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Mayor Greg Fischer today announced a $200 million economic development plan for about 35 underused acres in Butchertown that will be anchored by a 10,000-seat, 15-acre soccer stadium, allowing Louisville to compete for an MLS franchise.
“This is an exciting, worthwhile project that takes an underused, very visible swath of land and creates a vibrant new stadium district that builds on the momentum downtown, in Nulu and Butchertown,” the Mayor said. “This is a smart opportunity, and when smart opportunities to move our city forward come up, we’re going to grab them.”
(Listen to Mayor Greg Fischer Podcast segment about the development and stadium)
Louisville City Football Club (LCFC) will build the $50 million stadium and serve as developer of the overall project, which will include retail, a hotel and offices, built by private investment.
Louisville Metro Government’s sole investment is $30 million to purchase the land for the development and do brownfield remediation and public infrastructure improvements. The project is expected to increase hotel, restaurant and retail amenities nearby and create a “stadium district” where the soccer stadium, Louisville Slugger Field and the Yum! Center are all within blocks of each other, along the same line of sight.
The city’s $30 million portion will be covered by general obligation bond — $25 million to buy the land and $5 million as a contribution to brownfield remediation and public infrastructure.
No Metro tax dollars will be used for stadium construction. In fact, LCFC will pay $14.5 million back to the city over 20 years from sales of land, rent from leases of land, and stadium rent. In addition, if the stadium hits certain financial markers, the city has an opportunity to share in the upside of that growth, up to $2 million.
(See the factsheet about the development and stadium)
On behalf of Louisville City Football Club, Chairman and President John Neace, thanked Mayor Fischer and Louisville Forward “for their commitment to the growth of professional soccer in Louisville.
“Today marks another important step in our vision to be the best United Soccer League club in the country, with the ultimate goal of bringing Major League Soccer to Louisville,” Neace said. “We look forward to building a world-class soccer stadium and surrounding development that continues revitalization in the Butchertown neighborhood.”
With Metro Council approval, the city will work with LCFC on an application to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) for a mixed-use TIF for the project.
To be eligible for state participation in a TIF, the local applicant (the city) must have some financial participation in the project; in this case, the city’s participation would be the money spent on land acquisition, brownfield remediation and debt service of the bonds to pay for the land.
The city will not commit any of its local property tax revenues to be included in the TIF.
Construction of the project will comply with Metro Ordinance 37.75 with respect to minority, women and local participation goals: 20 percent minority participation, 5 percent women participation, with 75 percent of the work going to residents of the Louisville MSA.
A city-commissioned feasibility study confirmed that a soccer-specific stadium is needed to maintain and grown professional soccer in Louisville. The study called for a soccer-specific stadium, with the ability to hold 10,000 seats, to be built by 2020.
Congratulations to our August Sanitation and Food Excellence (SAFE) Award winner, St. Joseph Children’s Home.
To be eligible for nomination, a food service establishment must:
- have maintained an A placard for two successive routine inspections
- serve foods such as meat or egg products, which if mishandled, have the potential to be associated with food borne illness
- must have their food service permit for at least one year
- have a history of compliance with regulations
- have certified food maagers as required by LMCO Ch. 118
Surrounded by young people who spent their summer working, Mayor Greg Fischer today declared the 2017 SummerWorks season a big success, with more than 5,200 youth ages 16-21 employed – breaking last year’s record total.
That number includes 800 youth employed by companies and organizations that directly teamed with the city and KentuckianaWorks to provide more extensive career training, led by a new SummerWorks partner, YouthBuild. Overall, a record 150 employers hired youth this summer.
“This year’s program was focused on creating deeper, more effective learning experiences for our youth participants, and YouthBuild did a phenomenal job in leading this effort,” the Mayor said. “Our 800 core placements received training to create résumés and prepare for job interviews, as well as coaching throughout the summer from YouthBuild staff or key private sector employer-partners. This effort helps us ensure that Louisville is a city of opportunity for all our young people.”
At a season-closing event at Kentucky Kingdom, two of those 800 young people shared their summer job experiences.
Munirah Sajjida, 17, said she has “loved my work” at the non-profit Plymouth Community Center. Munirah, who had been struggling with school attendance issues and other problems, also participates in the city’s ReImage program, designed to keep court-involved youth from getting into further trouble. She credited the SummerWorks program and ReImage with helping to get her life headed in a positive direction.
