Communities

Fueling Economic Development

We also are active in a wide range of local and regional economic development organizations across our service area, investing more than $1 million annually. In Indiana alone, this investment results in commitments from about 100 companies to invest and create about 10,000 jobs every 10 years, generating thousands of construction jobs in the process.

Key 2011 Economic Development Efforts

• Indiana Metropolitan Area Network (iMAN): A $25,000 investment made in Steuben County, Ind., supported iMAN, a community-owned fiber optic technology project, designed as a fast, secure, and cost-effective means of delivering data and information for business applications. This network is providing greater internet access and significant cost savings to local government and businesses.
• Canadian National Railway (CN): NIPSCO partnered with the city of Gary, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority to encourage CN to relocate a portion of the railway’s operations to Kirk Yard in Gary. CN’s $165 million investment will double the capacity of Kirk Yard and add about 250 jobs by 2015.
• Ohio Jobs Growth Fund: Columbia Gas of Ohio helped launch the Ohio Jobs Growth Fund, which provides financial assistance to new and existing companies that create new jobs in our Ohio service territory. In 2011, the first grant was made for $50,000 to Coll Materials Exchange, a plastics recycler with plans to invest $2.27 million in new equipment to increase recycling capacity at its Zanesville, Ohio plant. The expansion will create 25 new jobs and retain 48 existing positions. Founded in 2008, Coll Materials is a woman-owned minority enterprise. The company purchases consumer and industrial plastic wastes and recycles it into material that is reused by plastics manufacturers throughout North America.