JCIDC once again offered the Educator Externship to Jackson County school staff this summer.
The fourth and final session was July 1. In the morning, the group of eight educators visited Walmart Distribution Center in Seymour and learned about the Fleet Development program. In the afternoon, they toured Cummins Seymour Engine Plant in Seymour.
Walmart Distribution Center opened in Seymour in 1990, and the Fleet Development program started three years ago to hire and train truck drivers. Seymour is one of the company’s seven sites in the United States offering this program, which involves facilitators leading associates through the process of becoming a Walmart driver. Globally, Walmart has 16,000 drivers, including 279 based at the Seymour facility.
Cummins Seymour Engine Plant opened as a diesel engine maker in 1976 and today makes four engines: 19-liter, 30-liter, 95-liter and V903. These engines power rail, heavy machinery, military, marine and data centers. Cummins has more than 73,000 employees worldwide, including 1,142 in Seymour.
The first Educator Externship session was June 12 at Guardian Bikes and Pet Supplies Plus in Seymour. The second session was June 17 at Schneck Medical Center and Dicksons Inc. in Seymour. The third session was June 25 at AISIN USA Mfg. Inc. and SpaceGuard Products in Seymour.
Educators could choose one date or more than one. At the end, they are required to submit a report that includes what they learned and how they will use that information to benefit their students.
Overall, 20 educators from Jackson County participated this summer.
JCIDC is once again offering the Educator Externship to Jackson County school staff this summer.
The first session was June 12. In the morning, the group of 10 educators visited Guardian Bikes in the Freeman Field Industrial Park in Seymour. In the afternoon, they toured the Pet Supplies Plus distribution center in the Eastside Industrial Park in Seymour.
Guardian Bikes has been in Seymour since 2022 and has expanded to several buildings at Freeman Field. The company initially manufactured children’s bicycles, and it now also produces adult bicycles. The products are only available to purchase online, and the company is shifting to having all American-made components.
Pet Supplies Plus opened in Seymour in 2012 when the company moved its warehousing operations from Michigan. Today, PSP is the third largest pet supply retailer and the fastest growing. There are now 727 stores in 44 states, and Seymour is home to one of only two full-service distribution centers for PSP. There also are two facility distribution centers. At the Seymour facility, there are more than 10,000 items in the building.
The other dates and locations for the Educator Externship are June 17 at Schneck Medical Center and Dicksons Inc., June 25 at AISIN USA Mfg. Inc. and SpaceGuard Products and July 1 at Walmart Distribution Center and Cummins Seymour Engine Plant.
Educators could choose one date or more than one. At the end, they are required to submit a report that includes what they learned and how they will use that information to benefit their students.
A new company coming to Seymour and an existing company recently received approval for tax abatement requests.
During the June 9 Seymour Common Council meeting, Vital Farms Inc. announced plans to invest more than $190 million on its new project at the Eastside Industrial Park.
“A huge investment for our community and for all of south central Indiana,” JCIDC Executive Director Jim Plump said.
Construction of a $104 million building and personal property of more than $86 million were announced by Joe Holland of Vital Farms. Both are 10-year tax abatements.
The project, which was first announced last year, will locate on approximately 74 acres at the Eastside Industrial Park, and construction is expected to be underway in the third quarter of this year with completion by the end of 2026.
Eggs from family-owned farms throughout the Midwest will be delivered to the facility, where they will be processed, packaged and shipped.
The company projects hiring 416 workers beginning late next year and into 2027 with total payroll of more than $26.9 million.
With those two investments, Plump said Vital Farms will still pay nearly $20 million in taxes over the next 10 years. That’s based on current tax rates, even with abatement.
Based on a financial analysis by Reedy Financial Group, Vital Farms’ investment is projected to add 9.4% to the gross tax base for the city of Seymour, which Plump said is “very significant.”
Vital Farms also received approval for a five-year tax abatement of $400,000 for IT equipment.
