From good to great: Beyond bourbon and baseball

A “Growing Louisville Together” economic development action plan, launched by Mayor Craig Greenberg in late 2023, calls for improvements and investments in the areas of place, people, education and economic development. Greater Louisville Inc.’s “Live in Lou” campaign sells job opportunities and quality of life. (iStock)

Why Louisville’s legacy industries are
just the beginning of its modern success story

The birthplace of Muhammed Ali and home to Churchill Downs and Louisville Slugger, Louisville is Kentucky’s largest municipal area, hosting Fortune 500 company Humana and UPS Worldport, the international courier’s global transport hub.

Logistics are a frequently cited advantage—the city is a day’s drive for two-thirds of the U.S. population. The regional legacy of advanced manufacturing has served as a springboard to EV manufacturing in Louisville and other parts of the Bluegrass State.

Located on the Ohio River near the Indiana border, Louisville enjoys a revived downtown, although traffic hasn’t returned to pre-COVID levels. It’s also a college town. The University of Louisville and other higher education institutions in or around the city collectively yield 16,000 graduates each year.

Retaining these young people and attracting new talent to the area has been a top priority for the city’s economic development agencies. Louisville has experienced slower population growth than its peers in recent years.

The “Growing Louisville Together” economic development action plan, launched by Mayor Craig Greenberg in late 2023, calls for improvements and investments in the areas of place, people, education and economic development.

It sparked the creation of the Louisville Economic Development Alliance in 2024, charged with comprehensive local economic development and quality-of-life strategies.

Meanwhile, Greater Louisville Inc., a regional EDO, focuses on attracting economic development projects across the 15-county, two-state region.

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Talent attraction is essential to success, says GLI President and CEO Sarah Davasher-Wisdom.

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GLI’s “Live in Lou” campaign sells the city’s job opportunities, lower than average cost of living and quality-of-life amenities.

Consistent positive messaging is delivered through numerous means including more than 400 local volunteers known as City Champs, who personally connect with executives and trailing spouses considering relocating to Louisville.

Davasher-Wisdom says the region has been successful in attracting EV manufacturing including a $5.6 billion Ford BlueOval SK Battery Park megacampus in nearby Hardin County.

“From a strategy standpoint, we’ve really seen continued growth of our signature industries,” she says. “And we’ve focused on a few key sectors, particularly advanced manufacturing and EV manufacturing.”

Ensuring new investments have a workforce pipeline is essential, Davasher-Wisdom adds.

The state of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Economic Development provides workforce recruiting and training assistance for new and existing employees at no charge. The agency says it trained more than 95,000 workers and supported more than 5,000 companies in 2024.

Workforce development partnerships have also been forged with the University of Louisville to support Louisville’s biotech industry, which has thrived in part because of the city’s logistical advantages.

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For example, freezer technology built out by UPS Worldport to transport COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic are now being used to attract biotech and life sciences companies in need of freezer space for temperature-sensitive materials, Davasher-Wisdom says.

GLI has been strategic in its continuing effort to attract and retain talent. When courting a company, the organization identifies what skills are required and, if necessary, recruits candidates from a nationwide pool.

“We look throughout the country to see where that skill set is less in demand than it is here, and where the salary may differ,” she says. “And we actually market to those individuals using Live in Lou branding and employer branding.”

GLI is also working closely with the state legislature to implement a statewide talent attraction campaign that would help further fund local campaigns and initiatives.

To address an increase in crime over the last decade, as well as a current 21% shortage of sworn officers, the Louisville Municipal Police Department recently released its 2025 Crime Reduction Strategic Plan.

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The plan calls for data-responsive policing, improved violent offender enforcement and sustained focused improvement, which includes addressing urban blight, updating technology, devoting investigative resources, improving relationships among neighbors, and community policing.

Louisville’s downtown has seen significant investment and improvement over the last few decades, notably through high-profile projects like Whiskey Row, Waterfront Park, the Muhammed Ali Center, the KFC Yum! Center and Fourth Street Live!.

The pandemic presented new challenges for downtown Louisville, reflected in a daytime population decline due to work-from-home frequency.

This persistent reduction in downtown traffic sparked the creation of the new 10-year Louisville Downtown Development Strategy, released in 2024.

The plan prioritizes mixed-use investments beyond office space and advocates for developing downtown beyond the Central Business District. The strategy also addresses public safety and homelessness and advocates for showcasing downtown Louisville not just as a business hub but as a vibrant residential neighborhood.

In 2024, 43 new businesses opened in downtown with an additional 16 scheduled to open in 2025, according to the Louisville Downtown Partnership.

Notable mixed-use projects include the University of Louisville’s state-funded $280 million Health Sciences Simulation Center and Collaboration Hub, which will support the university’s medicine, dental, nursing and public health programs. Officials say the project will increase the number of nursing and heath care graduates, addressing a statewide shortage.

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