With determination on his mind, Kyle McIntosh completed another mural.
In July 2024, Kourtney Ivy, a human resources representative at Nippon Steel Pipe America Inc. in Seymour, contacted him about taking on a small mural project.
The company had remodeled one of its break rooms, and Ivy knew McIntosh had done several murals in the area and thought his work would brighten up that space.
“I’m always interested in exploring ideas for future mural projects, so I gladly agreed to have a sitdown meeting with the team,” said McIntosh, owner of Beauty from Ashes Tattoo Parlor in Crothersville.
During that meeting, they discussed options and ideas for the mural.
“To be honest, they had one main idea: ‘We want to bring some color into this break room, give ‘em something different to look at,’ so that’s where I came in,” McIntosh said.
He later had a second meeting and tour and took a lot of notes and pictures.
Then he was ready to take the vision of the client and incorporate it into a work of art.
“I take that and just dig a bit deeper than the surface,” he said. “What message do they want to convey? What’s the audience and how does it include them? Once I have these key points and several others, then I sprinkle my own little style and twist on it, and that’s how I create the idea.”
Ivy said the thought behind the mural was to include some key machining processes that happen at Nippon Steel, a material supplier of various sizes and shapes of carbon and stainless steel tubing to the automotive industry.
“Something that makes the employee feel good about the process they complete within Nippon Steel,” she said.
Processes included in the mural are furnace production, mill welding, long tube inspection, pretreatment tank, crane hook that almost everyone at Nippon Steel has been trained on and used and tube racks.
Ivy said there also are a few items to emphasize the company’s 5S process (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain), like a wet paint sign and a cleaning bucket.
McIntosh incorporated a variety of colors to make the parts of the mural stand out.
“I really just love working and exploring with color,” he said. “The more I can challenge myself in a piece, especially with color theory, the more excitement I feel.”
With this mural, which is entitled “Determination,” he said the color usage was planned out with much thoughtfulness.
“The dark blues and purples, the colder tones, represent the struggle,” McIntosh said. “The golds and oranges represent comfort. Most of all the light yellow and white represent hope.”
Why did he want to represent struggle, comfort and hope?
“One is because every one of us can identify with these feelings,” he said. “Two is because I’ve worked in many jobs, including factories, I absolutely hated, not necessarily the work or the people but for the simple fact that I wasn’t living out my passion.”
He said he was living the life of a revolving door with the same schedule, machine and meetings day in and day out.
“The only thing that helped me through those long factory days and nights was the break room,” he said. “That’s where I would dream of the life I am now living today. Even though life was a struggle, the paycheck and job security brought comfort. Most of all, I always had hope.”
Now, his hope for the “Determination” mural is to inspire those who are just like him: Dreamers.
Ivy said the mural is a good addition to the new, fresh break room remodel.
“We hope the mural would give our associates a sense of pride and create a unique environment to enjoy,” she said. “Many have expressed their gratitude for the art. We would like to thank Kyle again for his job well done.”
This was McIntosh’s second time painting a mural inside a local industry. The other one is at SpaceGuard Products in Seymour.
He said he has a couple of contract proposals on the table at other factories and warehouses.
His mural work also can be seen locally at The Brooklyn Pizza Co., Vat + Barrel, Fun Blast, 13th Floor Music & Accessories and CrossFit Seymour and on a wall at Burkart Boulevard and Tipton Street in Seymour.
Plus, he painted murals on exterior walls at Crothersville Town Hall, Tri-County Conservation Club and Eagle Chiropractic and painted Radio 96.3’s new Cool Bus 2.0.
Record promised investment from local companies, more READI funding and grants.
JAG Day and MFG Day.
Career College Transition Fair, Reality Fair and an outdoor job fair.
Mock interviews, robotics, Maverick Challenge and the successful implementation of a local training program.
A 40th anniversary celebration event.
2024 was a year to remember for Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., a not-for-profit public/private partnership dedicated to industrial and economic development located in Seymour.
Industrial investments announced in November by Seymour companies Guardian Bikes and Cummins Inc. raised the 2024 promised investment total to $198.5 million, the most in JCIDC’s 40 years.
Those announcements followed ones earlier in the year from SpaceGuard Products, Dicksons Inc., Valeo, FosTecH Inc., Aisin USA Mfg. Inc. and Nippon Steel Pipe America Inc., ranging from $100,000 to more than $29 million.
