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Mayor Greg Fischer and Kent Oyler, president and CEO of Greater Louisville Inc., today announced that Louisville Forward, the city’s economic development organization, and Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI), the city’s chamber of commerce, have been jointly recognized as Top U.S. Economic Development Groups for 2016 by Site Selection magazine.
Working together in 2016, with partners in two states and 15 counties, these two groups have helped the Greater Louisville region welcome 70 projects, representing nearly $1.4 billion in investment and more than 8,500 jobs. GLI attracts leads looking at the region and transitions projects to the local economic development organization after the company has narrowed its search.
“Louisville is seeing tremendous growth right now – from our highly skilled workforce to infrastructure improvements to our welcoming and inclusive culture – and quality companies are investing in our city at a rate never seen before,” said the Mayor. “This recognition is proof that our strategic partnership with GLI is working and the hard work of our economic development team, led by Chief Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, is paying off.”
As the economic hub for the region, Louisville Forward had a banner year in 2016, locating 61 projects in Jefferson County, representing $1.3 billion in investment, and creating 6,820 new jobs. Louisville Forward also celebrated the $310 million expansion of UPS Centennial Hub and the announcement of Computershare’s regional office with 1,100 jobs, representing a $32 million investment.
“This award proves that this region continues to be the best place in the world to relocate, expand or start a business. The diversity of resources here and the collaborative, community attitude make this an excellent market for new business,” said Oyler. “We will use this momentum to encourage more investment throughout our 15 counties.”
In 2016, GLI generated 9 leads for the 15-country region, resulting in projects representing $69 million in investment, and creating 1,750 jobs with an additional 43 projects in the pipeline to end the year. GLI also celebrated the launch of OneJet flight service out of Louisville International Airport, which was facilitated by GLI’s Regional Air Coalition and the Louisville Regional Airport Authority.
Louisville Forward was formed in July 2014 to unite economic development efforts and built environment functions, allowing business owners to go from concept to permit in one streamlined agency. To achieve its goals of raising the median wage across the city and growing the number of jobs, the Louisville Forward team focuses on five strategic business categories that are historic and contemporary areas of strength to Louisville; Advanced Manufacturing, Food and Beverage, Lifelong Wellness and Aging Care, Logistics and eCommerce, and Business Services.
Since its creation, Louisville Forward has helped businesses create nearly 12,000 new jobs in Louisville, representing an investment of more than $2.4 billion dollars. This award marks the third straight year that Louisville Forward has been recognized by Site Selection magazine.
GLI is focused on growing the regional economy. As the region’s largest convener of business leadership, GLI leads global economic and outreach strategies focused on business attraction; nurtures the entrepreneurial eco-system; and champions the development of the community’s talent base. As the voice of Greater Louisville’s business community, GLI advocates for a pro-business environment and facilitates businesses engagement on issues that impact regional competitiveness.
The recognition is based on six criteria – total projects, total investment associated with those projects and total jobs associated with those projects; and those same three numbers calculated per capita for the metro area.
Top projects for the groups that are featured in the May issue of Site Selection magazine include:
Clariant Corporation – headquartered in Switzerland, Clariant Corporation, a leading manufacturer of catalysts, announced the development of a $100 million manufacturing plant located on Hill Street near 12th and 13th Streets. Clariant created 41 new jobs with the expansion of the Louisville operation.
Evolent Health – a strategic alliance between Passport Health Plan and Evolent Health created The Medicaid Center of Excellence. The Center is the first of its kind in the country and combines Passport’s expertise in Medicaid managed care with Evolent’s industry-leading technology and operations to offer centralized services for provider-led Medicaid health plans nationwide.
Guess, Inc. – located in Jefferson Riverport International, Guess Inc. announced its $11.5 million expansion to build a second warehouse of 232,500 square feet, more than doubling the footprint of the distribution center. The new warehouse created 200 new jobs, bringing its total employee count to 600.
In addition to the projects mentioned above, Louisville Forward and GLI partnered to attract global law firm Hogan Lovells to open its global business services center in Louisville, an $8.9 million investment, creating 250 high-quality jobs.
Click here for more information about Louisville Forward.
Click here for more information about GLI.
A fun – and free – family event will take place on the banks of the Ohio River in southwest Louisville on Saturday, June 17 as Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing hosts “Family Farm and Forage Day” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event will explore historic and present-day farming with a variety of children’s activities, workshops, talks and booths. Families can enjoy a milking demonstration featuring “Bluegrass Bessie” the cow; a farm animal petting zoo; horse-drawn wagon tours, barrel train rides as well as demonstrations on beekeeping, raising chickens, cultivating beneficial garden insects, growing fruit trees and more.
New this year to the festival – in its second year – is the Jefferson County 4-H Fair Open Youth Dairy Goat Show . The goats will be judged on adherence to breed standards and their youth handlers will be judged on showmanship. Late entries will be accepted the day of the show. The entrance fee is $5 per goat and champions will be awarded a small premium. For questions, contact Kelly Smith at the Extension office at (502) 569-2344.
