In a 5-4 vote, the council approved General Ordinance 2, 2010, better known as the “responsible bidder” ordinance. Supporters of the ordinance, mostly organized labor, said the ordinance will prevent low-quality contractors from winning city contracts.

Four local banks in Kokomo will unite to capitalize a $2 million loan find for real estate acquisition and renovation in the city’s Urban Enterprise Zone.

Newton County, IN and Livingston County, IL, are battling each other to keep Coils, Inc., an electrical manufacturer looking to consolidate it operations.

The Richmond zoning board shot down a proposed sports complex last night.

Lafayette trailer maker Wabash National is hiring temporary workers.

“The move to South Bend will allow Fanning Howey to better serve our clients in all parts of northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan,” said Executive Director J. Scott Winchester, AIA. “Our central location will benefit all clients: school districts, colleges and universities, public libraries and municipalities.”

The firm’s new address will be 130 S. Main Street, Suite 300, South Bend, Indiana 46601. More than 20 employees—including architects, engineers, and construction administrators—will be moving into the state-of-the-art facility in downtown South Bend.

Site selection and lease negotiations were facilitated by Dustin Looper of Resource Commercial Real Estate.

“After exhausting all options in Michigan City and suburban South Bend/Mishawaka, downtown South Bend provided the solution, both economically and subjectively,” Looper said.

“We are excited to celebrate our hospital’s milestone of five years of service to Indianapolis and the Midwest,” said IOH CEO Jane Keller, RN, MBA. “In our five years of operation, we have celebrated many successes, due in large part to our owners being physicians first and owners second. IOH has always stated that choice, high-quality outcomes, safety, patient satisfaction and overall value are our utmost priorities.”

Ranked in the top fivepercent in the nation for joint replacement surgery, IOH is also 5-Star rated in joint replacement, total knee replacement, total hip replacement, spine surgery and back and neck surgery (spinal fusion) by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading health care ratings company. In 2009, IOH was the recipient of the Press Ganey Summit Award for a facility sustaining the highest level of customer satisfaction for three or more consecutive years.

The recognition received proves a physician hospital model provides quality outcomes for its patients. The owners of IOH believe a physician-owned hospital model provides patients with quality care because the physician is involved in every aspect of the patient’s treatment. In physician-owned hospitals like IOH, the physicians play the role of the patient advocate. They personally decide what type of treatment is most appropriate and beneficial, putting the care of the patients first.

“As a physician-owned specialty hospital, we are privileged to have served this community for the past five years,” said Keller. “I am proud of our physicians and staff for creating an environment where patient satisfaction, safety and outcomes are their highest priorities.

Our physicians had a vision for our hospital that it would be a different type of healthcare facility where the focus was on superior patient care delivered by a caring and dedicated staff. Every employee’s dedication to creating a patient focused experience and has been integral in our hospital’s success.”

For more information, visit IndianaOrthopaedicHospital.com.

At Indiana Harbor, the funds will allow the facility to upgrade its 84” Hot Strip Mill coiling capability, which will expand its product size range and improve quality. The upgrade will allow the facility to meet demand in the energy linepipe and heavy-gauge, water transmission pipe market by offering a complete range of sizes and grades. The project will also expand product capabilities to include ultra high-strength, hot rolled steels in a greater size range to serve the heavy equipment markets, including construction and agriculture. The coiler upgrade includes the installation of a state-of-the-art sampling station.

At Burns Harbor, a 160” Plate Mill will add a new, high-capacity leveler as part of the company’s overall plate heat-treating strategy, which aims to provide customers with the broadest range of high-quality, heat-treated products at increased productivity and lower costs. The leveler will be sized for high-strength quenched and tempered products in a broad spectrum of gage, width, length and yield strengths which will allow participation in long-term growth markets such as mining and nuclear. ArcelorMittal has developed a holistic approach to this heat treat facility to improve flatness, surface and presentation quality of its products. Customers will also see improved delivery performance from quality and process flow enhancements at the Burns Harbor plate mill.