Holland said opening and testing systems will take place in late fourth quarter 2026, and the company should be fully operational by the first quarter of 2027.
FAKT Holdings LLC/MAK Steel Services LLC also was granted tax abatement for new construction on its facility at 1191 King Ave., Seymour.
The company plans to invest $1.7 million in constructing a 24,000-square-foot expansion, which will allow it to retain the current workforce of 54 employees and add 15 new positions, which will increase payroll by nearly $1.1 million.
The new facility will be used for steel fabrication and material handling, and new jobs will be a mix of welders, CNC operators, material handlers and office staff.
Kyle Elkins, COO of MAK Steel, said the company estimates construction beginning around Oct. 1 of this year with completion by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
The Jackson County Human Resources group’s quarterly meeting was June 11 at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour.
Dr. Eric Fish, the hospital’s president and CEO, focused his talk on the topic of “Business of Health Care.” He shared the history of Schneck, the organization’s mission, vision and philosophy, locations, benefits of a hospital in a community, ways the hospital supports the community and more.
Thanks to Dr. Fish and the Schneck Foundation for being part of this meeting, and thanks to those who attended. We appreciate everything Schneck does to improve the health of local communities.
Whether it’s working with small, simple kits or large, complex parts, Seymour Community School Corp. students spent either a couple of days or a whole week immersed in robotics.
Fresh off a recently completed school year, elementary and middle school students had an opportunity to tinker in the world of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
For the elementary camp, students could register for one of two two-day sessions, both two and a half hours long. There were 18 kids in each session.
For the middle school camp, students spent five days at camp, two and a half hours each day. There were 18 in that camp.
The elementary camp had students spend one day working with a Tinkering Labs Electric Motors Catalyst Kit and building a robot that doodles, moves or spins. The other day, they worked with an Ozobot, a small programmable robot designed to teach coding through interactive play.
Stepping up to the middle school camp, students first received an introduction to gear ratios and then received an instruction book to build a robot. Once they completed that robot, they moved on to a different kit, each one introducing a new concept. From catapults to merry-go-rounds, they gained an understanding of making a robot move.
JCIDC provides funding to make these camps possible.
During the VEX Robotics World Championship in early May, the game for the next season is announced.
Robotics doesn’t have an offseason.
Since that announcement, teams from around the globe began looking at the manual for the 2025-26 games — Mix & Match for VEX IQ and Push Back for VEX V5 Robotics Competition — as they geared up for a new challenge.
Seymour High School’s robotics program is among that group.
The week of June 2 to 6, robotics team members are gathering for four hours in the afternoon each day for a camp.
For the season, SHS will have 24 team members on five teams. Plus, there will be four Seymour Middle School eighth graders competing up at the V5 level.
Twenty of the students are attending the camp.
“It’s always team bonding is No. 1,” SHS and SMS robotics coach Amy Jo Miller Kuzel said. “We have a lot of new teams. I put them together with who they want to be with, and sometimes, it’s all new teams, so team bonding is the big thing.”
It’s also time for the teams to think, strategize, plan and work on the engineering notebook.
“One hundred percent that notebook is key to where they want to go,” Miller Kuzel said. “They have to have it. They also have that embedded in them now.”
On the first day of the camp, the team members learned behavior and language expectations and professionalism and team collaboration and discussed team names, mascots and themes. They also discussed thoughts on the game challenge, goals for the season and robot ideas, and there were presentations on robot designing, engineering notebook and judging and expectations.
The second day will consist of working on rules, base robot analysis and innovation, while the third day will include lectures on CAD and programming.
The group will tour Guardian Bikes in Seymour on the fourth day, and the final day will consist of design.
Even before the camp, teams have talked via group chats, and parents and judges have worked on planning. Robotics is a year-round activity for all involved.
“It’s cool. This is how it’s supposed to be,” Miller Kuzel said. “It’s supposed to be as soon as May hits, you go. Otherwise, you can’t keep up with the competition if you don’t give them that time and if you don’t give them that freedom.”
