We chat about Louisville's peer cities on the Access Louisville podcast this week.

Louisville Business First Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt recently wrapped up a story on the topic. While the list of Louisville's peers definitely varies depending on who's being asked a few things were clear.

First, Cincinnati, Indianapolis or Nashville, Tennessee — who we often like to compare ourselves to — are not really our peers because they are much bigger now than they used to be. Instead Memphis, Tennessee, Birmingham, Alabama and others are closer comparisons to Louisville.

During the show, we also discuss some ideas that Louisville could steal from other cities. Removing I-64 from the Downtown Louisville riverfront is one suggestion we come up with, as other cities have had success opening their riverfronts. Another suggestion we land on is a riverwalk in the vein of San Antonio — something Louisville has looked at in the past, including on a recent Greater Louisville Inc. trip.

In the second half of the show, we talk about Kentucky's resurgent manufacturing economy.

Schmidt recently visited Ford Motor Co.'s Louisville Assembly Plant to cover news of a new electric vehicle manufacturing process that's being launched in support of Ford's upcoming (and yet unnamed) midsize EV truck. We talk about how Ford's launch compares with what Toyota is doing at its plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. During the show, I reference a recent interview I did with the president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, which you can read here, in which we discussed EVs.

Schmidt also visited GE Appliances's Louisville operation to check out a recently unveiled manufacturing line there. And we chat about the news that Corning will begin manufacturing 100% of iPhone and Apple Watch glass at its facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

Does this mean that the manufacturing industry is finally making a comeback? We chat about it on the show.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The merger of Jefferson County and Louisville — yes, the one that happened 20+ years ago — is being threatened with a recent lawsuit. We chat about that on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

LBF Reporter Michael L. Jones explains that Real estate developer David Nicklies is challenging the constitutionality of merged local governments in Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette Urban County.

In a lawsuit filed in Jefferson District Court, Nicklies argues that the laws enabling these consolidations are examples of unconstitutional “special legislation” — laws tailored to specific localities in violation of Sections 59 and 60 of the Kentucky Constitution. Jones has a full story on the issue here.

The way in which merger was executed has been unpopular with some residents for a long time — particularly those who live outside of the old city limits, known today as the Urban Services District. Those outside the district don't get the same level of city services — garbage pickup, for instance — as those inside the district. Nicklies lawsuit argues that those residents, himself included, have been harmed by the merger.

We get into some the reaction to that on the show, as Jones spoke with former Mayor Jerry Abramson, an advocate of merger.

In a later segment of the show, we get to know Louisville Business First's newest reporter Olivia Estright. She joined LBF and the Access Louisville podcast crew just a few weeks ago and will be covering residential real estate, Southern Indiana and professional services in the city. You can read more about Estright here.

And to wrap things up LBF President and Publisher Lisa Benson is on the show this week with a conversation with Chip Sutherland, managing director at Baird. Baird is the sponsor of the show and they talk about a number of topics including Baird's role in public project finance.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Louisville Business First and Access Louisville did a poll asking: What is the most important project in Louisville? We talked about the results of the poll all these projects this week's Access Louisville podcast. Here's a look at the top five priorities that Louisville must take action on.

1. Finding a new use for the Humana building: In early 2024, Humana Inc. announced plans to vacate the iconic tower and consolidate its local employees in the recently renovated Waterside building and neighboring Clocktower building. The Humana tower is now for sale and Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield U.S. Inc. has been retained as the exclusive listing agent for the building — a 27-story structure at 500 W. Main St.
2. Two new Downtown hotels: Louisville Business First broke the news on both of them. The most recent one is a 1,000-room hotel tower at the now-vacant site next to the Muhammad Ali Center, which is in the “predevelopment” phase by Louisville-based Poe Cos. There’s also a 300-room, 27-story hotel tower being planned by Zyyo, led by founder and CEO Nick Campisano.
3. Converting the Starks Building: Back in 2020, Underhill Associates unveiled a plan to convert the empty office building at the corner of Muhammad Ali Boulevard and Fourth Street into apartments with first-floor retail. As proposed, the primary tenants would be artist and the units would be offered at rates affordable for that income.
4. Residential/retail development near Lynn Family Stadium: In March, Soccer Holdings, the parent of Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC, announced an agreement with Denton Floyd Real Estate Group and LDG Development to build a mixed-use development with 200 luxury apartment units along with dedicated retail spaces on the first floor.
5. A new use for the former Jeffboat site: Right now, it's a massive, rustic slab of concrete but it could be so much more. The vision is for a $1 billion mixed-use development transforming a former shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana, into a waterfront residential and commercial area. Columbus, Ohio-based Thrive Cos. is the developer. Site work and demolition have received grant money from the state of Indiana but it's all still in the early stages.

