GANNETT CONSOLIDATES AP/GL SERVICES.

Indianapolis, Ind., has been chosen by Gannett Co. Inc. of McLean, Va., as the site of its new accounts-payable and general-ledger shared services center, it was revealed earlier this month. The center will use space already owned by the company's Indianapolis Star.

When fully operational, Gannett said, the new center could create as many as 200 new jobs. The company has already begun hiring managers and financial professionals to staff the center, which opened on a pilot basis in August.

"Indiana has the best location for us, all the right amenities and the highly trained workforce we need," said Gracia Martore, executive vice president and chief financial officer, in a statement. "We are very pleased with the welcome this center received from the state and are happy to enhance our operations in Indiana."

The state said the Indiana Economic Development Corp. will provide Gannett with up to $780,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $155,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. Indianapolis will provide the company with property tax abatement at the request of Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc. and the Indy Partnership.

"Gannett could have located this operation anywhere," Gov. Mitch Daniels said in the statement. "The environment we have created and our relentless quest to attract new jobs allowed us to bring this operation to Indiana."

Two hundred new jobs for Indiana probably means more like 300-350 jobs lost elsewhere in the vast Gannett empire, because this isn't new work, it's existing work that is being shifted off of the individual papers and TV stations and into a center where -- theoretically -- there will be certain efficiencies. Indianapolis is also the headquarters of the company's regional photo re-touching center as well.