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Animal Health Company Elanco To Locate Global Headquarters In Indianapolis

Courtesy of Elanco

Animal health company Elanco announced plans Friday to locate its new global headquarters in Indianapolis. Its headquarters have been in Greenfield, but will move about 25 miles to Indy’s west side and build on the site of the former General Motors stamping plant. 

The company will use about half of the industrial site's 91 acres for the new campus. 

The new campus is a part of a $300 million investment Elanco is making in its Indiana operations, further increasing the company’s presence in the state.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation, IEDC, worked with fellow state and local officials to find a use for the former GM site that has been vacant since 2011.

“For decades, the GM Stamping plant served as an anchor for near westside Indianapolis families,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett in a news release. “When the facility closed, residents mourned the loss – not just because of the economic impact, but out of concern for the long-term vibrancy of the community. Today’s announcement will mark a new chapter for the neighborhood, spurring greater connectivity beyond the Mile Square and catalyzing transformative development opportunities along the White River and beyond.”

Elanco spun off from Eli Lilly in 2018. Last year, the company announced it was acquiring Bayer Animal Health, closing the transaction this year and becoming the second largest independent animal health company globally.

Current manufacturing sites in Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Clinton will remain.

The new campus will bring more than 500 additional jobs to the state in addition to the current 1,600 Hoosiers the company now employs.

“With a shared vision for the future of the agbioscience industry in Indiana, we are pleased Elanco can serve as a catalyst through our global headquarters and base of future operations in Indianapolis,” said Elanco President and CEO Jeff Simmons in a news release. 

The announcement also comes with plans to expand White River State Park and have space available to other businesses to invest and locate on site.

IEDC chief of staff Luke Bosso said it wasn’t until Thursday that the IEDC officially took ownership of the land following months of work to make this a reality.

“I mean, there's been a lot of conceptual ideas that have been talked about on that site," said Bosso. “And now to have something that's going to become a reality is so important, not only just to the state, but to the capital city in Indianapolis.”

Bosso said state officials are working with the city of Greenfield, where Elanco has been headquartered, to find another company to replace the loss.

Ground will be broken next year with construction to take between two to three years to complete.

Contact reporter Samantha at shorton@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @SamHorton5.

Last month, we welcomed Samantha Horton to our station. She is Indiana Public Broadcasting reporter, mainly reporting on business and economic issues in the States of Indiana for WBAA. After graduated from Evansville University with a triple majors degree (International studies, Political science and Communication), Samantha worked for a Public Radio at Evansville for three years, and then she joined WBAA because she wanted to take a bigger role on reporting. So far she enjoyed working in WBAA as business and economy reporter.