Jon Russell, who was hired back for a second summer as an assistant in human resources at Fourth Street Live! said his SummerWorks job “has given me skills that will be valuable to my dream of opening my own department store.”
Fourth Street Live! presented him with a scholarship, which he will use to attend the University of Kentucky. The company plans to award a scholarship yearly to a SummerWorks youth.
Mayor Fischer said such SummerWorks’ “employer champions” hired youth, ages 16-21, for jobs in hospitals, restaurants, groceries, banks and hotels. Working closely with supervisors and mentors, young people worked on manufacturing assembly lines and grocery check-out lanes, assisted companies with their IT and human resources needs, helped process insurance claims, worked in pharmacies and helped ship packages around the world.
Several of Louisville’s largest companies greatly increased their hiring, including GE Appliances, Ford, Humana and Kindred Healthcare.
Employers new to the program included 21st Century Parks, Coastal Cloud, Hilliard Lyons, Hyatt Hotel, McDonald’s local franchises, MedAssist, MSD, Speed Art Museum, University of Louisville and Workwell Industries.
A combination of public and private funding sponsored SummerWorks jobs at more than 85 non-profit organizations and city agencies, including Boys and Girls Clubs, Kentucky Shakespeare, the Food Literacy Project, Louisville Metro Police, Louisville Fire, EMS, Metro Parks, Family Health Centers, Americana Community Center and Louisville Grows.
Funding for those jobs included $600,000 that the Mayor and Metro Council placed in last year’s city budget, as well as $100,000 each from the James Graham Brown Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the family of businessman Paul Diaz.
This year, SummerWorks expanded its focus on creating job experiences that build entrepreneurial skills in young people. Small grants were provided to six partner organizations that helped youth learn to start their own business, learn computer coding, and gain invaluable on-the-job training in the medical field, building trades, and technology.
“We are thrilled to see this initiative grow and evolve in both the quantity of and quality of the job opportunities young people are able to experience,” said Michael Gritton, executive director of KentuckianaWorks, which operates the SummerWorks program.
Many of the companies joining SummerWorks this year were recruited by Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“GLI was pleased to partner with the Mayor’s SummerWorks Program and successfully recruit 30 new GLI investor companies and create 225 summer jobs for youth in our community,” said Kent Oyler, president & CEO of Greater Louisville Inc. “Hands-on experience in the workplace is critical for raising young persons’ expectations and building a quality workforce.”
The Mayor launched SummerWorks right after taking office in 2011, in response to the elimination of federal funding for summer jobs. That first year, 200 young people were placed in jobs. The program was recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2014 as one of the nation’s best summer jobs programs for young people.
SummerWorks continues to work closely with Jefferson County Public Schools to place students in jobs that match up with what they are learning in school, and jobs in the key business sectors the city is strategically growing, such as technology, healthcare and business services.
Other companies participating included the Belle of Louisville, GlowTouch Technologies, Harland Clarke, Louisville Urban League, Louisville Zoo, Norton Healthcare, Oxmoor Auto Group, Speedway, Thorntons and YMCA of Greater Louisville.
The Mayor urged employers to make plans now to hire or support summer jobs for 2018. More information is at https://www.summerworks.org/
Louisville Metro Animal Services expected its Pay It Forward free adopton promotion to last about a month, but Louisvillians proved LMAS wrong! Six months later, the free adoption promotion is still going strong, thanks to Jefferson County’s compassionate animal lovers who continue to pay it forward.
The free adoption promotion got underway in January when LMAS offered $1,000 worth of free adoptions. LMAS asked adopters to pay it forward with donations to help cover adoption fees of other shelter pets. LMAS promised to continue offering free adoptions until the money ran out. Today, the Pay It Forward free adoption promotion is still going strong, thanks to those who continue to donate!
As a result, more than 400 additional animals have been adopted, compared to year-to-date 2016, in which 150 animals were adopted! LMAS hopes to continue this life-saving promotion indefinitely. Continued support from compassionate community members gives LMAS hope that this goal will become a reality.
Help save a shelter pet today and pay it forward! Click here to make a donation to LMAS’ non-profit fundraising entity, Friends of Metro Animal Services. FOMAS is dedicated to saving animals’ lives. Help them help the shelter pets of LMAS!
