Economy of Indianapolis

[14] Indianapolis's central location relative to other major North American markets, plus its extensive air, rail, and highway infrastructure, have positioned the region as an important center for the transportation and logistics industry.

[19] The city is home to FedEx Express's National Hub which employs 5,800 workers in sorting, distribution, and shipping at Indianapolis International Airport.

[20] Other major employers in the region include DHL Group, Dollar General, Express Scripts, Finish Line, FullBeauty Brands, Ingram Micro, J.

Hunt, Kroger, Pearson plc, Republic Airways Holdings, Total Quality Logistics, United Airlines, UPS, Walmart, Wheaton World Wide Moving, and XPO, Inc..[15][18][21] Cummins, based in Columbus, Indiana, expanded its footprint to the city in 2017 when the company opened its Global Distribution Business unit in downtown Indianapolis.

[22][23] Indianapolis's importance as a national rail center has diminished since the middle of the twentieth century;[24] however, the city remains a regional hub for CSX Transportation, home to its division headquarters and a classification yard in the suburb of Avon.

[27] Located south of downtown Indianapolis, the Senate Avenue Terminal is an intermodal freight transport facility that is owned by the Indiana Rail Road and operated by CN.

[34] OneAmerica, founded in the city as American United Life (AUL) in 1877, is the second-largest privately held company in Indiana, with revenue of $2.7 billion in 2020.

According to a 2021 report commissioned by BioCrossroads, Central Indiana's life sciences and healthcare sector generates nearly $84 billion in total economic output and supports more than 331,000 jobs throughout the region.

[43] In 2020, the Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson metropolitan statistical area (MSA) ranked eighth among large MSAs in the U.S. for employment concentration in the agricultural feedstock and chemicals sector.

[48] Eli Lilly is one of three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Indianapolis and is the city's largest non-governmental employer with a workforce totaling nearly 11,000 in research and development, manufacturing, and executive administration.

[50] Elanco, a pharmaceutical company that produces medicines and vaccines for pets and livestock, announced plans in 2020 to invest $300 million in establishing its global headquarters in downtown Indianapolis.

[52] Other notable companies in the region include Novo Nordisk's Research Center Indianapolis, Inc. (NNRCII), established in 2015,[53] and Century Pharmaceuticals, founded in the city in 1966.

[58] Roche Diagnostics Corporation is among the largest employers in Indianapolis, with a workforce of 4,500 at its North American headquarters on the city's northeast side.

[61] In 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded grants totaling $213 million to the Indiana University School of Medicine to further research, notably in the fields of Alzheimer's disease and pediatrics.

[69] St. Louis-based Ascension, among the largest nonprofit private healthcare systems in the U.S., employs about 7,100 in Central Indiana, with nearly 2,000 staffed beds and 4 million outpatient visits.

Simon's portfolio of more than 200 commercial shopping mall properties in North America and Asia comprises a gross leasable area of some 241,000,000 square feet (22,400,000 m2).

Castleton opened in 1972 as the largest enclosed shopping mall in Indiana, boasting 1,381,533 sq ft (128,348.6 m2) of gross leasable area, 130 stores, including five anchor tenants.

[73] Located in downtown Indianapolis, Circle Centre is a regional mall that opened in 1995 with a gross leasable area of about 730,000 square feet (68,000 m2) over four floors.

[75] The Fashion Mall at Keystone opened on the city's north side in 1973 and has since become the region's upscale shopping destination, boasting 120 specialty stores and restaurants covering 710,587 sq ft (66,015.7 m2) of gross leasable area.

[77] After years of diminishing revenue and competition from nearby Castleton and The Fashion Mall, Glendale was largely remodeled into an open-air power center in the mid-2000s,[78][79] covering 393,002 square feet (36,511.1 m2) of gross leasable area.

[84][85] According to the city's destination marketing organization, Indianapolis receives 29.2 million visitors annually, generating $5.6 billion, and supporting 82,900 jobs.

[86] The city's major hospitality facilities are clustered in downtown Indianapolis, including the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and some 8,500 hotel rooms.

[95][49] Other major manufacturing employers in the Indianapolis metropolitan area include Allegion, SMC Corporation, Nestlé, Knauf Insulation, and Linde plc.

[49] Indianapolis is typically considered part of the Rust Belt, a region of the Northeastern and Midwestern U.S. beleaguered by industrial and population decline.

[97] Other notable former employers in the city's manufacturing sector have included Navistar, P. R. Mallory and Company, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and Western Electric.

[107] Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, a provider of digital marketing automation and analytics software services, was co-founded in 2000 by local entrepreneurs, Chris Baggot, Scott Dorsey, and Peter McCormick.