State incentives scarce in Northwest Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS | A state agency created to lure employers to Indiana and keep them here handed out more than $158 million in incentives and tax breaks through November, but not a single dime went to Lake or Porter counties.

The seven-county Northwest Indiana region received $1.9 million, a fraction of the $158.7 million the Indiana Economic Development Corp. dispersed statewide. The state's five other economic zones all fared far better than Northwest Indiana.

The central region did best, attracting $58 million. That includes $19 million for Marion County, or 10 times the bounty for the entire northwest region, which covers Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski and Starke counties.

Michael "Mickey" Maurer, president of the development corporation, defended the dearth of dollars for Northwest Indiana.

"A lot of that has to do with working deals that are in the pipeline," he said.

"Let me just say, we've put a lot of Northwest Indiana deals in our pipeline, so I think the statistics will look a lot better as we get moving along in (2006)."

Lake and Porter counties were the largest of 43 counties left off the IEDC list. But, late last week, the agency said it agreed to a $302,000 incentive package that will create 33 jobs at the Pepsi America bottling plant in Munster.

Handwritten details of the agreement were scrawled on a computer printout given to The Times.

Just three other projects -- one in Jasper County and two in LaPorte County -- were included the IEDC's original list.

One local lawmaker was surprised to hear how poorly Northwest Indiana has fared.

"I voted for the IEDC," said state Rep. Bob Kuzman, D-Crown Point.

"I supported the IEDC, because it was sold to me as an economic development tool for Northwest Indiana. But, obviously, at this point, Northwest Indiana has been shut out."

Lawmakers created the IEDC in February, handing it the duties of the now-defunct state Department of Commerce. Kuzman, a member of the House Democrats' leadership team, said he realizes the IEDC needs some leeway to reel in the biggest and best employers, but the Legislature might need tighter control over the agency to ensure incentive dollars are more evenly spread across the state.

"I think that would be something we could look at," he said. "We've got to allow for those opportunities. But it should still be fairly distributed, based on the region."

Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. was stunned to learn that Northwest Indiana seemed to be ignored by the development corporation.

"That's unbelievable," he said. "I had no idea."

McDermott and the IEDC have locked horns over state financing to bring a 175,000-square-foot Cabela's outdoors superstore to Hammond. Cabela's wants $40.7 million in sales tax increment financing, or STIF, a request soundly rejected by the IEDC.

"It appears that Northwest Indiana is being forgotten, and it would be nice to see the state step up and dramatically improve our economy in Hammond by approving STIF," McDermott said.

Maurer said the IEDC is negotiating an incentives package for Cabela's and another for a Bass Pro Shops megastore slated for Portage. It's unlikely either would approach the $40.7 million Cabela's wants.

The most generous IEDC deal this year was $7.45 million for MedVenture, a medical-device maker that moved its corporate headquarters and 532 jobs to Indianapolis. A Cabela's in Hammond would create 668 jobs but only a few dozen salaried positions. Most employees would get hourly wages and more than half would work part-time.

Not everyone is surprised by IEDC's disproportionate distribution of incentives.

"The initial reaction isn't one of shock or horror or anything along those lines," said Vince Galbiati, president of the Northwest Indiana Forum, a privately funded regional economic development group.

He preached patience in the effort to attract employers that fit the region's profile, namely logistics, advanced manufacturing and office jobs. Galbiati has been with the forum about as long as the IEDC has existed.

"For our sake, 11 months doesn't quite get us there," he said.

"Our pipeline is filled right now. This is without exaggeration. We have an awful lot of companies and an awful lot of deals that are in the pipeline. Some of these are just tremendous."