Eddie Murphy, president of SpaceGuard Products, said the company has received dedicated support from JCIDC since it established its roots in Seymour more than 30 years ago.
“Our latest real and personal property abatements allowed us to double our operating capacity and modernize our manufacturing equipment, ensuring continued growth and additional employment in Jackson County,” Murphy said. “This would not have been possible without the continued partnership and support of JCIDC.”
Not included in the promised investment total was a new company announcement in June by Vital Farms, which plans to construct an Egg Central Station sorting, washing and packing facility in Seymour’s Eastside Industrial Park.
The company has a projected investment of nearly $84 million and plans to hire up to 120 people after its anticipated opening in the fourth quarter of 2026.
JCIDC also was involved in the second round of Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative funding (READI 2.0), where the South Central Indiana Talent Region received another $30 million to use for projects in Jackson, Bartholomew and Jennings counties and Edinburgh.
In Jackson County, three of the READI 2.0 projects have been preapproved by Indiana Economic Development Corp., including the Brownstown Speedway/Jackson County Fairgrounds grandstands project and Jackson County SPARK project.
Other projects planned include housing in Brownstown, expansion of the Vincennes University industrial maintenance training program at the Jackson County Learning Center and infrastructure at the Eastside Industrial Park.
JCIDC also received two marketing grants, including one from Duke Energy’s 2024 Partnership Program and another from Hoosier Energy.
In addition, JCIDC’s Workforce Partnership organized the inaugural JAG Day in February, Career College Transition Fair in April, an outdoor job fair in August, MFG Day in October and the Reality Fair in December.
Jobs for America’s Graduates is a state-based, national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping high school students of promise who have experienced challenging or traumatic life experiences achieve success through graduation.
JAG Day brought together students and specialists from Brownstown Central, Crothersville and Seymour high schools at Aisin World Corp. of America in Seymour. They heard from guest speakers, networked during lunch and teamed up for trivia.
Nearly 1,700 students from the county’s six high schools attended the Career College Transition Fair, where around 60 booths were set up for them to explore career opportunities after high school.
The outdoor job fair at Crossroads Community Park in downtown Seymour gave the public a chance to talk to representatives from 14 local companies about potential job opportunities.
The 2024 Jackson County MFG Day, which is part of a national grassroots movement, consisted of nearly 200 students from the six county high schools gathering at Cummins Seymour Engine Plant.
During the morning, students divided into four groups and rotated between four workshops led by officials with Aisin USA, Lannett Co. Inc., Cummins, Pet Supplies Plus and Valeo.
In the afternoon, students visited one of those companies for lunch, a tour and a hands-on activity.
This was the first year for Sandy Creek Christian Academy in Seymour to attend.
Cristy Null, the school’s college/career instructor, said it was beneficial to the students.
“I am thankful for the opportunity for students to see manufacturing opportunities up close,” she said. “This will and can definitely help students make decisions about their future. Being with these students in this environment helped me learn a little more about them and some of their interests and future goals.”
To wrap up the year, the Reality Fair at Seymour Middle School brought together 600-plus eighth graders from eight local schools.
The event is a simulation of an adult’s financial life that allows youth to experience making financial decisions and managing money.
After being assigned one of 18 different types of jobs, they visited 12 booths: Pets, health care, transportation, housing Part 1, housing Part 2, household spending, the unexpected, credit card, bank, sharing and charitable gifts, children and cellphone.
During the three sessions, 68 volunteers from the community manned the booths in both gyms to help students make decisions.
The Workforce Partnership also set up mock interviews for seniors at Crothersville, Medora, Seymour and Trinity Lutheran high schools; helped the robotics teams at all of the county schools, from elementary to high school; and was part of the Maverick Challenge Jackson County high school business planning competition.
Brandon Harpe, superintendent of Seymour Community School Corp., said JCIDC is an excellent partner for the school district.
“Experiences such as Maverick Challenge, Career College Transition Fair, JAG Day, MFG Day, Reality Fair, senior mock interviews and robotics provide opportunities for our students to extend the classroom beyond the walls of our school buildings,” Harpe said. “Students are able to be innovative and work in collaborative situations with local business professionals.”
In November, the local Vincennes University industrial maintenance training program celebrated its one-year anniversary.
The program has given local industries an opportunity to send employees through training in electrical and mechanical industrial maintenance.
Last year, 50 individuals from eight local companies earned 93 certificates, said Brian Sawyers, instructor and site director.