“These projects will improve the competitive position of ArcelorMittal USA by improving product quality and growing our leadership position in key markets,” said Michael G. Rippey, president and CEO, ArcelorMittal USA. “This marks a significant investment in our USA operations, further exemplifying our commitment to the revitalization of American manufacturing and production of safe, sustainable steel.”

“Capital investment in equipment and technology is crucial to the long-term viability of the company and the job security of its workers. I praise the joint United Steelworkers (USW) and management efforts that led to these facilities securing the capital investments, which will improve future prospects not only for members of the USW, but for all stakeholders who have an interest in the success of ArcelorMittal,” said Leo W. Gerard, United Steelworkers, International President.

“I am pleased to see ArcelorMittal make this major investment in its Northwest Indiana facilities, demonstrating its commitment to the continued vitality of steelmaking in the region. These projects will provide greater job security to local steelworkers and solidify steel’s position at the heart of our local economy for years to come,” said U.S. Representative Pete Visclosky.

Three hundred non-skilled and skilled workers are returning to their Chrysler jobs, said Rich Boruff, president of United Auto Workers Local 685.

Boruff said 175 workers returned Monday, and more are expected to begin working March 22. In all, 257 non-skilled workers and 53 skilled workers are returning to work at the Kokomo Transmission Plant and Indiana Transmission Plant 1.

“Production is picking up,” said Boruff. “With Fiat, we are switching from a four speed to six speed [transmission]. It is going to be a challenge, but it is great to have these people back to work.”

CEVA Logistics will close its Plainfield facility, costing the community 250 jobs.

Lafayette trailer maker Wabash National has confirmed a deal with Swift Transportation for 3,100 trailers over the next three years.

Richmond may give thumbs-down to a new sports complex.

Northwest Indiana casino results were mixed.

“With this agreement, I am rejecting privatization. Our water and wastewater utilities will no longer be a political football. Local professional management, lower rates and outstanding service make Citizens the best choice to own and operate our community’s water utilities,” Mayor Ballard said. “We look forward to working with the City-County Council and the IURC to complete the transfer and realize benefits for utility customers throughout Central Indiana.”

Pending Board of Waterworks, Board of Public Works, City-Council Council and IURC approval, the City of Indianapolis (City) will receive over $400 million in connection with the transfer of the utilities to Citizens. Upon receipt of necessary approvals and negotiation of final agreements, the City will receive a $262.6 million payment from Citizens ($170.6 paid at closing and $92 million paid on October 1, 2011), plus up to an additional $60 million from the wastewater general fund that will remain with the City upon the transfer of the wastewater system.

In addition, the proposed transfer will increase the annual payment in lieu of property taxes (“PILOT”) as a result of the significant capital spending associated with the Wastewater System. The City will monetize the increase of PILOT payments in the form of a bond issuance with anticipated proceeds of $140 million, with such proceeds used by the City to fund necessary infrastructure improvements (with Citizens assuming the obligation to pay the increased PILOT). In addition, Citizens agrees to assume approximately $1.5 billion of City debt (combined debt of waterworks and wastewater).

“This is a big win for the City of Indianapolis. It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to minimize future utility rate increases and to provide much-needed funding for deteriorating infrastructure such as streets, bridges and sidewalks,” Mayor Ballard said. “Today, we took an important first step toward greatly improving quality of life for our residents, while encouraging job creation and economic growth in our community for many years to come.”

The MOU culminates more than seven months of transparent study and public deliberation by City officials and the Mayor’s Infrastructure Advisory Commission. Last July, the City issued a Request for Expression of Interest (REI) asking qualified firms to provide ideas and solutions to the infrastructure challenges facing the City, while identifying potential efficiencies in the operation of the water and wastewater utilities. Citizens was selected from 24 local, national and international companies responding to the REI.

