Elkhart County, Indiana, transformed quickly from a symbol of recession to a sign of recovery, recently celebrated last year’s stunning success, when more than $245 million in investments created 4,700 new jobs.

The Economic Development Corporation (EDC) of Elkhart County honored 10 local business leaders at its Investors Meeting for their contribution to the winning trend.

The county, once described as the white-hot center of the national recession, was named the top destination for corporate expansion among metropolitan areas with populations of less than 200,000 in 2009. It also earned Site Selection Magazine’s Governor’s Cup for the year.

“The EDC is currently working in partnership with existing businesses, the State of Indiana and utility companies for new and diversified investment opportunities,” said EDC President Dorinda Heiden-Guss.

Secretary of State Mitch Roob, the CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation presented data about the state’s improving economic climate – with Elkhart County as a major contributor. The event was sponsored by Indiana Michigan Power and NIPSCO.

The honorees are:

• All American Group of Elkhart and Middlebury, $3.5 million project. Martin Miranda, vice president and corporate secretary treasurer, represented the company, which builds systems-built houses and specialty vehicles.
• Dometic Corporation of Elkhart, $6.8 million project. President Doug Whyte represented the company, which manufactures goods for the RV, truck, marine and hotel industries.
• Dwyer Instruments of Wakarusa, $505,000 project. Tom Alexander, director of human resources, represented the company, which provides industrial controls such as gages, switches and transmitters.
• InterCambio Express of Elkhart and Goshen, $700,000 project. President Isaac Torres, Vice President of Finance Anita Knudtson, Director of IT Ed Manteuffel and Global Compliance Officer Christian Velazquez represented the company, which provides the service of transferring money to Central American and South American countries.
• izzy+, $640,000 project. Rick Glasser, vice president of marketing and project management, and Les Stoller, plant manager, represented the company, which makes furniture.
• Kem Krest of Elkhart, $3.3 million project. Controller Brent Kuhn represented the company, which provides supply chain management solutions.
• Navistar, $39.2 million project. Plant Manager Jeremy Perez represented the company, which makes electric trucks at its Wakarusa plant.
• Syndicate Systems Inc. of Middlebury, $460,000 project. Riad “Ray” Baker Ardahji, director of engineering, and Deb Mazur, human resources manager, represented the company, which makes household furniture.
• THINK North America, $56.2 million project. Chief Financial officer Tom Kemeny represented the company, which makes electric cars.
• Truck Accessories Group of Elkhart, $2.45 million project. Chief Financial Officer Mike Beckman represented the company, which makes fiberglass, plastic and aluminum components.

In his presentation, Roob said job commitments in the state by early August had already climbed to 16,556, far above last year’s total 10,679 and a significant improvement over the pre-recession 14,956 in 2006.

The number of projects was up to 115, compared to 89 for all last year, and investment was already at $2.74 billion, nearly three times the 2009 total. Wages from the IEDC projects are at the national average, far about the state average.

The growth was achieved with a modest cost to the state for expenses such as tax credits, training grants and infrastructure assistance.

Indiana is one of only nine states with the top rank from all three credit rating agencies and enjoys lower business tax and regulation than almost any other state.

Last year, Elkhart County was the location of 15 deals in the state – second only to the Indianapolis area, and including 3,512 job commitments more than any other county.