Area Development
Two Indiana companies are expanding their operations in the state with combined investments of nearly $40 million, according to the Indiana governor's office. Mead Johnson, a manufacturer of children's nutritional supplements and food products, will invest $32.8 million for new equipment and building improvements at its infant formula factory in Evansville, Indiana. The company, best known for its Enfamil brand formula, plans to create up to 35 new jobs over the next year. "The new facility will allow us to better meet consumers' needs and help fulfill our mission to create nutritional brands and products to give infants and children the best start in life," says Jeff Jobe, a Mead Johnson senior vice president. In Fort Wayne, Brotherhood Mutual Insurance, an insurer of churches and related ministries, will invest more than $5.2 million to establish a new 26,000-square-foot customer service center at its headquarters. The company will create up to 60 new jobs over the next three years. "Indiana has been our home since the beginning, and our company's success was built on the hard work and dedication of the employees who live here," says Mark Robison, Brotherhood Mutual's chair and president. The state has offered Mead Johnson up to $3.25 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $28,500 in training grants, contingent on job creation; the city will create a tax increment financing district at the company's location that will allow it to capture and reinvest property taxes into the business, and will offer additional property tax phase-in. The state has offered Brotherhood Mutual up to $700,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants, contingent on job creation; the city will also consider additional property tax phase-in.