Pay It Forward FREE adoptions include vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery and microchip. All cats (6 mos. or older) and dogs (40 lbs. or more) are free. Puppies and kittens are not included in the Pay It Forward FREE adoption promotion. The promotion is meant to encourage the adoption of animals who are often overlooked in the shelter.
In an effort to address the needs of Louisville residents with disabilities and improve accessibility in many historic commercial structures in Metro Council District 8, Councilman Brandon Coan today announced that his office has partnered with the Department of Economic Development to create a dedicated revolving account that will loan up to $5,000 to businesses located in the district, already seeking the city’s accessibility loan program, to help pay for bigger and more accessibility improvements.
“The District 8 Accessibility Loan Program is part of my strategic objective to improve equitable access to the built environment,” said Coan. “Many Highlands-area businesses are hard to navigate for people using wheelchairs or otherwise having limited mobility. I hope local businesses will take advantage of this opportunity to improve their properties, expand their customer bases and make District 8 an even more welcoming community.”
To be eligible for the loan, the business must be located in District 8, be approved by the Metropolitan Business Development Corporation (METCO), the city’s board that governs small business loans, and be used on a project already borrowing $15,000 from METCO. The loan will be matched up to $5,000.
The city’s accessibility loans are offered to commercial property owners for the purpose of making buildings more accessible to people with disabilities. The loans are restricted to ingress and egress improvements, including but not limited to: accessible paths of travel, doors, handrails, threshold adjustments, and restroom updates.
“The Accessibility program is an important tool for improving the accessibility for everyone in our community, and District 8, anchored by many historic buildings, is ripe for these improvements,” said Scott Herrmann, Director of Economic Development. “Councilman Coan’s partnership with METCO is a testament to the city’s commitment to improving accessibility and furthering the vitality and quality of life in the Louisville community.”
The Center for Accessible Living has agreed to provide pro bono Accessibility Surveys to applicants seeking to take advantage of the new loan program. The surveys identify ADA compliance issues and make compliance suggestions – the kinds of improvements intended to be funded by the loans.
“As a compassionate city, Louisville should strive to be accessible to all people, and the District 8 Accessibility Loan Program is a positive development toward that goal,” said David Allgood, Director of Advocacy at the Center for Accessible Living. “The Center for Accessible Living is proud to partner with Councilman Coan on this initiative. People with disabilities are the city’s second-largest minority, and we have money to spend at local businesses we can access and enjoy.”
July 26, 2017 is the 27th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush. The law prohibits discrimination based on disability and improves access to the built environment through standards and requirements.
To learn more about the city’s accessibility loan, visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/louisville-forward/local-loan-programs.
Photo: Kentucky Cabinet For Economic Development
Gov. Matt Bevin announced Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC will invest $13.7 million to increase the output of its Calloway County facility, which produces additive compounds for numerous industries.
“This growth by Vanderbilt Chemicals is evidence that a key Kentucky industry continues to flourish,” said Gov. Matt Bevin. “In today’s world, the chemicals industry fundamentally supports our daily lives, and Kentucky is proud that companies like Vanderbilt – a member of our corporate community since 1969 – choose to locate and prosper here. I wish the company well going forward and hope to see even more growth in the future.”
Vanderbilt’s expansion in West Kentucky includes the addition of a new spray drying system and a new building to house this equipment. The facility provides dried, purified and finished smectite and bentonite clay used in pharmaceutical, personal care, agri-science, ceramics, household items and other products. Company executives expect to complete the project in early 2019. Currently, the company employs 97 people at the Murray facility.
“Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC has long enjoyed being a part of this great and growing community,” said Richard Davis, vice president at the Murray operation. “The support from local officials, neighbors and the commonwealth has been an important part of the decision to further expand our operations in this area and provide additional employment opportunities for people in our area.”
Vanderbilt Chemicals, founded in 1916 and headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., manufactures and resells chemicals for the rubber, plastics, paint, paper, petroleum, personal care and other minerals industries. Vanderbilt has an additional manufacturing facility in Connecticut and mining operations in Arizona, Nevada, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The chemicals industry in Kentucky employs 15,000 people full-time at nearly 200 production sites across the state. This year through June, the industry announced more than $100 million in new investments.