Carey Lykins, President & CEO of Citizens Energy Group, said the proposed utility transfer is a historic moment for the greater Indianapolis community. “More than a century ago, civic leaders, including Colonel Eli Lilly, put our community’s natural gas system into the Citizens Public Charitable Trust to protect it from sale to profit-making corporations and the uncertainties of changing political forces. The transfer proposed today heeds the lessons of history by keeping our community’s water and wastewater systems in the hands of the people, so they can be managed for their benefit,” Lykins said.

However, Citizens estimates that by the year 2025 combined water and wastewater rates will be 25 percent lower under its ownership compared to other options available to the City. Lower water and wastewater rates will be achieved through an estimated $40 million in annual savings available by combining operations of the water utilities with Citizens’ gas, steam and chilled water systems.

Currently, the water system is governed by the Board of Waterworks and operated in a partnership with Veolia Water. The wastewater system is governed by the Board of Public Works and operated in a partnership with United Water.

After the transfer, the water and wastewater utilities will be governed by the Citizens Energy Group Board of Directors, a non-partisan body that focuses on the needs of customers and the community. Further accountability will be assured because utilities under Citizens are regulated by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), and other agencies including the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and U.S. EPA.

“We know customers want low rates and outstanding service. Citizens has been rated among the best utilities in the Midwest for customer satisfaction and operational excellence. Veolia and United are experienced operators as well, and we anticipate they will continue to play significant roles in the operations of the water and wastewater utilities. We look forward to working closely with Veolia and United on the future operations of the utilities with a focus on ensuring service quality, while confirming operating synergies,” Lykins said.

Moving forward, Citizens is committed to both utility and community investments. Citizens will make investments in utility infrastructure to ensure system reliability and compliance with federal environmental mandates, including the City’s Consent Decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically, Citizens will invest the necessary resources to address the City’s combined sewer overflow problem that leads to the pollution of the White River and other streams.

Citizens has put nearly $50 million of revenue from non-utility companies it owns back into the community over the past decade to fund gas customer rate reductions, low-income energy assistance, home weatherization programs, neighborhood redevelopment projects and donations to a wide range of non-profit organizations.

The Mayor intends to file legislation for the utility transfers with the Indianapolis City-County Council on April 16. In addition to approval by the City-County Council, the utility transfer must be approved by the Board of Water Works, the Board of Public Works and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Full approval would likely take place in late 2010.

The City’s water system currently serves more than 300,000 households in Marion County and the six surrounding counties. The wastewater system serves more than 230,000 households, mostly in Marion County. Citizens provides natural gas, steam and chilled water service to more than 266,000 customers in the Indianapolis area.

As part of this expansion effort, nGenX’s new data centers will support collocation customers who require a public data center solution for outsourcing servers or other information technology equipment. nGenX utilizes its two existing SAS 70, Type II certified data centers in Evansville, Indiana and Brookfield, Wisconsin to host its Cloud Computing services and for colocation. All five nGenX data centers are ringed with Ethernet connectivity for high-availability and disaster recovery.

While the US economy remains sluggish, nGenX is expanding and bringing high technology jobs to its Midwestern target markets. “Our goal is to become the major regional provider of technology infrastructure. We have invested millions in our data centers and our highly trained, professional staff,” said Robert A. Bye, executive vice president, nGenX Corporation. “We see a tremendous opportunity to support the information technology needs of area businesses so they can avoid capital expenditures and focus on core business issues.”

nGenX operates five high-availability data centers in the Midwest for colocation. From these data centers, the company provides Cloud Computing and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions for its customers’ data, applications, servers and backup. nGenX’s Cloud Computing and IaaS solutions are SAS 70, Type II certified, assuring the customer that nGenX’s processes and facilities are tested and secure.

In 2004, nGenX was purchased by Q-Comm Corporation, a privately held company headquartered in Evansville, IN with annual sales in excess of $240 million and assets including data centers and more than 30,000 route miles of fiber.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture money will go to projects that cut the amount of nutrients entering waterways in dozens of watersheds. The agency expects to award about $320 million for such projects over the next four years.

