ANDERSON, Ind. — The formation of an EB-5 Visa Regional Center in central Indiana may mean hundreds of more jobs for Madison County, with three companies in particular looking to relocate here.

The center — Energize ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC — is a government-sanctioned investment zone that will put foreign investors on a fast track for U.S. citizenship if they meet specific criteria. The zone is nine counties, including Madison County, with the center in Muncie.

Since talk of the center began more than a year ago businesses from across the country have been looking to central Indiana as possible relocation or expansion sites. And Madison County has been one of the most popular, said center principal partner Tom Farris.

The three companies he said have begun the process to come to Madison County with the help of investors through EB-5 could mean more than 1,000 jobs.

Farris didn’t give specific details about the prospective businesses. A California plastic recycling company is very near committed to coming to Madison County, he said, and was used by the center as a prospective business when the application was made to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

That company looked to Madison County to take advantage of the EB-5 investors and be close to Indianapolis. Initial employment for the company, Farris said, would be a little over 100 but by the end of the second year employment numbers could top 200.

Another project that is looking to Madison County is a food processing plant that would employ more than 1,000, he said. That project has been approved to take advantage of EB-5. A holdup to locating to Madison County though, Farris said, could be finding enough acreage together.

A third company that has submitted a business plan to Energize-ECI’s EB-5 center is a California battery company, he said, pointing out the area’s history with the auto and battery industry.

Anderson Economic Development Director Linda Dawson said the three projects are “viable.”

“They are interested mainly in Madison County because of our proximity to Indianapolis and definitely because of our EB-5 designation,” she said. “There are several more processes we need to go through to see if these are perfect matches. The type of prospects they are are right in line with where we always thought our target industries are — particularly auto-related activity and food processing activity.”

Right now the county’s economic development and governmental entities are in the process of vetting out the companies to see if their incentive packages make sense for what the company will invest in the county and the companies are looking at the area’s resources to see if it is a good match for them.

Congress created the fifth employment based preference (EB-5) immigrant visa category in 1990 for qualified foreigners looking to invest in a business that will benefit the U.S. economy and create or save at least 10 full-time jobs for American workers.

This center is the first to be formed in Indiana. Some Indiana counties are included in centers in Illinois and Kentucky.

The investment is typically $1 million although it can be reduced to $500,000 if the investment is made in a rural area or an area with unemployment one and a half times the national average — a TEA or Targeted Unemployment Area. Much of Madison County is considered to be TEA, and all of the areas the three companies are looking to locate are designated as TEAs.

The regional center, Farris said, will act as a facilitator bringing together project developers and foreign investors, reviewing and evaluating proposed business plans for projects and placing qualifying projects before interested investors.

A company can receive funding from many different investors via EB-5 but each investment must create at least 10 jobs.

Dawson said she’s seen the importance of the city being designated in the EB-5 zone firsthand on trips to China.

“It will be one additional economic development tool that will put us at the top of the list for foreign investment,” she said. “In our recent trip to China we were continually answering questions about the EB-5. The wealthiest people in China have great interest in this. We currently have four individuals that are ready to invest half a million each in a project in Anderson, and we are issuing letters of invitation for them to come and look at Anderson. So the challenge now is to find the right projects that will be successful and need this type of investment.”

Corporation for Economic Development Director Rob Sparks said the center will be another tool to use for job creation and capital investment.

“This is investing dollars into American jobs, into creating wealth here,” he said. “Obviously foreign investment dollars are coming; we should be welcoming those investment dollars. We live in a global economy.”

There are approximately 10,000 EB-5 green cards available each year; 3,000 are reserved for those investing in TEAs. More than 98 percent of immigration investment is done through these regional centers.

The EB-5 Visa program gives qualified investors a temporary green card in exchange for their investment and job creation. After two years, the investor can petition USCIS to remove the initial restrictions to their visas.

Farris stressed that companies that are taking advantage of EB-5 investors most likely will have funding from other sources. This program though provides additional sources of funding at a time when banks and venture capital firms aren’t being quite as aggressive with their loans to commercial enterprise as well as creating jobs in the center’s geographical area.

Most of the applications to the center from investors have come from Asia with a growing number from India. China though, Farris said, remains the No. 1 source, although the center is seeing more from Europe as its economy is struggling.

And applicants don’t have to, and often won’t, surrender their own citizenship or even live in the U.S. once they gain citizenship.

“Indiana has a great reputation right now,” Farris said. “It is a good state for businesses to locate in because of the state’s low debt, which means we are not likely to increase taxes. The stability bodes well for us.”

There are no investors yet through the center, although it has received many applications from both businesses needing investors and those wanting to invest, he said.

Contact Abbey Doyle: 640-4805, abbey.doyle@heraldbulletin.com