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.
Schneck Medical Center’s patient-first philosophy guides every decision made.
The most recent upgrade at the Seymour hospital fits that mission.
The third-floor med-surg unit, known as 3 North, was remodeled, and it opened to the first patients Jan. 28.
The project was among those receiving Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative funding. The South Central Indiana Talent Region was awarded $30 million to use for projects in Jackson, Bartholomew and Jennings counties and Edinburgh.
After a tour for South Central Indiana Talent Region officials Jan. 27, Schneck President and CEO Dr. Eric Fish thanked those who made the project possible.
He said he appreciates the desire of state and local officials to invest in communities.
“I think this is a very good testament to that vision, and I just appreciate all of the work of you guys bringing this and doing the hard work that I know it is to get it to be successful in our area, so thank you all. It’s a beautiful space. They’ve done a great job,” Fish said.
“We’re glad to have been able to help you guys be part of that program,” said Dan Davis, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County and member of the South Central Indiana Talent Region team. “It’s been great hearing how excited everybody is about (opening).”
JCIDC Executive Director Jim Plump, Workforce Director Jackie Hill and board member Matt Nicholson also are members of that team.
Amy Pettit, Schneck’s vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer, led the tour with the assistance of nursing and facilities staff.
“We’re super excited about the space and looking forward to (opening),” she said. “We’ll be having our first patients admitted to this space, so that’s every exciting. We have a plan and a process for that, so all of the staff is very excited.”
The newly renovated third floor features 20 suites for medical and surgical patients of all ages, from babies to adults.
One is Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and allows for wheelchair access in the room and bathroom. It includes a lift that can accommodate up to 1,100 pounds.
Next door is a room that accommodates larger patients.
There also are three corner suites that are bigger to allow for a patient with multiple visitors and equipment.
“A lot of times, we’ll admit hospice respite patients or inpatient hospice where they are needing maybe symptom management during their hospital stay, and these rooms just allow for that extra room for family members, caregivers, anyone who may be coming in and out,” Pettit said.
Each patient room’s lights can be adjusted by a touchpad on the wall or the bed.
“Very patient-friendly, trying to look at the room from the patient point of view and say, ‘If I were a patient, what would I want to have? I already don’t feel good. I’m in the hospital,’” Pettit said. “What can we do to make that environment more soothing without the bright lights? The ability to dim them, that type of thing.”
The patient suites also have monitoring, surveillance cameras, medical air and dialysis hookup. There also is a waiting room with sound-dampening walls that reduce the noise from the unit.
For the staff, there are two identical nurse’s stations. Previously, there was just one small one on the floor.
They both feature a doctor dictation area and a tube system, which allows transporting of lab draws and medication between the nurses, pharmacy and lab.
“That’s something the med-surg floor has not had in the past and is a great addition,” Pettit said of the tube system.
A larger clean storage and medication room also is new to the unit. There are doors on each side of the centrally located room for access from both hallways.
Pettit said the hospital’s Lean Six Sigma department partnered with the unit to improve efficiency and decrease waste. The result was a color-coded two-bin system to ensure supplies are organized and remain in stock.
Staff members also have their own area that requires badge access with lockers, a kitchen, a breakroom and a bathroom.
The breakroom has windows, which is a new feature that was made possible by working with the architect and hospital facilities staff members Jason Fee and Cody Moore.
“Every patient room has to have an outside window, so a lot of times, the areas for staff tend to be in the core,” Pettit said. “We’ve been able to secure some space for staff that has those windows so that you can actually get to an area where you can take a break and actually see outside. That’s always a positive thing.”
Pediatric patients can stay on the third floor thanks to a new baby security system that requires staff badge access for the stairwell.
Also for those young patients, there is an activity room, where a variety of activities can take place to get them out of their hospital room.
Moore said construction of the hospital’s patient rooms started in 1968 and was completed in 1971, and changes weren’t made until the 1990s.
