AISIN Corp., one of the world’s largest Tier One automotive suppliers, recently announced changes to its executive team in North America, effective April 1.
The announcement was made by Joe Rohatynski, vice president of corporate communications for AISIN World Corp. of America.
Kazuto Koyama will return to Japan for a new assignment as president of AISIN Shiroki Corp. Koyama joined AWA in April 2023 as president and CEO, his second assignment in North America, having previously held executive roles at AISIN USA Mfg. Inc. in Seymour. Koyama also holds the position of senior executive officer of AISIN Corp. in Japan and has been with the company for 40 years.
Hiromasa Okawa replaces Koyama as CEO of AWA. Okawa joined AISIN AW (now AISIN Corp.) in Japan in 1988 and has held a number of executive roles during his career at AISIN AW, AISIN Seiki and AISIN Corp. Most recently, he was chief production reformation officer and executive general manager of the AISIN Group Production division in Kariya City, Aichi, Japan. He will now relocate to Seymour to oversee AWA operations. Okawa is an engineering graduate of the University of Technology in Japan, where he studied metallurgical engineering. He also was a key executive member of the launch of AISIN North Carolina, AISIN’s first automatic transmission manufacturing plant in the United States, which was established in Durham in 1998.
Scott Turpinretires as president and COO of AWA but will remain active in his new role as executive advisor. he was named AWA president in 2019 and previously was president of AISIN Drivetrain Inc. in Crothersville. Also a managing officer of AISIN Corp. in Japan, Turpin has been with AISIN Group companies for 29 years and has been responsible for AISIN’s North American OE sales and Sales Planning division in Northville in addition to operations in Seymour. He also led the strategic planning and opening of new AISIN Aftermarket facilities in Dallas, Nashville and Panama. Before joining AISIN, Turpin was general plant manager at the BorgWarner powder metal facility in Livonia, Michigan. He earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University and attended the Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He also received Toyota Production Systems training in Japan. He and his wife, Beth, are the parents of two adult sons and grandparents of one grandchild.
Scott Shade replaces Turpin as president and COO of AWA. Shade joined AISIN in 1998 and has since held a number of management and executive positions, including president and executive vice president of AISIN Drivetrain Inc. In April 2025, he joined AWA as executive vice president of its Operations division and has been responsible for production control, logistics, production engineering, training center activities, carbon neutrality and production facilities support. Shade earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University and is a graduate of the Ross School of Business Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan. He also received Toyota Production Systems and other training in Japan. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children and four grandsons and live in Brownstown. A well-known community leader, Shade has been involved in youth athletics and is a former president and member of the local school board.
Jeff Nordmanreplaces Shade as executive vice president of AWA Operations. Nordman joined AISIN USA Mfg. Inc. in 2001 and has held several management positions there, including manufacturing engineer, general manager, vice president and executive vice president. In 2025, he was named vice president of AWA System Engineering. A graduate of Purdue University’s mechanical engineering technology program, Nordman also received Toyota Production Systems training in Japan. He and his wife, Tiffany, reside in Columbus and have two daughters.
AISIN Corp. is a top 10, global Tier One supplier of essential automotive components, systems and technologies for OEM and aftermarket customers. AISIN has contributed to the rapid development of mobility with a wide range of products that include nearly all product categories that comprise a vehicle, such as powertrain, body, electronics, chassis and vehicle safety systems and location-based solutions. AISIN Group has 190+ consolidated companies and employs more than 120,000 team members worldwide.
On the morning of Sept. 29, Seymour High School students entering the 2026 Maverick Challenge Jackson County delivered their pitches to three local business professionals. Thanks to Lance Gentry with Beatty Insurance, Dan Robison with the Jackson County Chamber, Jordan Richart with the Community Foundation of Jackson County, Arann Banks with the Jackson County Visitor Center and Philip Roggow with the Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center for taking time out of their schedules to listen to the pitches and provide feedback.
Maverick Challenge is a high school business planning competition that began in 2008 in Bartholomew County. Jackson County joined the program in 2011. Two years ago, Bartholomew County ended the program, but Jackson County leaders kept it going in the county with a partnership between four sponsors — Brownstown Ewing Main Street, Seymour Main Street, Jackson County Chamber and JCIDC Workforce Partnership — and a funding partner — JCBank.
Students from Jackson County high schools can work individually or with a partner or two.
Now that they’ve introduced their business ideas, they will be paired with a mentor in late October to help them work through the process.
Pitches will continue this week at the other participating high schools, Brownstown Central, Crothersville and Medora. Overall, there are 48 teams registered, comprised of 74 students.
Again this year, the students will be invited to participate in Entrepreneur Week, partnering with SPARK Jackson County, Nov. 17 to 21.
Business plans and videos will be submitted by Feb. 6 and reviewed by judges, and the 10 finalists will compete in an oral competition in front of a panel of judges March 4. There, they have an opportunity to earn money and be named the 2026 Maverick Challenge Jackson County winner.
For the second year in a row, the winner will be one of the finalists in the SPARK Tank competition, giving them a chance to win more money.
They also can enter the state’s Innovate WithIN competition, where again, more money is up for grabs.
