to begin operating at its new site in the spring and will begin hiring additional employees as it prepares to move.

Apparatus' clients include government entities and large corporations such as Eli Lilly and Co. and Simon Property Group Inc.

"Our ability to provide remote services for clients gives us the opportunity to locate nearly anywhere, but the business climate in Indiana is favorable, and there is real growth potential here with such a wide range of industry," Apparatus CEO Kelly Pfledderer said in a prepared statement.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Apparatus up to $1.3 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. The city of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Economic Development Inc. will recommend property-tax abatement to the Metropolitan Development Commission.

Founded in 1999, Apparatus has 75 employees. The announcement of its expansion comes two months after Right on Interactive, a local marketing-automation software developer, said it would expand its downtown operations on East Market Street by investing more than $1.3 million and creating 100 jobs by 2014.