Senator Joe Donnelly shares a laugh with Chris Wilkes, manager of pharmacy operations, and Lisa Cline, the senior director of regional field operations, while visiting the Briova Rx Specialty Pharmacy facility at River Ridge in Jeffersonville Thursday morning. Sen. Donnelly made his way through the 600 acres of developed commercial property as part of his Ohio River Tour.

JEFFERSONVILLE — When members of the River Ridge Development Authority reported job creation and development numbers to Joe Donnelly during his Thursday visit, the first-term senator was impressed.

“That’s just a tremendous accomplishment already to be in that situation,” Donnelly said of the 6,000 jobs spread over 600 acres on the commerce center.

Donnelly also learned of new companies moving into the area — all in the automotive industry.

Autoneum, a Switzerland-based Tier-1 auto parts supplier, will be the first of three suppliers locating at River Ridge. The manufacturer announced its plans in February to locate north of Catamaran building, bringing 220 jobs.

“We have another automotive supplier project that should be announced maybe in two weeks ... and then we have a third supplier that ... we have a letter of intent drafted for another site,” Executive Director Jerry Acy said. “So really we’re working on three real active additional projects.”

Tenneco Inc., a Fortune 500 auto supplier to big-name companies such as Ford and Honda, has job listings for Jeffersonville on its website. Tenneco has 89 facilities on six continents with almost 26,000 employees, generating $8 billion annually in revenue.

Neither River Ridge nor Tenneco would confirm that the supplier would be locating at the commerce center.

The Democrat senator’s visit was part of his along-the-Ohio River tour in Indiana, where he commended River Ridge staff and board members on their economic contributions. Earlier Thursday, he visited New Albany, where he had breakfast with residents at Toast on Market.

“It’s so important to our state and to our region, and I wanted to show my support and thank the board and the folks that have worked so hard to develop this and to continue to tell everybody that this is a great place to locate your business and to raise your family,” Donnelly said.

He said he’s witnessed first-hand the affect that job creation can have on a community, especially when those jobs were created during the beginning of the economic recession about seven years ago.

“That’s what you’re doing is trying to provide jobs and opportunities, so I’m very grateful for what you’re doing here,” he said. “We want to be good partners in trying to help you get this done.”

Acy also updated Donnelly on River Ridge’s future vision involving the heavy haul road that will connect to the east-end bridge and the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville.

“The objective is to have this road and connection completed by the time the bridge opens in 2016 so we’re really excited about that,” Acy said. “We’re getting a lot of attention as a result of it.”

He said that River Ridge plans on having high-end commercial development at the Interstate 265 interchange from the bridge.

“We’re doing some major planning concerning the entrance coming off the interchange,” he said. “This will be the front door to the state, to River Ridge, to Jeffersonville, to Utica, to the Port.”

A FRIEND IN D.C.

River Ridge has a vested interest in Donnelly that extends beyond support of an Indiana politician.

The senator is working on a bill that would give the commerce center environmental indemnification, meaning River Ridge would not be liable for any potential environmental hazards left on the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant by the federal government.

The National Defense Authorization Act establishes a two-year defense budget, and adding an amendment on environmental indemnification would mean River Ridge would be exempt from liability.

Acy said that the bill has passed through the House of Representatives and is now on the Senate floor.

“We’ve been working real closely with the senator’s staff,” he said.

So far, no environmental hazards have been found on any developed sites — but River Ridge has 5,400 untouched acres.

“We already have a really good reputation,” Acy said. “Everything’s gone really smooth.”

Donnelly told River Ridge staff and board members that he’s working with Rep. Todd Young to ensure indemnification language will be added to the bill.

“It’s important because we want to make sure that there’s no hidden obligations of any type and that we are held harmless,” Donnelly said. “So it’s very critical to get that done.”