Brenda Showalter, The Republic
bshowalter@therepublic.com
INDIANAPOLIS - Columbus software developer LHP Inc. plans to create 320 high-tech jobs by 2011 paying an average of $36 an hour.
The announcement was made Friday at Gov. Mitch Daniels' office at the Statehouse with Mayor Fred Armstrong and representatives of LHP. Daniels also announced that more than 150 companies have committed this year to create more than 22,600 jobs in Indiana - a new record for the state.
Daniels said that the south central Indiana region, including Columbus, has been a leading area for job development and one of the state's "star performers."
LHP plans to triple its work force that includes 130 in Columbus and 25 in China.
New workers will have experience and advanced training in engineering, research and software development.
Most will have master's and doctorate degrees, said David Glass, president of LHP Software and LHP Inc.
"We have a very diverse and highly skilled work force," Glass said.
Indiana incentives
Indiana's Economic Development Corp. offered LHP up to $2.1 million in performancebased tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants.
The Economic Development for a Growing Economy grant is a refundable tax-credit program that rewards companies creating jobs and contributing to the growth of Indiana's economy. EDGE credits are calculated as a percentage of payroll tax withholding for net new Indiana jobs.
With the creation of new jobs, LHP also plans to invest more than $1 million to expand its Columbus headquarters and development center at the airport, making room for new research and development equipment and new computer hardware.
The company, founded by Glass and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Hou in 2001, develops software and hardware for the military, automotive and medical industries.
"LHP is a homegrown company with a team of talented people in Columbus," Hou said.
Although many of the workers are hired from outside of the state and country, Glass said, the company is committed to Columbus.
"Our workers' average age is around 28," Glass said. "It's neat to see them grow their roots in Columbus."
Glass added that the company intends to stay in Columbus where it is close to many of its customers, including Cummins Inc.
"We've found tremendous support in Columbus," Glass said.
The company has experienced 50 percent growth rate annually and targets future growth of 40 percent a year, Glass said.
Good for Columbus
Armstrong said the city appreciates LHP investing in Columbus and looked forward to welcoming new workers to the community.
"LHP's continued commitment to Columbus builds on our strengths in manufacturing and technology innovation," Armstrong said.
With other recent economic announcements in the area, including new jobs at Cummins in Columbus and Honda in Greensburg, a challenge for the communities will be to attract skilled workers, Daniels said.
The governor added that existing companies also will be challenged as they compete with other companies for employees.
The average hourly wage in Indiana is $18, but companies that have committed to the state in the next few years will pay an average of $20.56.
"We don't want to just add new jobs," Daniels said. "We want them to pay well. And these jobs (at LHP) are going to pay very well."
When a reporter asked the governor how other regions of the state could have similar job growth, Daniels said he saw several keys.
These include thinking regionally, keeping the cost of government down and having worker training available as it is in Columbus.
Although the state and cities still offer economic incentives to businesses, the amount of the incentives is decreasing, said Nate Feltman, Indiana's secretary of commerce.
The average state incentive to companies per job in 2007 decreased 20 percent.
Feltman said the state is successfully competing with other states for jobs due to several state initiatives, including road improvements and telecommunications reform.