LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mayor Craig Greenberg joined community leaders to celebrate the finalization of the city’s economic development strategic plan, Growing Louisville Together.
“I’m proud of this process, and I want to thank all the stakeholders who volunteered their time and energy to help develop this plan, as well as our economic development team,” Mayor Greenberg said. “We’ll be working with them and other community partners to make this plan a reality because the work to create the economy of the future will take all of us.”
The Mayor was joined by education, business, and labor leaders who spoke about how Growing Louisville Together is not Louisville Metro Government’s plan. Still, rather it is the community’s plan for economic development.
“I applaud the vision of the Growing Louisville Together plan for economic development that Mayor Greenberg has unveiled today,” said Dr. Kim Schatzel, president of University of Louisville. “I’m especially supportive of the fact that we are being called to work together to improve the economic standing of our community and ensure that all have access to advancement opportunities in the coming years. We at UofL are committed to playing our role to grow the economic development of our region.”
“UPS is thankful to Mayor Greenberg for taking the lead in developing this new strategy,” said Bill Moore, president of UPS Airlines. “While this plan may have been created at the direction of the Mayor, it represents views from residents and business leaders from all areas of Louisville. UPS looks forward to working alongside Mayor Greenberg and his team to support the plan’s success and assist with recruiting great future companies to Louisville.”
“Growing Louisville Together is a bold economic development plan with a vast amount of thought and energy behind it,” said Ja Hillebrand, chairman and CEO of Stock Yards Bank & Trust. “I want to thank the Mayor for his leadership, for putting together and listening to such a diverse group of community stakeholders and most of all, reaching across the political aisle and working with the state legislature to move our state’s economic engine forward and prioritizing a plan that has actual steps to grow our city, together.”
Conrad Daniels, president of HJI Supply Chain Solutions and incoming board chair of Greater Louisville Inc., noted that everyone has a role to play in Growing Louisville Together.
“I believe this plan will help our city grow and create distinctive roles and responsibilities for organizations critical to successful economic development and quality of life,” he said.
Todd Dunn, president of the UAW Local 862, thanked the Mayor for inviting organized labor to the table and noted Louisville is now meeting the pace of other cities working aggressively to plan for the future.
“Our community’s working men and women are essential to building a strong, growing economy. We are pleased that this plan emphasizes education, skills enhancement, and even stronger apprenticeship programs – and organized labor is committed to working urgently with the Mayor and all the others to make this plan a reality.” A draft version of the plan was unveiled on November 16 during the fifth meeting of 80 community stakeholders, first assembled in August to advise the Louisville Metro Government on the plan’s development. The city collected feedback on the draft from the stakeholders and the public and incorporated that feedback into the final version of Growing Louisville Together.
Changes made following community feedback
During the press conference, Mayor Greenberg highlighted changes to Growing Louisville Together and discussed the next steps. In response to stakeholder and public comment, new language was added to the economic development strategic plan related to cleanliness, safety, homelessness, small business, sustainability, tourism, and equity for minorities, immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ residents. Some new action items include:
- Create a Commercial Property Acquisition Fund to help residents in historically disinvested neighborhoods buy commercial properties.
- Launch a comprehensive needs assessment for public transportation that includes robust community and business engagement. Create a strategic plan to address those needs, including operational assessment of TARC routes, schedules, reliability, and financial sustainability.
- Reduce the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness by incentivizing the creation of permanent supportive housing options in private developments.
- Develop inclusive public spaces that include gender-neutral bathrooms, changing tables in all bathrooms, and designated breastfeeding spaces.
- Support investments in maternal and child health (0-3) and childcare infrastructure, including stabilizing and expanding the number of childcare centers and investing in the Healthy Babies Louisville network.
- Replicate the REACH program, developed by the Small Business Development Center and the Office for Immigrant Affairs, in coordination with the Office for Women to increase access to entrepreneurship for women, particularly Black and Latina women.
- Establish a Hospitality Institute in partnership with local higher education institutions to train people to fill the growing number of jobs in our hospitality industry.
- Promote the apprenticeship programs offered through the building trades unions that offer no-cost training and create a pathway into high-quality jobs in electrical, construction, and other industries.
- Facilitate connections between job seekers, workforce development organizations, unions, higher education institutions, and green industries to create various quality green jobs and a talent pipeline that attracts green industries.
- Connect Lynn Family Stadium to the other sports venues downtown through a “sports corridor” with pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, wayfinding, and new commercial activity.
- Advocate for full state funding of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center’s proposed expansion and renovation.
In August, Louisville Metro Government hired Indiana-based consulting firms Ginovus and TPMA to conduct an economic analysis and complete the strategic plan, which includes actionable steps and guiding metrics.
Now that the plan is finalized, the next steps include identifying roles and responsibilities for each initiative, budget needs, key performance indicators, and timelines and setting up a new economic development organization. The public-private entity will work with the private business and labor sectors, educational institutions, and philanthropic leadership across Louisville to enact the plan.