Guardian Bikes will begin operations in Freeman Field Industrial Park in Seymour moving from Austin, Texas. Seymour Redevelopment Commission approved a four-year $100,000 ECLIPSE loan to support the company’s project that will begin with logistics and expand into manufacturing and assembly. Seymour City Council also approved a $275,000 tax abatement for Guardian’s initial investment for equipment and machinery.
JCIDC developed the ECLIPSE program to provide 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 permanent, full-time jobs and wages. The program is designed to forgive the loan. Each year, Guardian will submit a compliance form to the redevelopment commission and city council to show jobs created, wages and residency of employees. Based on compliance, the boards would approve loan forgiveness or require the company to make that year’s loan payment.
Guardian currently assembles children’s bikes that are equipped with Sure-Stop, a braking system that allows bikes to stop faster and safer. Their technology is patented across the world and they are currently designing adult bicycles to grow their business. Guardian is expected to total nearly $7 million in investment and 100 employees by 2026.
Seymour High School hosted the Career College Transition Fair on April 26 with all five of the county’s high schools in attendance. Colleges, manufacturers, health care, skilled trades, military, retail, tourism, education, social services, banking and more were represented. “I think it’s introducing students to, first of all, the careers that are available but also just some of the business that they don’t know what they do,” says Jackie Hill, workforce partnership director for JCIDC.
Several of the vendors came up with interactive ways to connect with students, including spinning a wheel or playing Plinko for prizes, conducting drawings for various items and having equipment or products on their tables. The Seymour Police Department brought a Cool Fire Trainer for students to shoot at a target and the U. S. Marines brought a pull-up bar to test students’ upper body strength. Seymour Animal Hospital brought a 1-1/2 year old, 155 pound Newfoundland to draw the students’ attention. Passports were created by SHS JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) students to help the attendees reach out and converse with the vendors. For every question a student asked a vendor they received a stamp. After 10 stamps the students could enter a drawing to win a television, Chromebook, earbuds, water bottles, and gift cards for food and gas. Hill said they interactive activities were a good addition hoping that students walked away from the event having learned something they didn’t know before. If it helped them figure out a college or career path, even better.
Two Seymour companies are growing and making changes to increase production and meet the needs of their customers.
Fostech Inc., a local firearms manufacturer, and SpaceGuard Products Inc., which produces wire partitions and area guarding products, received tax abatements from the Seymour City Council on their planned investments.
Fostech will spend $575,000 on new equipment including a five-axel vertical machining center, and another $500,000 to enclose an area of its facility for storage, build out a retail area and renovate 4,000 square feet of existing space. Fostech estimates they will add five new employees making around $40,000 a year.
Owned by brothers David, Paul and Mark Foster and their cousin, Judd Foster who serves are company president, Fostech makes Origin-12 shotguns, ultralight AR-15 rifles and a line of firearm accessories. The company designs, builds and produces its products making it a unique operation.
In 2018, Fostech moved from the Reddington area to its current location and sells mainly through wholesalers and its website. The expansion is expected to begin in May and be completed in a year.
SpaceGuard Products is investing $425,000 in new manufacturing equipment, including a production saw, CNC plasma table and tube cutting machine, press brakes, welders and fixtures, a monorail crane and batch processing powder coat booth and application equipment.
Company president Eddie Murphy said this is the second phase of a three-phase expansion after completing a building addition last year.
“This will bring in some new equipment that will improve accuracy and modernize a lot of the equipment we already have on the factory floor,” he said.
Installation will begin in May and should be completed by the end of the year.
SpaceGuard was formed in 1990 through the consolidation of Logan Wire Co. and Force Fence Co. Products produced include storage lockers, rack safety panels, aisle guarding and mezzanine rail guarding.
The wire mesh partitions are used for a variety of applications, including machine and robotic guarding, computer security cages and networking facilities, tool cribs and warehouse or retail security.
The company has made products that are used at Cummins Seymour Engine Plant, Valeo Lighting Systems, the University of Wisconsin’s Kohl Center and Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh and on television show and movie sets.
A Midwest business plans to open a warehouse and service office in Seymour’s Eastside Industrial Park. BTS5 Inc. of Chicago expects to be up and running within the next 90 days.
The company supplies counter-weights and other products for forklifts and agricultural and construction uses. Customers include Toyota, Hyster-Yale Group, Caterpiller, UniCarriers and Terex.
Brian Holbrook, North American sales manager, said the company chose Seymour over other cities because of its centralized location between Illinois and Kentucky. “It’s the best of all worlds for us,” he told city council members during Monday night’s meeting at Seymour City Hall.
The company is finalizing the purchase of the former Mid-America Veneer building at 1635 E. 4th St. Rd. At 50,700 square feet, the building offers plenty of opportunity for growth and expansion.
The company’s products are manufactured at three foundries in China with warehousing and logistics services in the U.S. and Europe.
We pride ourselves on tailoring solutions to meet our customer needs with the highest quality and cost-effectiveness while mitigating risk,” Holbrook said. “Our differentiation is that our foundries and our qualified partners are ISO certified to ensure meeting our customers’ quality standards.
“We have a local engineering team in China to provide daily management support, and our global team speaks five languages – English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish – to better serve our customers.” he added.
