Positron accepts Gary deal, dropping Noblesville

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Fishers-based Positron Corp. is dropping plans to build a $55 million facility with 86 workers in Noblesville after coming to terms with a better deal from Gary, Indiana. The nuclear medicine company recently announced plans to build a $65 million facility in Gary that would employ up to 50 people within five years.

“I was disappointed to hear of Positron’s decision to locate their cyclotron project in Gary. Positron would have created a substantial number of new high paying jobs in the community which would have attracted skilled professionals to Noblesville,” said Common Council President Greg O’Connor. “Although adding new commercial assessed value to our tax base is a priority, I believe there will be other companies and management teams that will recognize the value added by locating in Noblesville and we will vigorously seek out those opportunities.”

Positron will make radioactive medical imaging isotopes at the new plant, which will be equipped with a 70-million-electron-volt cyclotron. The second cyclotron in the world was originally planned to be built at Noblesville’s Corporate Campus.

Gary has approved $15 million in tax increment financing bonds for Positron and is helping the company land New Market Tax Credits worth another $15 million. Noblesville approved an incentive package for Positron back in July 2011. It offered the company up to $6.7 million in incentives to help it acquire equipment, and the state offered $900,000 in tax credits and $250,000 in training funds. Noblesville also assisted Positron in receiving a $38 million Midwestern Disaster Area Bond the next month, which is not available to the company now.

City Attorney Michael Howard said it would be “fiscally irresponsible” for the city to offer Positron a deal similar to Gary.

“We did the right thing,” he said. “Nobody’s walking around gloomy.”

While Positron is leaving Noblesville, the only loss for the city is time and effort. The terms of Noblesville’s deal did not put any taxpayer dollars at risk without a substantial capital commitment on the part of Positron.

“You wish it was here. It would have been a great asset to the city,” said Noblesville Administrative Officer Mike Hendricks. “We wouldn’t have had this opportunity if we hadn’t put an aggressive offer forward. It shows our ability to think outside the box to help businesses come to Noblesville and thrive.

When the city announced its offer to Positron, it also created a controversy. In addition to substantial losses in recent years, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission accused Positron CEO Patrick G. Rooney of defrauding investors in a hedge fund he operated last year.

“I don’t think we would have done anything differently,” Hendricks said about Noblesville’s proposal.

O’Connor said the council will have a resolution on the agenda at the next meeting revoking the incentive package.


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