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December 2008
Welcome to eFYI, your exclusive monthly e-newsletter from Greater Louisville Inc. - The Metro Chamber of Commerce. As one of our valued partners, you can count on eFYI to cover the topics and issues of most interest and benefit to you. Share your comments and ideas with us any time at VFisher@greaterlouisville.com.
U of L receives largest donation in its history
Sullivan University dedicates new pharmacy building
Casual Living CEO helps recruit businesses to city
Ford gets tax breaks for Louisville plants
21c Museum Hotel among 100 best U.S. hotels, says Condé Nast
idX to add up to 150 jobs
Medline opens facility in Shepherdsville
Building grows 'green roof'
Louisville's West Main Street one of America's 10 Great Streets
GLI receives U.S. Chamber award
Raytheon opens Warfighter depot in Louisville
Inspiration Can Be Found in Many Places, but You Need to Be Looking
$25 million medical office complex slated for Old Brownsboro Crossing
U of L gets grant for children’s study and diabetes research
ZirMed charting path for growth
Funds set for new VA hospital
U of L receives largest donation in its history
The University of Louisville has received the largest gift in its history -- a $20 million donation that will be used to further the school's cancer research in a state with the nation's highest cancer death rate.
The grant was announced by the James Graham Brown Foundation Inc. The money -- $4 million a year for five years -- will be used primarily to recruit and keep new research faculty and staff. Read more.
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Sullivan University dedicates new pharmacy building
 Sullivan University recently held a dedication ceremony for their new pharmacy building.
With medication use on the rise, pharmacists are increasingly in demand -- especially in Kentucky, which has the nation's second-largest shortage.
Sullivan University's new College of Pharmacy could help relieve that shortage starting in 2011, when the school's first class will graduate.
The school opened in July and is the state's second pharmacy college. Read more.
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Casual Living CEO helps recruit businesses to city
 When Louisville native Chris Carmicle brought the headquarters of Casual Living Worldwide to his hometown in 2005, Louisville gained more than administrative offices and a parts center for the large outdoor-furniture manufacturing company. It also got an energetic booster for the city.
In addition to serving on the boards of various agencies, Carmicle spends a lot of his time assisting Greater Louisville Inc. with their business attraction efforts. In a recent business recruitment effort Carmicle answered the call for help, telling the executives about his experience in bringing his top staff to Louisville -- all but one made the move, and all now love Louisville. Read more.
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Ford gets tax breaks for Louisville plants
 Ford Motor Co. gained state approval for up to $180 million in tax breaks to help fund retooling of its two Louisville plants to make small cars and large sport utility vehicles.
With the incentives, Ford plans to put $100 million toward the eventual renovation of the Louisville Assembly Plant to make small cars instead of Explorer SUVs.
Ford also plans to spend another $100 million to add production of the Expedition SUV early next year to lines that build Super Duty trucks at the Kentucky Truck Plant in eastern Jefferson County. Read more.
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21c Museum Hotel among 100 best U.S. hotels, says Condé Nast
21c Museum Hotel recently was recognized among the 2008 Reader's Choice Awards Top 100 Hotels in the United States by travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler.
The Louisville hotel ranked in a tie with The Blantyre in Lenox, Mass., as the 16th best hotel in the nation. Read more.
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idX to add up to 150 jobs
idX, a manufacturer of retail fixtures and custom millwork products, plans to invest $3 million to expand and add new equipment to its operations at River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville.
The expansion is expected to lead to the creation of up to 150 jobs - production workers, engineers and program managers - by 2011. Read more.
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Medline opens facility in Shepherdsville
Medical supply distributor Medline Industries has opened a 400,260-square-foot distribution facility in Shepherdsville, Ky.
The center is expected to employ 50 people. Read more.
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Building grows 'green roof'
 Thousands of plants are finding a new home atop Louisville's seven-story Economic Development Building giving metro government its first "green roof."