All events and demonstrations are free, although a suggested donation of $5 can be made prior to tours of the Farnsley-Moremen house. Ehrler’s Ice Cream and the LaRue County Pork Producers will be providing concessions at Family Farm and Forage Day.
“This is a terrific family event that combines fun and learning,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “Beyond the activities of the event itself, I urge citizens from all over the community to come out and see some of the great things that southwest Louisville has to offer.”
“I am so excited to see this wonderful farm event behing held at the Farnsley-Moremen historic property,” said Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, who represents District 14, where Riverside is located. “It is so important to educate the public on how our food gets from the farm to the table and past and present practices of how exactly that happens. I look forward to seeing you at this free event!”
This event is held in partnership with the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Other sponsors include Louisville Gas & Electric, Jefferson County Farm Bureau, the Future Farmers of America, the Louisville Water Co. and 4-H.
In addition to Fowler, Metro Council sponsors include Council President David Yates, D-25; Vicki Welch, D-13 and Rick Blackwell, D-12.
Photo: Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation
As part of a multi-year effort creating improvements at Shawnee Park, Mayor Greg Fischer and other local officials dedicated the newly upgraded and historic Dirt Bowl courts Tuesday morning. The annual Dirt Bowl tournament, in its 48th year, begins this year on Saturday, June 17 at Shawnee Park.
Many of the city’s and region’s leading hoops figures– including Darrell Griffith, Tony Kimbro, Artis Gilmore, Louie Dampier and Derek Anderson – have competed in the tournament. In addition to the high-quality of competition in the tournament, the Dirt Bowl is also been recognized as cultural and social summertime institution in west Louisville.
Just last year, a book titled “I Said Bang: A History Of The Dirt Bowl” was released by the Louisville Story Project outlining the significance of the tournament, from its beginnings in 1969 when it was created by Janis Carter and Ben Watkins.
In conjunction with an underground basin project that is ongoing in the park and is slated to continue through 2018, MSD has committed to making several improvements to the park, including new playing surfaces at Hornung Field, a new open-air pavilion and restrooms and the restoration of the lily pond and Ball House – the future home of the West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative.
“These changes will transform the park and bring amenities that will be enjoyed at Shawnee Park for generations to come,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “The short-term inconvenience due to MSD’s work in the park will result in a long-term gain.”
“I’m so glad that the MSD basin project has made the improvements to the Dirt Bowl courts possible. They are heavily used courts and will be able to extend the enjoyment and usage of the courts for years to come for patrons of all ages,” said Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton, who represents District 5, which includes Shawnee Park.
The work on the basketball courts consists of new fiberglass backboards, a scoreboard, concrete pads and bleachers as well as an enhanced electrical system for the court and nearby surroundings. The courts have also been slightly moved so that the evening sun will not be in the player’s faces, something that has been a long been a challenge at the Dirt Bowl.
“Everything about the Dirt Bowl experience, from the people in the stands listening to the call of the game and watching it on the court, to the players participating in it, will be enhanced because of this work,” said Seve Ghose, Director of Metro Parks and Recreation. “These are crowd-pleasing improvements and we’re looking forward to a great summer at Shawnee Park.”
Credit: Louisville Metro Police
Louisville Metro recently discovered an incident that may affect the security of personal information stored within our environment. This notice is meant to provide information about the incident, steps taken since discovering the incident, and information on what potentially affected individuals can do to better protect against the possibility of identity theft and fraud.
A computer used by two Assistant County Attorneys was recently stolen from the Louisville Hall of Justice. The computer, about the size of a book, was located in a publicly accessible conference room and not secured to the table it was stationed on. After the theft was reported, Louisville Metro launched an internal investigation and retained third-party forensic experts to determine what information may have been stored on the hard drive at the time of the theft. Though the computer was later recovered, the hard drive had been removed. The investigation determined that the emails of the two attorneys may have been saved locally to the hard drive.
Though Louisville Metro has no evidence that the data contained on the hard drive was subject to unauthorized access, on April 19, 2017 Louisville Metro discovered that certain personal information was contained within the email account of one of the attorneys. While we are unaware of any actual of attempted misuse of this information, in an abundance of caution, we are providing notice of this incident. The information stored on the computer and potentially subject to unauthorized access included some individuals’ names, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and driver’s license numbers.
Notices have been mailed to the less than 175 individuals affected by this event.
To Learn More
Louisville Metro has established a confidential call center regarding this incident. The call center is staffed with professionals who can answer questions about this incident and provide information on how to protect against misuse of personal information. The call center is available Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. E.T. at 1-800-939-4170.
Louisville Metro encourages potentially affected individuals review their account statements and credit reports for suspicious activity.
In addition, under U.S. law affected individuals are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of your credit report.
Individuals may also contact the three major credit reporting agencies below to put a “fraud alert” or “credit freeze” on their credit file.
Equifax
P.O. Box 105069
Atlanta, GA 30348
800-525-6285
www.equifax.com
Experian
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
888-397-3742
www.experian.com
TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000
800-680-7289
www.transunion.com
Further, affected individuals can educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting the Federal Trade Commission or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, www.identitytheft.gov, 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement. Kentucky Residents: The Kentucky Attorney General’s office can be contacted at 888-432-9257 or 502-696-5389.