“The 1,600-square-foot manufacturing lab at JCLC allows employees to gain and utilize a vast array of useful knowledge and skills in a relatively short amount of time compared to a traditional classroom setting,” Sawyers said. “The structure of the courses and close proximity are of great value to local industry as workers are spending less time out of their facilities for training purposes.”
2024 also was JCIDC’s 40th anniversary. The celebration event was Oct. 29 at The Copper Top in downtown Seymour and featured keynote speaker Mark Emkes, a Seymour native and former CEO of Bridgestone Americas.
During the program, JCIDC’s only executive director in its 40-year existence, Jim Plump, was presented the Distinguished Hoosier Award by District 44 Sen. Eric Koch on behalf of Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Plus, the inaugural class receiving the JCIDC Lifetime Achievement Award was recognized. They are Mike Tormoehlen, Carl Shake and Gerald Armstrong. Tormoehlen, who was JCIDC’s first board president, also was presented the Elmore-Kilgas Award.
Another high school robotics competition, more awards received by local teams.
The Seymour High School robotics program hosted the Arctic Express Tournament on Feb. 8 at Seymour Middle School.
For the third time this season, SHS Team 31330C earned an award. Leo Holle, Kellan Stanfield and Nikita Cox received the Design Award.
Earlier this season, the team received the Innovate Award at two different tournaments.
“The judges stated that they had clearly organized, effectively demonstrated concepts throughout their notebook. The notebook was maintained throughout the robotics season,” coach Amy Jo Miller Kuzel said in a post on the program’s Facebook page. “This team right here keeps bringing home the awards. This is their third award this year.”
The Midwest Princesses, SHS Team 31330A, consisting of Nicole Ray, Dafne Dominguez, Hannah Baker and Taylor LeBlanc, received the Judges Award.
“Their excitement was contagious,” Miller Kuzel said. “The Judges stated that Team 31330A demonstrated a highly positive attitude and mentoring younger Vex IQ teams. They had a positive attitude in their interview and during competition.”
The girls placed fourth out of 31 teams to advance to the Round of 16. They then battled their way into the quarterfinals, where they ended the day.
“This girl-powered team dominated today,” Miller Kuzel said.
SHS Team 31330D, consisting of Noah Chambers, Micah Yee, Ethan Rubin and Kaeden Leonard, spent the evening before the competition perfecting their program.
During the tournament, they had a high score of 67 and ranked second. They now rank 23rd out of 192 in Indiana for skills.
“Team 31330D is moving up the ranks and closer to their state goal,” Miller Kuzel said. “They achieved their highest scores for driver (38) and autonomous (29) points this season at the Seymour Arctic Express competition here on our home court. Team 31330D is dominating the skills field. Their programming skills are high level and remarkable to see.”
Joining Team 31330A in the Round of 16 was SHS Team 31330E, Jacob Martin, Mallorie Misamore, Alejandro Perez and Aiden Rodriguez. They ranked 16th.
“This team ranked as high as second place the first half of the tournament,” Miller Kuzel said. “They got hit hard during a match, causing some air fittings to break. They never stopped fighting and kept working on the problem.”
Team 31330B, Gabe Seabolt, Alyssa Fields and Miguel Andersen, ranked 31st.
“This team’s bot continues to impress everyone with hanging from the second bar,” Miller Kuzel said. “It just needs some slight adjustments to not fall when the controller is put down. Gabe spent every available second focused on adjusting and fixing his arm without getting frustrated.”
Seymour Middle School Team 30013A ranked 12th and competed in the quarterfinals. Team members are Caydyn Parks, Lillian Westmoreland and Cruz Gaspar-Pascual.
“Their challenges of grabbing the stake and programming issues got worked out during the competition,” Miller Kuzel said. “They are working on their PSI levels to be able to grab the stake and work out the kinks in their programming.”
The coach said all of her teams help each other, which is a positive.
“What I am seeing is that they are becoming more and more comfortable working with other schools,” she said. “We are so proud of how they collaborate and have fun. Between the girls team and Henryville alliance strategizing to our teams and Trinity working together to Micah, Alejandro, Noah and Ethan mentoring our own teams to Nikita and Hannah troubleshooting and loaning out parts to teams that need it, the list goes on, and we could not be more proud of your students. They are growing up to be amazing future adults and take-charge leaders.”