Around that time, Pettit said the third floor was for women and children, but after that unit was moved up to the fifth floor, it became a medical floor.
Fee said the third floor was last updated in 2007, but that only included some finishes and mechanical systems.
The recent project was the first time the footprint of the floor changed.
“I think they’ve done a fantastic job of really opening the space while trying to keep the number of beds consistent, which was important because we have to still be able to care for patients. That’s our No. 1 goal,” Pettit said. “If you need us, we can be here, and we’ll take care of you.”
The public is invited to a VEX IQ Robotics tournament Feb. 1 at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour.
This tournament is unique because it will feature all Jackson County schools. There will be nearly 50 elementary and middle school teams competing, starting at 9 a.m. The tournament champions of each division — elementary school and middle school — will qualify for the 2025 Indiana Robotics State Championship on March 22 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
There is no admission charge, so you are encouraged to come by and check out the competition.
One local robotics team recently qualified for the 2025 Indiana Robotics State Championship.
Another one won an award for the second time this season.
During a VEX Robotics tournament Jan. 18 at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour, Trinity Lutheran High School’s Team 1483C won all of its matches and the tournament to earn a trip to the state competition, which is March 22 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
“They competed very well. They didn’t lose a single match the whole tournament! And congratulations to the whole Trinity robotics team, who all did awesome this weekend,” said a post on the Trinity Lutheran Robotic Facebook page.
The team consists of Nolan Tiepen, Rylan Adair, Lincoln Huff and Jacob Lorenz. Earlier this season, the team placed 12th at a tournament in Fort Wayne and second at a tournament in Seymour.
Also during the recent tournament at Immanuel, Seymour High School’s Team 31330C earned the Innovate Award for the second time this season.
The award recognizes an effective and well-documented design process for a novel aspect of a team’s robot design or gameplay strategy. The submission of an engineering notebook is a requirement for the Innovate Award, and the team that earns the award also should be among the top contenders for the Design Award.
An interview with the judges and gameplay observation by the judges during the tournament also played into the award.
“We are so proud of this team that consistently brings strategy, teamwork and increased abilities to the whole team and our SMS teams,” coach Amy Miller Kuzel said in a post on the Seymour High School Robotics Facebook page. “They not only inspire themselves to stay motivated, do what is right and progressively improve. They inspire all teams they connect with.”
Team members competing at the tournament were Leo Holle, Nikita Cox and Kellan Stanfield.
“Team 31330C brings their A game every competition,” Miller Kuzel said. “Watching Kellan intensely programming in the pits stood out along with the whole team networking the room, scoping out competition and strategy. I am so proud of the example they are providing to all teams.”
This semester, JCIDC is excited to have Seymour High School senior Parker Thompson on staff as an intern.
Through the school’s Work Based Learning program, he will spend part of each weekday working in our office for the second semester after spending the first semester at Valeo in Seymour.
He will see how we work with local industries and promote development, and he also will learn how the Workforce Partnership works with local schools and the community to offer programs for students. We already have discussed potential projects for Parker so he will be able to take ownership of them and take that experience with him as he moves forward in life.
Parker said he wants to learn about what JCIDC does and how the organization interacts with companies around Jackson County.
“Indiana University is where I think I’m going to go, and I believe I want to do something business management-related, and I think this could confirm or deny it,” he said.
Parker is a three-sport athlete at SHS, and after graduation, he plans to study business management and get accepted into the IU Kelley School of Business.
“My dad, he has been a part of that for his entire life. That’s what he majored in, so I thought that sounded interesting,” Parker said of choosing a college major.
In terms of choosing a college, he said, “I’ve always been an IU fan. Bloomington, it’s a great city. I went to IU games. It’s just a cool campus.”
Parker is the son of Matt and Kara Thompson. He has a younger brother, Dane Thompson, who is a freshman at SHS. Both brothers play tennis, basketball and baseball for the Owls.
