UPDATE: New tech jobs come with handsome wages

The 314 new jobs coming to Zionsville will also come with handsome wages.

Mobi Wireless Management LLC told Boone County officials it expects to pay $25 to $30 an hour to the 253 workers it expects to hire by 2014. Those wages amount to $50,000 to $60,000 a year.

Pay will be even higher at Bostech Corp. The software developer expects to pay about $40 an hour, or more than $83,000 a year, to the 61 workers it expects to add by 2013.

Economic development officials and company representatives announced news of the companies' plans Wednesday morning.

These are “very high-paying jobs,” said Dax Norton, executive director of the Boone County Economic Development Commission. “This is the third tech announcement in Zionsville this year. What we’re doing here is creating [a tech] cluster.”

The wages surpass average pay in the Indianapolis metro area, which is about $23 an hour, or $47,000 a year.

The two companies stand to get generous incentives from state and local economic development groups to help fund their expansions at the Northwest Technology Center, which sits at the intersection of West 96th Street and Zionsville Road.

In exchange for Mobi’s $3.3 million investment in technology upgrades, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered the firm up to $2.9 million in performance-based tax credits and $100,000 in training grants based on the job-creation plans.

In addition, the Boone County Economic Development Corp. has recommended a $180,000 grant, using tax increment financing, to buy equipment.

Bostech expects to spend $300,000 to expand operations in Zionsville. The state offered Bostech up to $750,000 in performance-based tax credits based on job-creation plans. Also, Boone County officials have recommended a $50,000 grant, paid with tax-increment financing, for equipment purchases.

Mobi helps companies manage, monitor and handle the billing for the increasingly complex flock of mobile devices used by employees. The firm started less than two years ago and now has 20 workers.

“Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen Mobi grow enormously,” said Mobi Director Scott Kraege. He expects that surge to continue, which is why the company needs to hire more software engineers, operations managers and client consultants.

Mobi was spawned using technology from Bluefish Wireless Management Inc.

Indianapolis-based Bostech is growing as its new product for the health care field, ChainBuilder, catches on. The company is looking to hire software engineers, as well as sales and marketing workers. Bostech now has about 23 employees and is moving its headquarters from Intech Park on the north side of Indianapolis.

CEO Brad Bostic said the company has hundreds of clients already, helped in part by reselling arrangements with giants GE Healthcare and McKesson Corp. ChainBuilder allows medical labs to handle patient documents and labs in one system, no matter if those documents come in on paper or via other computer programs. The goal is to cut down on human errors.

“We are focusing on fixing a lot of the problems in the health care sector,” he said.