JCIDC recently has been awarded funding from various sources.
The most recent was approved by The Andersons Inc. community contributions committee, valued at $500.
Through its corporate contributions, The Andersons is committed to enhancing the quality of life in communities where it has business operations by contributing to a number of organizations for their events and programs.
Founded in 1947 in Maumee, Ohio, The Andersons Inc. is a diversified company rooted in agriculture that conducts business in the commodity trading, ethanol, plant nutrient and rail sectors. The company has a facility in Seymour.
JCIDC also was one of five economic development organizations in south central Indiana selected by Duke Energy for inclusion in its 2025 Partnership Program, which funds marketing and strategic efforts to attract new jobs and investment to Indiana.
“This program gives our local economic development partners the tools they need to showcase the strengths of their communities, both at home and on the national stage,” said Erin Schneider, managing director of economic development at Duke Energy. “It’s just one of the many ways we’re helping influence growth in the state to build competitive, thriving communities.”
JCIDC received $5,000 from Duke’s Partnership Program grant fund, and that will be used to support a wide array of marketing initiatives, including trade show attendance, and presentations or tours to introduce prospective companies and site selectors to a community.
To qualify for program consideration, each applicant submitted a plan that would have a direct impact on their community’s economic growth. Grant amounts varied depending on the size and scope of the project.
Duke Energy Indiana, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, provides about 6,300 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 910,000 customers in a 23,000-square-mile service area, making it Indiana’s largest electric supplier. The company has an office in Seymour.
JCIDC also received a $1,000 Spark Good local grant from theWalmart store in Seymour.
This grant will help with the girls robotics workshop that will be conducted in the fall for middle and high school girls involved in the VEX Robotics program at their school. The first Girl Powered Workshop in Jackson County was held in 2024 in Seymour and attended by 31 girls from eight county schools along with female engineers and others from local companies.
Walmart believes investing in local communities strengthens its business and communities served. Local grants are designed to support local organizations that meet the unique needs of the communities where the company operates, build pride among associates and deepen relationships with customers. Each year, Walmart U.S. stores, Sam’s Clubs and Distribution Centers award local cash grants ranging from $250 to $5000.
JCIDC’s Workforce Partnership recently gained a new contributor, too.
CFA Staffing is based in Batesville and also has offices in Seymour and Plainfield. According to cfastaffing.com, Teresa Wade started the company in 1999, providing sub-assembly work for an automotive parts supplier. CFA offers a range of tailored staffing solutions designed to meet business needs.
AISIN Group has conducted its North American Quality Circle Convention Festival for 18 years.
Quality Circle is a yearlong development tool that includes supervisors and team members working together in teams to pick a project that will help the company improve its key performance indicators.
AISIN USA Mfg. Inc. in Seymour has always participated in the annual competition.
After general managers in eight areas of the facility choose their top team, the company’s officers listen to presentations to select the top three. Each top-three team receives a prize, and the winner advances to the North American competition.
There, they are among 18 AISIN companies in North America vying to finish in the top three to move on and present at the global competition in Japan.
This year, for the first time, a team from AISIN USA won the North American competition, which was June 18 and 19 at Caesars Southern Indiana in Elizabeth.
The presenting team consists of J.D. Fields, a supervisor; Dusti Rosas, a team lead; and Joe Brooks, a packaging specialist. The support team consists of Courtnie Ray, a general manager; Latasha Klakamp, a manager; and Kyla Sanders, a group leader. The QCC trainer is Jeremy Waskom, a supervisor.
Teams from 12 AISIN companies from North America, South America, Europe and Asia will compete in Japan.
“It’s really awesome to know that we made AUM history because we had never won before,” said Klakamp, a 15-year AISIN USA employee. “We’re hoping to be able to go over to Japan and see if we can continue to bring it home all the way. We want everybody to understand how much a little thing can do for so many people. That’s what they want.”
This year, 70 teams from AISIN USA worked on projects for several months, said Dustin Kiser, general manager of plant control.
Fields, Rosas and Klakamp work in the systems department, while Brooks works in packaging.
Fields, a supervisor, and Rosas, a team leader, came up with a way to change the direction boxes arrive to line operators so they don’t have to turn them around as they place parts inside to ship to customers.
“It came together because of the burden from the operators having an issue on the floor and they would have to turn a box,” Klakamp said. “We wanted to make it easier for them. They are in here all day long. We wanted to make their work as easy and simple and eliminate any burdens they have.”
Klakamp said they received team members’ feedback on their idea.
“There are tight spaces on the lines. We don’t want anybody to make it more difficult on them,” she said. “We listened to their burdens, we took their feedback and we wanted to make it better for them. The members understood they were heard.”
The team’s project also benefits logistics.
“When they put (boxes) onto the rack for them to bring to our line, they are going to use those arrows,” Klakamp said. “That way, they are already in the right direction, (and) they load them onto the wagon and bring them lineside. They then pick them up, (and) they are in the correct direction. It eliminates a lot of double-handling by a lot of team members.”
Rosas, who has worked at AISIN USA for five years, said all logistics has to do is look at the side of the boxes.
“It has the arrows on it, and they don’t have to look at the top of the box or unstack the boxes to tell which way to fit them in,” she said.
Brooks said he received approval of the change from all of the Toyota plants that are customers of AISIN USA.
“If you start labeling boxes, you’ve got to make sure they’re good with it,” he said.
Once everyone was on board, Brooks, a 29-year AISIN USA employee, said he appreciated the company’s officers for looking at a small change that would make a big impact.
Kiser said the project boosts team members’ morale.
“It’s always good to see that the simple ideas can make a big impact,” he said. “Honestly, we don’t think about that. We’re always wanting to spend money. We’re always wanting to put in some automation or something to fix a problem. Something as small as adding stickers to boxes could turn into a huge operational availability boost as well as a team member morale boost, and I think the knowledge learned along the way is very important to develop those future leaders.”
Klakamp said other AISIN USA departments and other companies could implement their idea.
“They are able to use our information we provided with them and take it back to their company and utilize it there for those members because we all share a lot of common parts, different models, so they have the same boxes at the other facilities,” she said.
Brooks liked seeing teams include people from different departments, including engineering, human resources and quality.
“They really mix it up, get different people involved to contribute, so I appreciated being a part of it,” he said.
Besides the team having a good idea, it helped that they included an entertaining element.
Part of the presentation showed support team members dancing the wrong direction. Later on, after the project team members explained how their idea would improve directional flow, they danced the right direction.
The project name, “One Direction,” and dance were an ode to the British pop boy band with the same name.
“There was some music and some dancing, and let’s face it, people like to laugh a little bit,” Brooks said.
AISIN USA had a sendoff for the team going to North American QCC and celebrated the win with ice cream. Next year, they hope to have more celebrating to do when they arrive home from Japan.
Meanwhile, Kiser said classes will start this month to teach the Quality Circle process to team members for the 2026 competition season. In August, teams will be decided, and they will pick a theme and get tested on their knowledge.
Next May, the top eight teams will present to management.
“It’s a development tool,” Kiser said. “If you want to learn, if you want to be challenged, if you want to move up within the company, this is a good tool to gain that knowledge and move up the TPS process, Toyota Production System, and how it works.”
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.
