Access Louisville

Sarah Worrell, general manager of Kentucky Kingdom Theme and Waterpark joins us on the Access Louisville podcast this week. On the show, Worrell tells us a bit about what's new at the park, including the newest addition — Discovery Meadow. Discovery Meadow is an $11 million investment (part of $25 million in upgrades overall) and will open May 10."It's gonna be unlike anything anyone has ever seen in the park before," she told us. Kentucky Kingdom Theme and Water Park, owned by Atlanta-based Herchend, is Kentucky’s largest amusement and water park. It spans 67 acres and has over 70 rides and attractions, including five roller coasters.The new area is an homage to the community, she said. The name Kentucky Kingdom has been in the community for the last 30 years and Herchend and the team there wanted to celebrate the state, she said."Discovery Meadow is the first step into that," she said "... really embracing what is beautiful and special about Kentucky."The new land fea

Ford Motor Co. recently showed off the latest iteration of its large Expedition SUV in Louisville.Was the reveal a sign of confidence for the automaker? After all, it gave the company a chance to boast about its high level of domestic production — something important in the wake of a trade war. We chat about that as well as the auto industry overall on this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast. Let's face it, this event may have just been a good reason for Ford executives to come to Louisville on Derby Week.The new 2025 Ford Expedition is rolling off the line at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville after the company invested $500 million at the facility. The reveal took place on Wednesday, April 30, and included a visit from Ford CEO Jim Farley as our partners at WDRB News reported. He spoke about the auto industry reactions on tariffs as well as the economy as a whole.The price for the new SUV ranges anywhere from $62,000 to $100,000, by the way.  After the automotive talk, we switch g

What are Louisville's biggest assets and how can we best leverage those?That was recently a topic of discussion on the Access Louisville podcast. We took the weekly LBF show live for a special episode — recorded in front of an audience and with three guests: Jennifer Barber, office member in charge, Louisville, Frost Brown ToddScott Catlett, chair, Impetus for a Better Louisville and former Yum Brands Inc. chief legal and franchise officerMike Mountjoy, founding partner and chairman emeritus of MCM CPAs and Advisors (now Cherry Bekaert)All three were members of LBF's Power 50 list of Louisville’s most influential business people. They are all also at different stages of their careers, with Barber making her first appearance on that list, Catlett being a regular and Mountjoy being part of the inaugural Power 50 Hall of Fame. We talked about their careers for a bit at the top of the show, with each sharing their proudest accomplishments.After the career talk, we got to talking about what Louisville sh

UPCOMING EVENT: Access Louisville Live presented by Baird. Be on hand for a live recording of the Access Louisville podcast April 22. Details and registration here.A new pizza joint, a French Bistro and the latest on the brewing scene.All of the above are topics on this week's Access Louisville podcast. LBF Restaurant reporter Michael L. Jones is on the show to tell us about a new St. Matthews Pizza joint, Pizza Jones (no relation.) Pizza Jones will be located at 126 Breckenridge Lane, next to the China 1 restaurant, and is scheduled to open in early May. Gene Stein, co-owner of Pizza Jones, is the former co-owner of the defunct Pizza Guy brand, which closed nearly two decades ago.Jones also tells us about French bistro M. Peppers, which opened at 1306 Bardstown Road, inside the Bellwether Hotel, opened Tuesday, April 15. It comes from the team behind bar Vetti inside NuLu's AC Hotel. The ownership group includes chef Andrew McCabe and restaurateur Ryan Rogers, co-owner of Feast BBQ and Royals Hot C

UPCOMING EVENT: Access Louisville Live presented by Baird. Be on hand for a live recording of the Access Louisville podcast April 22. Details and registration here.Sometimes Mother Nature just has our number — and that's certainly been true so far in 2025. On this week's Access Louisville podcast we discuss the loss of Thunder Over Louisville — which is being canceled this year because of flooding. On a normal Thunder, about half a million people line the banks of both sides of the river. Kentucky Derby Festival pegs the Thunder economic impact at more than $120 million, while Louisville Tourism charts it at $10 million. A Louisville Tourism spokesperson detailed that their number only accounts for direct economic impact (and excluding things like sponsorship or advertising dollars or TV rights).On this week's show, we also discuss how the flooding has impacted businesses including The Galt House, Captains Quarters and Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.After the flooding talk, we discuss wo

UPCOMING EVENT: Access Louisville Live presented by Baird. Be on hand for a live recording of the Access Louisville podcast April 22. Details and registration here.Louisville and the surrounding area have seen a bevy of new data center projects announced in the last several months. We discuss what it all means on this week's Access Louisville podcast.The latest news is a $6 billion project in Oldham County which is attracting scrutiny from nearby residents and officials. There are also data center developments in South Louisville and at the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The jury is likely still out on whether having these projects are good or not. Sure, they attract big investments and require some high paying jobs. And possibly set the area up for more technology industry development. But they're also a major draw on power and water resources.After the data center discussion, Reporter Joel Stinnett shares some of his notes from covering new University of Louisville preside