The show, sponsored by Baird, was episode 300 of Access Louisville. It was recorded in front of a live audience at the Baird Conference Center on the 29th floor of the 500W building in Downtown Louisville.

The program included three special guest:

• Earl Winebrenner, owner and president, Winebrenner Capital Management
• Michael Gross, development director, LDG Development
• John Hollenbach, managing partner, Hollenbach Oakley

The show was moderated by me and Joel Stinnett, senior reporter at Business First. You can find a few quotes from the our panelist in below but be sure to check out the program in the player above for the full show. Access Louisville is also available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Derby weekend won't be the same next year, following the news that Churchill Downs is pushing the running of the Kentucky Oaks back to 8 p.m. or later.

We chat about the impact of that on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Churchill Downs announced the change on Thursday, July 24. Typically post time for the race, which runs the day before the Kentucky Derby, is scheduled shortly before 6 p.m. NBC executives say the race will move to NBC and Peacock, and the primetime post will allow for a “spectacular twilight finish.”

Our next live podcast is July 28: Join us as we take look at Louisville's most important development projects. Registration here.

The big impact will likely be how restaurants and bars evolve their dinner service. They're obviously losing a few hours — though it's hard to imagine that restaurants will actually be empty at dinner time on Oaks Day. We'll surely be watching how restaurants respond come next May.

We also chat about how the Derby Week experience has evolved over the years as it becomes more of a "bucket list" type of event for the world. Oaks Day used to be known as the day for locals to come to the track but that hasn't been the case for some time. Even Thurby is a scene, nowadays. For better or worse, locals are much more likely to be spotted walking around at 502'sDay at the track.

Reporter Joel Stinnett also gives us an update on a recent project at the track — albeit a behind the scenes one.

Later in the show we shift gears to talk about gas station food.

The popular gas station Wawa opened recently in Louisville — bringing out a number of fans. We also got the news that a Florida gas station, Nick & Moes, known for its fried chicken, is opening locally. That gets us talking about favorite gas station foods as well as the cult following that many of these chains have managed to cultivate.

Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify (which are linked above.) You can also listen in the player above.

The hard stuff keeps flowing, in spite of potential hard times ahead.

We chat about the latest with the Kentucky Bourbon industry on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

LBF Bourbon Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt is on the show to give us the latest on Chicken Cock Whiskey (yes, they realize they have a funny name.) The bourbon brand built a tasting room in Bardstown a year ago and is now planning to open another location in NuLu. Schmidt got the scoop on the new development from a company executive after it came to light in a legal ad.

“We found a great space and a great part of town that is vibrant and growing,” Tyler Rothenberg, vice president of marketing for Grain & Barrel Spirits, CCW’s parent company, told us recently.

Our next live podcast is July 28: Join us as we take look at Louisville's most important development projects. Registration here.

Schmidt also got a look at Heaven Hill Brands new corporate office in the ShelbyHurst development in Louisville in the last few weeks. During a visit he had a chance to speak with the family behind Heaven Hill about what the new space means for them.

We also chat about the recent sale of Dueling Barrels Distillery out of Pikeville, Kentucky. And we discuss Whiskey House — a massive new contract distilling venture that's based in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Late in the show we talk about the demolition of the Executive Strike & Spare at the Kentucky Expo Center. And we give you a few recommendations on where to bowl in Louisville.

Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify (which are linked above.) You can also listen in the player above.

Our next live podcast is July 28: Join us as we take look at Louisville's most important development projects. Registration here.

Affordable housing is an issue affecting many communities in the country, including Louisville. We get into some of the factors behind it on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Elizabeth Strojan, executive director of the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, joins the program to give us her insights on the issue. You might not realize how many people in Jefferson County are impacted by the Authority's work — which is something Strojan admits surprised her too. It directly serves 30,000 people in the county.