The $420,000 demonstration project, in which plants and soil replace gravel and tar, is intended to save energy and reduce storm water runoff into a sewer system that gets overwhelmed during rains, spilling untreated sewage into pipes that drain into the Ohio River. It joins several others in Louisville on privately owned buildings that have been put in place in the last couple of years. Read more.
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Louisville's West Main Street one of America's 10 Great Streets
 More than 30 years in the revitalization of, West Main Street between Second and Ninth streets has been designated as one of America's 10 Great Streets by an association of city planners.
The recognition came from the American Planning Association, based in Washington, D.C., which cited West Main for its "history, architecture, cast-iron facades and the unique sense of place it conveys." Read more.
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GLI receives U.S. Chamber award
 Greater Louisville Inc.'s economic development program has been recognized by two organizations for its success.
GLI's HIRE Education Forum has received the 2008 Community Competitiveness Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce. The organization praised GLI's leadership and commitment to creating a top-notch education and training system for the region. The HIRE Education Forum brings together postsecondary education officials to address strategies for improving educational attainment and graduation rates. Read more.
GLI was also awarded an Honorable Mention for its economic development efforts by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The IEDC singled out GLI's High Impact Program (HIP) for strengthening business retention and expansion in the region. The High Impact Program is a public/private partnership that identifies and serves fast-growth companies and companies that enable growth in others. Read more.
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Raytheon opens Warfighter depot in Louisville
Raytheon Technical Services Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Raytheon Company, has opened a Warfighter Support Center depot and repair facility in Louisville's southwest area.
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Inspiration Can Be Found in Many Places, but You Need to Be Looking
 Successful inventors, entrepreneurs and writers say they are often asked where their big ideas come from.
They will acknowledge that serendipity often plays a role. But equally as important, they say, is having an open mind - especially in tumultuous times like these. Big and small ideas are out there, they say, if you are looking for them.
These type of creative thinkers were invited to share their moments of inspiration at the 2008 IdeaFestival in Louisville.
The IdeaFestival, created by Kris Kimmel, President of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, brings together creative thinkers from different disciplines to connect ideas in science, the arts, design, business, film, technology and education.
The festival's goal is to promote out-of-the-box thinking and cross-fertilization as a means toward the development of innovative ideas, products and creative endeavors. Read more.
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$25 million medical office complex slated for Old Brownsboro Crossing
Jeffersonville-based ARC Construction Management LLC has plans to construct two, three-story medical office buildings that will total 150,000 square feet.
Alan Muncy, president and CEO of ARC Construction, said his firm will invest between $25 million and $30 million in the project, known as Old Brownsboro Medical Office Park.
The company plans to break ground on the development in the spring. Read more.
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U of L gets grant for children’s study and diabetes research
The University of Louisville has announced that it will receive a $13.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for its role in the National Children's Study.
The long-term study, which focuses on environmental and genetic effects on children's health, is the largest of its kind to be conducted in the United States. The funds will be distributed to U of L over a five-year period. Read more.
Also, six researchers from the University of Louisville each have received $50,000 grants from the Kentucky Diabetes Research board. The grants will help researchers investigate the disease and conduct clinical research involving patients. Read more.
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ZirMed charting path for growth
 In the nine years since it was founded, medical billing firm ZirMed Inc. has been a well-traveled company -- repeatedly outgrowing its offices and moving from an address on Poplar Level Road to four successive locations in downtown Louisville.
Recently a "topping off" ceremony was held, drawing ZirMed a step closer to its newest digs -- the ZirMed Gateway Towers. The event marked the pouring of the top floor of the $25 million project, which is expected to be ready for at least a partial move-in by the end of March. ZirMed, founded in 1999, has been recognized for its growth the past two years by Inc. Magazine and recently placed 77th in the Healthcare Informatics Top 100 Largest Healthcare Information Technology companies in the United States. Read more.
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Funds set for new VA hospital
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell recently announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs has committed in writing to spend $75 million to begin the process of building a new VA hospital in Louisville.
It's the first significant money that will be spent on the $400 million project and serves as the federal government's most serious commitment to build the hospital. Read more.
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2009 © Greater Louisville Inc. - The Metro Chamber of Commerce
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