Trinity Lutheran reported its teams placed eighth (1483B, Jeremiah Clay, Marshall Leinart and Sam Lorenz), 22nd (1483C, Nolan Tiepen, Rylan Adair, Jacob Lorenz and Lincoln Huff), 19th (1483D, Adela Meyer, Naomi McKinley and Belle Kiewit) and 27th (1483A, Brad Dyer, Oliver Patrick and Nathanel Phin).
Jackson County has four more robotics teams qualified for the 2025 Indiana State Robotics Championship on March 22 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
At a VEX IQ Robotics tournament Feb. 1 at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour, Lutheran Central School’s Team 47220B consisting of Collin McKinley, Waylon Wolka and Hank Stuckwisch and Immanuel Lutheran School’s Team 520D consisting of Daniel Neawedde, Gabrian Wilkins and Elizabeth Scheiderer won the middle school tournament, and Immanuel Lutheran School’s Team 520C consisting of Joshua Haugen, Jonathan Rice and Jacquelyn Rice and St. Ambrose Catholic School’s Team 3522G consisting of Oliver Cutsinger, Warren Davidson, Felicity Hughes and Ashley Alexander won the elementary school tournament.
The skills champions were Immanuel Team 520D for the middle school and Immanuel Team 520A consisting of Morgan Schepman,
Katelyn Bonde and Irelyn Pumphrey for the elementary school.
JCDIC was proud to sponsor this tournament again this year, covering the registration fees for all of the teams. This event was unique because it featured all Jackson County teams — 21 middle school and 28 elementary school.
St. Ambrose coach Amy Hughes summed up this event perfectly: “Even before winning, it was a great tournament. We always appreciate competing with local schools whose kids and coaches we know. It’s a lot more fun when everyone is on a level playing field with scores fluctuating throughout the day. We all really enjoy the camaraderie and alliances.”
Industrial maintenance, phlebotomy and clinical medical assistant training has been offered locally through Vincennes University.
The recertification of the city of Seymour’s certified tech park will help continue VU’s educational offerings at the Jackson County Learning Center in Seymour. The city receives $250,000 a year to put into the tech park fund.
During the Jan. 27 Seymour Redevelopment Commission meeting, Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., said he is meeting with local industries in hopes they will continue to help fund the industrial maintenance training.
That’s also included in the second round of Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative funding.
The final piece of the funding puzzle is the city’s redevelopment commission.
Plump said once he has commitments from industries, he will be able to share the exact amount needed from the commission. The plan is to make a formal request at the Feb. 24 meeting.
Plump said the money will be used for equipment for advanced industrial maintenance training and possible expansion of the learning center for storage of this equipment.
Currently, VU only offers basic and advanced electrical and industrial maintenance classes. Since classes started in November 2023, 50 individuals from eight local companies have earned 93 certificates.
“We appreciate the role that the redevelopment commission has played in that and other work out at the learning center and at the (JCIDC) Workforce Partnership,” Dan Davis with the Jackson County Education Coalition said.
VU coming to the community also resulted in health care training, Davis said.
“Those are offered separately out at the learning center and brought in more space use income, which we need out there to keep everything running,” he said.
The redevelopment commission approved Davis’ request of payment for the next round of a $280,000 grant, which funds the work at the learning center and what the education coalition contracts with JCIDC’s Workforce Partnership.
Commission member Tim Hardin said he’s excited to see VU expanding its local class offerings. He asked about adding robotics training.
Jackie Hill, director of JCIDC’s Workforce Partnership, said she worked with Seymour High School to align some of the first round of READI funds at the Seymour Ag-Science and Research Farm to expand programs.
“What we try and do is align our next step after that along with a pathway. Automation and robotics is one of them,” Hill said. “Using the industries’ input into that is kind of the pathway that the high school is looking at.”
Hill said robotics already is offered at most Jackson County public and parochial schools, from elementary to high school. There also are teams from a local homeschool group, the Boys & Girls Club of Seymour and Jackson County 4-H.
They participate in competitions in hopes of qualifying for the state, national and world championships.
“It’s not just kids going in and playing. They are competing, and they are doing very well,” Hill said. “It’s a cool program. The kids are having fun, but they are learning.”
She described the industrial maintenance training as “a huge step forward” in other types of training being offered locally.
She said it has caught the attention of other postsecondary institutions. Several of them presented at a Jackson County human resources group meeting last year.
“It’s gotten their attention to maybe step up and offer some things, too, so I think it’s only going to expand from here,” Hill said.