The three basketball courts at Wyandotte Park in south Louisville have been completely rebuilt thanks to a partnership between the city of Louisville, Nike and RCA recording artist Bryson Tiller.
The new courts debuted on Wednesday, June 7 with an appearance from Tiller at Wyandotte along with Mayor Greg Fischer.
Tiller and Nike teamed up on the construction of the courts at Wyandotte Park, located just east of the Watterson Expressway off Taylor Boulevard, less than a mile from Churchill Downs.
Tiller will perform at the Mercury Ballroom tonight at 7 p.m. and then return for an engagement at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, September 16.
“We couldn’t be more pleased that Nike and Louisville’s own Bryson Tiller have given us this spectacular new complex of courts at Wyandotte Park kids and families can enjoy,” Fischer said. “These are some of the best outdoor courts in the country. It’s going to be great to see them in use this summer.”
“It is exciting to know that Louisville is never far from Bryson Tiller’s mind,” said Councilwoman Marianne Butler, who represents Metro Council District 15, where Wyandotte Park is located. “We are so grateful to Nike and Mr. Tiller for the offer and the beautiful courts that we produce future Cardinals – and maybe some Cats – to go on and make a difference in the world. We hope they all learn from Mr. Tiller’s action – never forget where you came from and give back. Thank you!”
“I am so proud that we have a young man like Bryson from our community,” said Councilwoman Jessica Green, District 1, and a friend of Tiller’s. “He has taken the music industry by storm, and most importantly, he has not forgotten his Louisville roots. As the icing on the cake, he is just a wonderful and humble young man. I am so honored to know him. We are so appreciative to him and to Nike for these timely park improvements.”
The project at Wyandotte includes new expanded asphalt to increase the size of the original three-court configuration. After the asphalt was cured for three weeks, a modern rubberized surface was added, along with freshly-painted lines to re-establish court boundaries. New goal posts and fiberglass backboards were then added.
In the future, work at Wyandotte will include new lighting, tennis and pickleball courts.
More than 1,600 educators from across Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) will convene at the Kentucky Exposition Center over the next three days for the inaugural JCPS Deeper Learning Symposium—a powerful new summer conference led by educators and focused on innovative ideas in JCPS.
The JCPS Deeper Learning Symposium, held June 7-9, will feature nationally prominent keynote speakers as well as a number of JCPS teachers and educators as presenters. JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens will welcome attendees at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in the South Hall. Dr. Marty Pollio will also help kick off the symposium as a featured presenter with a session on deeper learning in action in JCPS at 10 a.m. The sessions are open to members of the media.
The symposium will focus on the district’s vision to create personalized, deeper learning for every student and professional—a key goal of the Vision 2020 strategic plan. Deeper learning is grounded in helping students develop the social, emotional and intellectual knowledge, skills, capacities and dispositions to thrive in school and beyond by cultivating:
- Caring, constructive learning relationships;
- Meaningful, personalized, real-world learning experiences;
- And supportive, equity-focused learning environments.
Councilwoman Mary C. Woolridge (D-3)is sponsoring the Bringing Unity in the Community Festival along with Community Outreach Service to unify the community through tragic times by hosting a two‐day family oriented outdoor festival right in the heart of the West End; the Algonquin Community.
“If there ever was a time for unity in our community, it’s now. Together, we need people to show support for each other, join hands and let everyone know we want a safe place for our children and our families,” says Woolridge. “This is a good first step.”
Algonquin Park will serve as the location to bring people together on June 9th and 10th to participate in this special festival. Headlining, “Bringing Unity in the Community” is Louisville’s own national recording artists Linkin’ Bridge!
Algonquin Park will become a center point of entertainment, entrepreneurs, health fair booths, and will include major efforts in job opportunities, and expungement exposure throughout the two‐day festival
Partnering with the Councilwoman is Community Outreach Service, a non‐profit organization designed to serve the people.
The festival will feature local vendors as a way of boosting the local economy with services ranging from food to crafts and boutiques to highlight small businesses.
The festival begins at 12:00pm on Friday June 9th, with live entertainment from hand‐selected artists that have been chosen based on their unique sound and character. Booths and entertainment will be open on Friday from 12:00pm until 7:00pm and on Saturday from 10:00am to 7:00pm.
Local dance teams, comedians, musicians, bands and more will take center stage to provide entertainment, with over 20 acts over the two‐day span. Job and career seekers will be able to apply for positions on the spot at the job fair during the festival. The “Bringing Unity in the Community” Festival will be a fun‐filled, empowering festival to unify culture and diversity in the West End!
“I want to invite everyone in West Louisville to come to Algonquin Park, meet your neighbors and see what we all have in common as a community,” says Woolridge. “We need each other and we can help each other.”
Councilwoman Mary Woolridge has invited the mayor and we are looking forward to having Mayor Greg Fisher join us.
Please join us in Bringing Unity in the Community!
For more information, contact Councilwoman Woolridge’s Office at 574-1103.