Four Northwest Indiana firms were named to this year's Indiana's 50 "Companies to Watch" list.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. (a state agency), the IEDC's Small Business Development Center network, Purdue University and the Edward Lowe Foundation are recognizing these companies in an effort to highlight some of the state's top privately held companies. The companies employ up to 150 and have between $750,000 and $100 million in annual revenue or working capital.

A Packaging Systems LLC in La Porte, Albanese Confectionery Group Inc. in Merrillville, Livemercial in Valparaiso, and Omnitech Systems Inc. in Valparaiso made the list.

"Mid-sized companies like these named Companies to Watch make up the foundation of the Indiana economy," said Mitch Roob, secretary of commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

"Congratulations to this year's field and the hundreds of other nominees who have had such a tremendous impact as they grow and continue to create new jobs for Hoosiers."

The 50 companies were named after evaluating more than 500 nominations. The chosen companies have more than $671 million in combined revenue and plan to create more than 560 jobs this year. Revenue projections represent an increase of more than $200 million from 2008.