January 3, 2024 9:59am
Greater Louisville Inc. adds two staff members to economic development team
Abigail Fletcher, J.D., and Emily Drexler will focus on research and regional project pipeline growth
Louisville, Ky. (January 3, 2024) – Greater Louisville Inc. announced the addition of two accomplished strategists to its economic development team. Abigail Fletcher, J.D., joins GLI as director of economic development and Emily Drexler fills the newly created role of manager of economic development. With the addition of Fletcher and Drexler, GLI’s economic development team is now staffed with five full-time employees working to drive business attraction and expansion efforts for the 15-county region.
“Our economic development work has generated exciting momentum in the past several years and I am confident with these high-caliber additions to our team we will produce even more results for our regional economy. Both Abby and Emily bring unique experience and skills that will help our region land more projects, create more jobs, and produce more opportunities that everyone in Greater Louisville will benefit from,” said Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, president and CEO of GLI.
Fletcher joins GLI after practicing law for over four years at the firm of Sitlinger Law in Louisville. She obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Centre College. Fletcher is a Kentucky native and is actively involved in several civic organizations including serving on the board of directors of the Kentucky Resources Council and News Leaders Council – Kentucky Chapter. In her new role, she will focus on technical research to provide in-depth information to relocating or expanding businesses in GLI’s project pipeline.
Drexler is a Louisville-native with a passion for business development. Most recently she worked as a marketing and business development coordinator for SF&P Advisors in Boca Raton, Florida, helping to grow the company’s reach. Previously she served as process manager for Uptown Café, which re-opened under new ownership following the COVID-19 pandemic. She has a Bachelor of Science in entrepreneurship from Western Kentucky University and will graduate with her Master of Business Administration from the University of Louisville later this year. As economic development manager, Drexler will engage with site selectors an
d prospective businesses to grow GLI’s project pipeline and support the Greater Louisville Partnership.
“I am thrilled to start 2024 with Abby and Emily on our economic development team. They will bring new skills, ideas, and capacity to help market our region across the globe and align all counties within our region for continued collaboration and long-term growth,” said Clark Welch, vice president of economic development for GLI.
GLI is the regional economic development organization and manager of the Greater Louisville Partnership. In 2023, GLI grew the regional economic development pipeline by 93%, ending the year with 56 potential projects that could bring tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment to the region in the year ahead. The addition of two new team members is funded through GLI’s contract with Louisville Metro Government to increase GLI’s capacity to leverage new leads generated from a national marketing campaign being launched through Metro funding in the first quarter of 2024.