NEW PRESIDENT FOR BIOKYOWA, KYOWA FOOD

Kohta Fujiwara has been named president of Biokyowa Inc. and the Kyowa Foods Inc. plant to be constructed at Cape Girardeau.

Fujiwara, who previously served as general manager of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd.'s International Operations Division in Tokyo, Japan, will assume his new duties next month.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Biokyowa president Satoru Akiyama, who will go to Tokyo and join the Kyowa engineering division.

Fujiwara is only the third Biokyowa president and the first for the new Kyowa Foods, which will build a $50 million plant near Biokyowa in the Nash Road industrial area. Kyowa Foods will produce nucleotide seasonings, a food enhancer.

Hiroshi Hosoda, managing director of the food division for Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, was in Cape Girardeau Wednesday to announce construction of the new plant.

"This is a dream come true," said Fujiwara. "It has long been my dream to run a Kyowa Hakko Kogyo company in the states."

Fujiwara lived in Minnesota for a year as a student.

"I attended high school one year in the states," he said. "I'm looking forward to the Cape Girardeau area."

Akiyama has served as president of Biokyowa since July 12, 1993, when he succeeded Sumio Kurihara, who was the plant's first president.

"It's been a good five years here," said Akiyama. "In January of this year we announced a $35 million expansion for Biokyowa. Wednesday we announced the new facility to be built adjoining the Biokyowa site."

It all translates into an investment of more than $90 million and 90 new employees, said Akiyama.