During the meeting, Plump also gave a history of Seymour’s certified tech park.
That designation was the result of Cummins Inc.’s Hedgehog project in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“At the time, when the state designated a certified tech park, communities could recapture up to $5 million from taxes paid within the boundaries of the certified tech park,” he said. “Since we drew the boundaries to include Cummins’ campus since that’s what the project was all about anyway, we hit $5 million in a very short period of time, actually by 2017.”
Plump said those taxes are primarily state income tax withholding of new employees.
“It’s created sort of like a TIF (tax increment financing), where you have a baseline of the number of employees they have, and any new employees, those taxes for state income tax are used to fund the certified tech park,” he said.
While applying for recertification in 2016, he said the boundaries of the certified tech park were expanded to include the learning center.
“That turned out to be pretty important because that allowed monies to be spent inside that, and as you all know having funded the Vincennes project a couple of years ago, that was because it was at the Jackson County Learning Center and within the boundaries of the certified tech park,” Plump said.
Also in 2016, state officials made a change to allow additional money over the $5 million to be captured by the cities with certified tech parks.
Seymour recertified in 2020 and 2024, and during the most recent process, a contract now has to be signed by the fiscal agent of the certified tech park, which locally is the redevelopment commission.
Plump provided a copy of the contract to city attorney Chris Engleking for review and requested commission approval so it can be signed and returned to the state.
That was unanimously approved. “Once we get it returned, we have to file our annual report no later than April 15 showing what activities are being done with those funds within the certified tech park,” Plump said.
Going from 85 employees in early 2024 to more than 200 at the start of this year, the Seymour bicycle company continues to make an impact on the local economy.
Not only has it exceeded employment expectations, salaries have cycled up, too.
Each year the Seymour Redevelopment Commission reviews the company’s numbers and the targets are hit, there’s a 25% forgiveness of the four-year $100,000 ECLIPSE loan received at the beginning of operations in 2022 at 2230 D Ave. East in the Freeman Field Industrial Park.
During the Jan. 27 meeting, Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., spoke on behalf of the company while asking for forgiveness of the second year of the loan. That was approved 4-0 with President Mark Dennis and John Kelley absent.
Lucas Hougland, quality manager for Guardian Bikes, attended the meeting.
When the company moved to Seymour three years ago, the plan was to have one employee make $150,000 per year, five make $100,000, nine make $50,000 and 30 make $40,000.
The numbers shared during the recent meeting show one employee projected to have a salary of $150,000, but there actually are two who make more than $200,000, and both live in Jackson County.
Also, three were projected to make $100,000, but there are 15 at more than $120,000, including three who live in the county.
There were nine projected to have a salary of $50,000; however, there are 40, 14 of whom live in Jackson County.
Plus, there were 30 expected to make $40,000, but there are 60, including 36 living in the county.
Of Guardian’s total employment, 110 are under $40,000 with 100 of them living in the county.
“They have hit their projected targets,” Plump told the commission.
Guardian Bikes is the third company to benefit from ECLIPSE, which stands for Economic Loan Incentive Program-Seymour. The others were Pet Supplies Plus in 2012 and Trellis Earth in 2014.
The JCIDC-developed program provides a cash loan to help offset startup costs based on job creation. Loan proceeds come from tax increment finance or economic development income tax funds, and the amount of the loan is tied directly to the number of new jobs (permanent full-time positions) and wages.
Existing and new industrial companies are eligible to apply, provided the applicant creates at least 25 new jobs. An applicant is eligible to apply for a loan based on the number of employees who live in Jackson County.
The program is designed as a forgivable loan. Each year, the company submits a compliance form to the redevelopment commission and common council to show jobs created, wages and residency of employees.
Based on compliance, the city boards approve loan forgiveness for that year. If not in compliance, the company could be required to make that year’s loan payment. The interest rate would be determined per project as part of the terms.
Guardian Bikes launched at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September 2015. Friends Brian Riley and Kyle Jansen appeared on the television show “Shark Tank” and received $500,000 from Mark Cuban for a 15% share in the company.
It started in Irvine, California, but moved to Austin, Texas, in the spring of 2020 and then Seymour two years later.
Originally, the company sold children’s bicycles, but it’s now making adult bicycles, too.
It’s also preparing to make history with the first high-volume frame manufacturing plant landing back in the United States this year.
Along with Guardian’s first location in Seymour, the company now occupies space in multiple buildings at Freeman Field, including 845 A Ave. East.
