Teruyuki Minoura has been appointed as the new president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TMMNA). Minoura succeeds Mikio Kitano, who has returned to Japan to become president of Toyota Technocraft, a company specializing in prototype auto bodies and racing car body design.

Minoura, 54, has served as executive vice president of TMMNA since its incorporation in 1996. Prior to joining TMMNA, Minoura held numerous positions with Toyota in Japan, including general manager of the Americas Project Division, Human Resources Development and Logistics Administration.

Kentucky Monthly, a new monthly magazine, will make its debut next month featuring articles and photographs involving the people, places, and culture of the Bluegrass State.

Stephen M. Vest, former news editor at The Blood-Horse, is the publisher and editor of the magazine. Michael Embry, former Lexington correspondent for The Associated Press, will serve as executive editor.

Tumbleweed Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a public offering of 1,200,000 share of common stock. (Proposed trading symbol: TUWD)

The Louisville-based restaurant chain, which specializes in Southwestern and Tex-Mex fare, currently operates 37 restaurants in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Wisconsin, as well as Germany and Saudi Arabia. Proceeds from the stock will be used for development of additional restaurants as well as for debt reduction and general corporate purposes.

Republic Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering of its Class A Common Stock. The offering, which will only be made by means of prospectus, is expected to be made sometime during the third quarter. Proceeds will be utilized for expansion, potential acquisitions and the broadening of existing business lines.

Republic began business in Louisville in 1982. The company now has 17 banking centers in Kentucky, with $1.1 billion in assets.

Midwest POS Solutions, Inc. has established a sales and service office in Louisville to handle the company's business in Central Kentucky and southern Indiana.

Midwest POS Solutions, based in Muncie, Indiana, is an authorized sales and service dealer for leading point of service hardware and software suppliers such as Datasym, ICL/Fujitsu, Omron and Sharp. The company develops, sells and services point of sale information systems for restaurants, food service, grocery and convenience stores, petroleum retailers, hotels, retailers and schools.

"Since Louisville is the Silicon Valley of the restaurant business... we see it as a prime opportunity," said Murray Bartholome, president of Midwest POS Solutions. "The restaurant and food service industry is a rapidly growing segment of our business."

Louisville is home to Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. (which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell restaurants) and Papa John's International, Inc., among others.

Monticello has been selected by Lakewind Boats, LLC as headquarters for the company's pontoon boat manufacturing operation. The company has purchased a 10,000-square-foot building on a 13-acre tract of land and expects to hire approximately 45 people over the next three years.

Gene Jones, plant manager for Lakewind said his company chose Wayne County over other communities because "there was a niche for a pontoon boat builder alongside the many houseboat builders in Wayne County and because of the excellent workforce."

Lakewind is a new start-up company whose owners and management have extensive experience in the boat building business. The company has received preliminary approval for tax credits under the Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act (KREDA), a state incentive program aimed at increasing manufacturing employment in areas of the state that traditionally have higher than average unemployment.

DANVILLE

• Centre College has named John Carey Thompson as dean of admissions. Thompson comes to Centre from Furman University, where he was director of admissions. Elizabeth Perkins has been appointed associated dean at the college.

FRANKFORT

• The Bankers' Bank of Kentucky has moved into a new 16,000-squarefoot building located off I-64 behind the Kentucky State Chamber of Commerce.

LOUISVILLE

• Henry "Chip" Snyder has joined PNC Bank as vice president of the commercial real estate department, serving clients in Louisville, Southern Indiana and Lexington.
• Paul E. Phillips, Jr. has joined Strategia Corporation as vice president and chief financial officer.
• Steel Technologies, Inc. has acquired Roberts Steel Company, a private, Ohio-based company, for $17 million
• DMI Furniture, Inc. has reported record net sales of $16 million for its third quarter. The increases are attributed to high sales of commercial office and home office furniture and substantially increased sales to a major customer.
• John H. Willie has been appointed to the newly-created position of senior vice president of marketing for Churchill Downs Inc.

NICHOLASVILLE

• McKechnie Vehicle Component, a supplier of automobile wheel trim products, will be installing a plastics chrome plating line at its Nicholasville manufacturing site. The plating line is schedule to be operational by the second quarter of 1999.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY

• COMAIR Inc. set a single-day boarding record on June 19, boarding more than 21,000 passengers at its Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky hub. The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport was recently rated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the most convenient hub in the U.S. for the second consecutive year.

PIKEVILLE