Indiana’s five eligible watersheds are the Eel River, the Upper East Fork of the White River, Wildcat Creek, the upper Wabash River, Vermillion River and upper Great Miami River.

Indiana legislators made little progress Monday in reaching a deal to delay an increase in the unemployment tax.

CVS continues to expand in the Evansville area.

Exacq Technologies develops software systems that manage video surveillance for stand alone applications and multi-branch sites including universities, banks, retail stores, corporate facilities, airports and private residences. The technology developer plans to invest $1.1 million to lease additional space at its current 10,000 square-foot Exit Five Parkway facility in Fishers.

“Entrepreneurs at Exacq Technologies and other Indiana companies are putting our state on the map as a home for high-tech enterprises to start and succeed,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.”

Anchored by local and international customers including Anixter and Koorsen Fire & Security, the eight-year-old firm has grown to 30 employees and plans to begin hiring additional software and hardware engineers, technical support specialists, managers and administrative associates this month.

“Indiana is a great place to grow and operate a technology business,” said Dave Underwood, president of Exacq Technologies. “In particular, our close proximity to schools like Rose-Hulman, Purdue, Indiana, and IUPUI provides us with a rich pool of young talent to choose from.”

In 2008, Exacq Technologies was recognized by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and its Small Business Development Center network as one of 50 Indiana Companies to Watch. The accolade, presented in partnership with Purdue University and the Edward Lowe Foundation, recognizes the state’s privately held businesses that employ up to 150 employees and have between $750,000 to $100 million in annual revenue or working capital.

Exacq Technologies began operations in late 2002 and has grown substantially each year, increasing revenue 54% in 2009.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Exacq Technologies, Inc. up to $650,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $7,500 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The town of Fishers will consider additional property tax abatement.

“Partnerships with local innovators such as Exacq Technologies to add more jobs to the community are one of the key ingredients that have made Fishers a nationally lauded community,” said Scott A. Faultless, Fishers Town Council president. “We’re proud of our low tax rate which would not be possible without the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit alive here in Fishers.”

Central Indiana was ranked the fourth fastest growing tech hub in the nation and added high-tech jobs faster than any other metro area in the Midwest, according to the 2008 Cybercities report from the national technology trade group, TechAmerica.

The company, which manufactures friction material components used in automatic transmissions, along with liquid applied sound dampening material used in vehicles to reduce noise and vibration, will invest more than $9 million by the end of 2011 to construct a new 72,000 square-foot manufacturing facility adjacent to its current operations. Aisin will use the additional space to expand production of its Liquid Applied Sound Dampening product line.

“Indiana continues to see impressive investment from overseas companies,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. “Aisin’s growth in Crothersville is another sign that Indiana’s business friendly climate is creating a competitive environment for businesses around the globe.”

Aisin Holdings of America, Inc., ACIN’s parent company in North America, is a group company of Kariya, Japan-based Aisin-Seiki Co., which manufactures a variety of automotive components and housing amenities through its manufacturing plants and subsidiaries across the world. Aisin-Seiki employs more than 73,000 associates throughout Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe.

“We chose the Indiana site over two other sites because of the hard-working, dedicated workforce and the supporting community in Crothersville,” said Takahiro Ishikawa, president of Aisin Chemical Indiana, LLC.

ACIN, which employs more than 35 associates in Crothersville, plans to begin hiring additional manufacturing and supervisory associates late in 2010 before the anticipated opening of the new facility in the first quarter of 2011.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Aisin Chemical Indiana up to $165,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $36,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Lawrenceburg will provide Crothersville with a $200,000 regional economic development grant toward the project. The town of Crothersville will consider additional property tax abatement at the request of the Jackson County Industrial Development Corp.

“This is wonderful news for not only our community but the surrounding area as well,” said Ardell Mitchell, president of the Crothersville Town Council. “We are elated to have been selected by Aisin Chemical as the home of their new manufacturing facility. Economists have told us that the state’s business climate and confidence is slowly improving. We are taking tonight’s announcement as exciting proof of that trend locally.”