Northeast Indiana was hammered by job losses in 2009, but there were some bright spots.

General Motors Co., one of the region’s largest employers, idled its Allen County truck plant for more than two months because of a nationwide slowdown in auto sales. But the company also announced plans to bring hundreds of jobs here as it tries to rebound after a quick bankruptcy this summer.

Kroger Co. spurred some optimism in the first quarter when it announced plans to invest $75 million in the Fort Wayne market. The plan would involve closing some stores, but others would be opened or expanded and the multiyear project would create 250 jobs.

GM and Kroger were among this year’s top 10 business stories for northeast Indiana, as voted by The Journal Gazette’s Business staff: reporters Marty Schladen and Sherry Slater and Business Editor Lisa Green. The voting produced a second-place tie.

1

GM. The automaker announced in September that it would add a third shift – 700 jobs – to the Allen County plant by April. The company also said the Defiance, Ohio, foundry would probably have jobs added but couldn’t say how many. The positions likely will be filled by GM workers laid off from other factories.

2

Fort Wayne Foundry Corp. The company, which had operations in Fort Wayne and Columbia City, shut its doors in late May and was filing for bankruptcy, a United Auto Workers official in Columbia City said in early June. About 600 employees would be affected. That news came after the foundry in March told the state it would close its operation at 4910 Lima Road by June 28, costing 174 workers their jobs. In July, however, the Columbia City union said 105 employees were expected to be rehired there for a six-month contract with GM.

2

Navistar. The company put the wheels in motion to consolidate much of its operations, including its Fort Wayne Truck Design and Technology Center at 2911 Meyer Road, into a site in Lisle, Ill. That could cost Fort Wayne about 800 jobs. The plan, however, was generating protests among residents who live in the suburban Chicago community.

4

Kroger. The grocery chain announced plans in January to invest $75 million in the Fort Wayne market. The three-to-five-year project, which will create 250 jobs, involves closing three stores, building three stores, significantly expanding two stores and remodeling three stores. The closures have been identified: Scott’s at 5300 Decatur Road, Scott’s at 710 E. Dupont Road, and Kroger at 8801 U.S. 24 W.

5

Parkview. The health system’s officials said in November that construction on its $536 million project at Interstate 69 north of Dupont Road for a Parkview Regional Medical Center was on schedule. The project will be complete in December 2011, despite delays from a carpenter’s strike earlier in the year. Groundbreaking was in 2008.

6

Fleetwood RV. The company said in August it planned to add 300 workers to its Decatur operations in the next three months. The company also said it would invest $7.4 million in its facilities. Fleetwood RV was formed in July when American Industrial Partners Capital Fund IV bought the motor home assets and the Fleetwood brand from bankrupt Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. The workforce numbered 630 when the announcement was made, Chief Executive Officer Chuck Wilkinson said.

7

GM

. The company idled its Allen County truck plant for 10 weeks starting in early May because of slow sales. The plant normally shuts down for two weeks each summer as the company switches to the next year’s model. The local shutdown mirrored extended downtime at many of the automaker’s plants this year.

8

Zimmer Holdings Inc.

The Warsaw-based orthopedics company slashed more than 100 jobs from its Kosciusko County operation in June, a company spokesman said. Zimmer employed more than 2,800 in Warsaw before the cuts, part of a 5 percent global-staffing reduction. Zimmer had not cut its workforce since 1997, when it laid off 230 employees.

9

Steel Dynamics Inc.

The company said it cut about 1,050 jobs, including 135 from the local OmniSource recycling operations in Fort Wayne and Auburn in 2009. The local OmniSource job cuts were revealed in May and would scale back its workforce in the area to about 820.

10

GM and Chrysler

. Struggling to regain financial footing, the automakers made plans to cut about 10 northeast Indiana franchises. But most of those franchise dealers said they would continue to operate, focusing on other brands and services. GM and Chrysler planned to cut ties nationally with about 1,900 dealers, although efforts to have some of those decisions re-evaluated gained steam this month after complaints to Congress.