Sen. Stan Humphries, of Cadiz, noted the company’s relationship with the local area.
“I would like to congratulate Vanderbilt Chemicals, which has been a community partner in Murray for a number of years, on this new multimillion dollar expansion. I look forward to the company’s continued success in Murray and wish its leaders the best in future endeavors.”
Rep. Kenny Imes, of Murray, said growth of companies like Vanderbilt contributes to the community’s overall quality of life.
“Any time a company invests a large sum of money, like nearly $14 million, it is indicative of the positive business environment in the area. I’m proud to continue working to attract this exact type of investment to Murray and our surrounding communities, and to bring more jobs to support families and to make our region the best place to live and raise a family.”
Murray Mayor Jack Rose praised the company’s professional practices.
“Long before I became mayor of Murray, I have known that Vanderbilt is one of those companies that quietly goes about the business of being the best they can be,” Mayor Rose said. “This investment in new equipment is a testament to their confidence in the labor force we have here in Murray and the surrounding area. We need more and better companies like Vanderbilt in West Kentucky.”
Calloway County Judge-Executive Larry Elkins said Vanderbilt has been a great match for the community’s workforce.
“Vanderbilt Chemicals has always been a really great company to work for and we are proud to see them continue to invest in Calloway County,” Judge-Executive Elkins said. “Like many family owned companies, they treat their people well and are a responsible corporate citizen that also works very hard to carefully manage their environmental footprint. Companies like these understand the great workforce that we have in West Kentucky.”
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in May approved Vanderbilt for up to $100,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
In addition, Vanderbilt can receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives. In fiscal year 2016, the Kentucky Skills Network provided training for nearly 95,000 Kentuckians and 5,000 companies from a variety of industry sectors.
For more information on Vanderbilt Chemicals, visit www.VanderbiltChemicals.com.
A detailed community profile for Calloway County can be viewed at http://bit.ly/CallowayCo.
Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at ThinkKentucky.com. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion on Facebook or follow on Twitter. Watch the Cabinet’s “This is My Kentucky” video on YouTube.
The Kentucky Arts Council has added two acts to its Performing Artists Directory.
Louisville-based Spanish language theater group Teatro Tercera Llamada and Louisville Irish and bluegrass roots music ensemble Cloigheann join the 76 other Kentucky individuals and groups who make up the arts council’s Performing Artists Directory.
The Performing Artists Directory is an adjudicated online roster of performing artists used by in-state and out-of-state presenters and others as a resource for identifying artists for performance bookings and projects.
Inclusion in the directory represents Kentucky’s recognition of artistic excellence in an individual or group of performers. It also boosts the profile of the region where those artists are from, as well as Kentucky’s profile when those performing groups travel out of state.
Teatro Tercera Llamada, which means Theater Third Call in Spanish and takes its name from the Latin American theater tradition in which third call means lights down, curtain up, is a Spanish language theater group. “Everyone was very excited to learn we’d been added to the directory,” said cofounder Haydee Canovas. “It’s a big deal. It was important that we be recognized as a theater group by Kentucky.”
In addition to the all-Spanish theater productions, the Louisville-based group presents bilingual children’s plays.
“Our largest audiences are for the bilingual children’s plays. You get everyone from grandparents who want to come enjoy the play with their grandchildren to single people because they know it’s going to be entertaining,” Canovas said. “We really want families to come enjoy the theater together.”
The Irish and bluegrass music group Cloigheann, based in Bardstown, has been around for about 30 years, said founding member and guitarist Mark Rosenthal.
“We have several of our members who are part of other bands who’ve already been in the Performing Artists Directory, but we’re excited to be part of it as Cloigheann,” Rosenthal said. “We love sharing our music, and finding a new audience for it is something else we’re excited about. We’ve written a fair amount of new material, but haven’t recorded it yet. Getting in the directory will help breathe some new life into the band.” The arts council endeavors to promote, showcase and provide professional development opportunities to a diverse selection of Kentucky’s finest contemporary and traditional performing artists through the Performing Artists Directory.
For more information on the Performing Artists Directory, contact Tamara Coffey, individual artist director, at 502-892-3121, or tamara.coffey@ky.gov or visit the arts council’s Performing Artists Directory page.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, fosters environments for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