Strojan and LBF Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy go over a number of topics on the show, including reactions to the recent Big Beautiful Bill — passed by Congress and signed by President Trump — as well as affordable housing needs.

They also talk about the reaction that new affordable housing proposals often garner — specifically when it comes to density.

"It's really the same everywhere," Strojan said. She recalled that even while working in New York City in affordable housing finance, neighbors opposed dense housing developments.

"We're talking about a densly built city where people are scared of density," she said. "I think it's unfortunately a part of human nature to fear change and fear the unknown. The best way to get people supporting affordable housing is to build the affordable housing. Because they see the sky doesn't fall."

Strojan also talked about what's next for the Dosker Manor public housing complex.

She said it's unfortunate that it has to be demolished but, after a physical needs assessment, there didn't look to be a way to save it. Right now, the authority is in the process of relocating residents (about 200 remain). The three highrises and the former First Link grocery story will be demolished and several hundred units will be rebuilt (which won't be as dense as before.)

"Overall we want obviously to increase the supply affordable housing. But that level of very high needs population in one city block was not sustainable for an organization like ours," she said.

You can hear the full interview on the show. Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We take a trip to the Hoosier State on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Our discussion revolves around some of the economic goings on in Clark and Floyd counties. LBF recently took a deep dive into trends in the area for a section we called Southern Indiana spotlight.

To start, we chat about new home development, which has taken off despite higher interest rates affecting housing affordability

New single-family home inventory grew by 8.8% between April 2024 and April 2025 in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, Glenn Hockersmith, a Realtor and broker with Schuler Bauer Real Estate, told LBF in a recent report. Despite the increased supply in the area, the average number of days on the market for these homes plummeted 12.9% during the same period.

River Ridge Commerce Center, a 6,000-acre commercial and industrial park in Jeffersonville that produced an estimated $3.04 billion in economic output in 2024, has a lot to do with that growth. But we also discuss how the various school systems in the region play a role.

On the show, we also talk a restaurant boom in New Albany, including something new heading into the former Toast on Market space.

We chat about the backstory on Hidden Hill Nursery & Sculpture Garden, which recently hit the market. We discuss a new recreational trail in Borden, Indiana, which is supposed to eventually connect to Mitchell, Indiana (and even up to Indianapolis at some point.) And we go over the plans for Origin Park, which we recently toured.

Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

GE Appliances President and CEO Kevin Nolan says a move to bring expanded laundry machine production to Louisville, from China is part of the company's ‘zero-distance’ business strategy.

We talk about the move and the strategy with LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

As Stinnett reported on Thursday, GE Appliances is spending $490 million to expand its local footprint and create an additional 800 full-time jobs at Appliance Park. The investment will move production of the GE Profile Combo Washer/Dryer and the GE Profile UltraFresh Front Load Washer from China to Building 2 at Appliance Park, located at 4000 Buechel Bank Road.

The strategy seeks to make appliances as close as possible to our customers and consumers and "aligns with the current economic and policy environment,” Nolan said in a news release announcing the investment.

GE Appliances is Louisville’s eighth-largest employer, according to Louisville Business First research, with 8,400 local employees. The company has been at Appliance Park, which is more than 6 million square feet on 750 acres, since 1953. The park houses GE Appliances’ technology and engineering center, industrial design, distribution center, warehouse operations and production of washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators.

The company was spun off from General Electric and acquired by China-based Haier in a $5.4 billion deal in 2016.

The expansion comes one year after GE Appliances laid off 4% of its global salaried workforce, citing an appliance industry that was, “even more challenging than anticipated.”

JCPS news and more

Later in the show we talk about Yum Brands Inc.'s donation of its 28.4-acre campus at 1441 Gardiner Lane to Jefferson County Public Schools. Stinnett spoke with JCPS Marty Pollio about the donation recently.

After nearly 30 years as an educator, Pollio doesn’t shock easily, as you can imagine. But he told Stinnett he was floored by the generosity of the gift.

“This donation from Yum Brands is the equivalent of a brand new elementary school at JCPS that we will be able to build as a result of this,” Pollio said. “That generous gift will impact generations of young people in this community.”

Pollio's last day as superintendent was June 30. His replacement, Brian Yearwood, started July 1.

For the last segment of the show we talk about gas stations — including a new location for Wawa and the sale of the former Thornton's property in Downtown Louisville.

Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify (which are linked above.)