Expansion Plans Could Add, Retain Indy Jobs

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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTwo companies are proposing multi-million dollar expansions in Marion County that could impact jobs. Indianapolis-based The Finish Line Inc. (Nasdaq: FINL) and Minnesota-based Land O’ Lakes Inc. subsidiary WinField Solutions LLC will seek preliminary tax abatement approvals Wednesday from the Metropolitan Development Commission.
The Finish Line Inc. says its plans would help retain 984 jobs at its Indy headquarters and add another 100 by 2020. The $1.3 million investment involves information technology and logistics operations improvements. In a filing to the city and county, the company says the growth centers on boosting efficiency of electronic sales and location distribution for its specialty running shoe lines.
Minnesota-based Land O’ Lakes Inc. subsidiary WinField Solutions LLC is proposing a $12 million Sure-Tech research and development facility on a nearly six-acre plot near the old Indianapolis International Airport site. The company is also considering sites in Hendricks County, New England and at the parent company’s Minnesota headquarters. It would create eight new jobs by 2019 and retain the crop protection, seed marketing and professional products company’s two dozen existing Marion County workers. The jobs are expected to pay around $25 per hour. The company would need the full City-County Council to sign-off on the Sure-Tech plan before it could move forward.
If approved, the plans could go for final approval from the committee September 16.