The city got some surprising news this week with the announcement that Kim Schatzel was out as president of the University of Louisville.What started as a Tuesday night rumor quickly evolved into a close-door meeting of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees on Wednesday. Louisville Business First reporter Michael Jones was at that meeting and shares his insights on the situation on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Perhaps most surprising was that Schatzel's departure was followed by the quick appointment of Gerry Bradley to replace her. Bradley is the third president in five years. UofL has experienced a rotating cast of leaders since longtime president James Ramsey resigned in 2016.Also on this week's show, we discuss the former Highland United Methodist, which recently hit the market. Star Auerbach and her father Rob Auerbach, co-founder of Rainbow Blossom Natural Food Market, had purchased this property in 2023 and were considering a boutique hotel for the space. But after Rob

We have a classic restaurant news update on this week's Access Louisville podcast. LBF Restaurant Reporter Michael L. Jones is on the show to share some of his latest reporting. We start off on the surprising news that Joy Luck has closed its two locations in the area. The Asian fusion eatery, which had locations in the Highlands and on the East End, has been a staple of the local restaurant scene over the last nine years. The restaurants were owned by brothers Alvin and Brendan Lin. The two opened the Highlands location in 2013, and the East End restaurant followed in 2016.Jones also has some news on Playa Bowls, which is replacing the Highlands restaurant. New Jersey-based Playa Bowls specializes in bowls containing superfoods like acai, pitaya, chia pudding, and more. We also chat about Limon Y Sal, a new modern Mexican restaurant that opened recently at to 3900 Shelbyville Road. The nearly 7,500-square-foot space was previously occupied by The Raven, which closed last May.We also talk about the food

Louisville lost one of its biggest luminaries this week with the passing of Junior Bridgeman.We discuss his passing and share some of our favorite stories about the basketball star turned businessman on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Bridgeman died at age 71 after suffering a medical emergency during the 45th Annual Leadership Luncheon on Scouting held at the Galt House on March 11.He was a star guard on the University of Louisville’s 1975 squad that went to the NCAA Final Four. He played 12 years in the NBA, most of that for the Milwaukee Bucks, who retired his number. After his athletic career ended, Bridgeman operated numerous restaurants, including many Wendy's locations. On this week's show, we share some favorite stories about Bridgeman. Reporter Michael L. Jones also shares some clips from interviews that he conducted with Kevin Cosby, president and CEO of Simmons College, Jimmy Kirchdorfer, CEO of ISCO Industries and Wade Houston, a basketball great and founder of HJI Supply Cha

We get some perspective from a Louisville CEO on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Logan Pichel, president and CEO of Republic Bank & Trust, is on this week's show. (He also recently made our Power 50 list of the area's most powerful executives.) We cover a little bit of everything including diversity, equity and inclusion, mergers in the banking industry and banking under the new administration of Donald Trump. In a period where stories out of Washington D.C. seems to be lighting up news feeds on an hourly basis, Pichel discussed the need to focus on his company's mission."You don't run the bank for the administration, you run it for the longterm franchise value of the organization," he said. "Administrations change. Not a lot has changed in our strategy." He suspects a looser regulatory environment will likely be in place as a result of the new administration. He could also see more consolidation in the sector — "although I will tell you that we just

We chat about a couple of apartment developments in the area on this week's Access Louisville podcast. But we also discuss why these proposals seem to touch off so much controversy. Specifically on the show we talk about two apartment development projects: One in a former school house in the Highlands and another near Highlander Point Shopping Center in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. Through the years, we've heard that Southern Indiana is generally friendlier for development. But in this case, the Indiana development is attracting more complaints from residents than the one in Louisville. We get into chatting about why people oppose developments like this — including traffic, density and population growth. We move on to some lighter topics after that including some restaurants and retail news. The new Bourbon & Burgers and the PGA Superstore are both opening soon in St. Matthews. And we chat about music a bit considering that the iconic Headliners Music Hall is on the market. We also make note of some o

The hits just keep coming for economic development in Louisville — most recently with the news that KFC is leaving town.That's one of five recent examples of some absolutely abysmal economic news coming out of Louisville. Before that it was Papa John's flight from Louisville to Atlanta. And the news that Humana Inc. is vacating its Main Street tower in Downtown Louisville. You can throw the closure of the Brown-Forman Cooperage and Diageo's ending of bottling operations at Stitzel-Weller Distillery onto the bad news pile too. Those are just the big, semi-recent ones. Add it all up and it doesn't look good for the Derby City. So what's happening here? We give our best shot at an explanation on this week's Access Louisville podcast, which you can check out in the player above.In short, it's not all just one thing. Louisville is on the wrong end of some recent business trends. Obviously, the trends that led restaurant companies (KFC and Papa Johns) out of town are different tha

A big time change coming to U.S. soccer could mean Louisville's best opportunity for a new top-tier sports team. And we chat about it on the Access Louisville podcast. As LBF reported on Thursday, The United Soccer League is planning to launch a division one professional soccer league which will directly compete with Major League Soccer at the top of the U.S. soccer pyramid. LouCity FC currently plays at the second tier of the pyramid in the USL Championship league. While nothing has been officially announced, there are strong hints that Louisville would move up to the top once the new league is launched.As we talk about on the show, USL President Paul McDonough mentioned Louisville soccer specifically in two separate press interviews — one with the Athletic and one with the Guardian. We talk about why this could be an exciting development — though not without it's growing pains. As we discuss, Lynn Family Stadium, where LouCity FC plays, can get tight when too many fans show up. There's also t

Does Louisville hate big ideas? We get into that on the Access Louisville podcast.A proposed revamp of the Belvedere is what gets us talking about the topic. Renderings of the project were recently unveiled, which showcase a unique and distinct design, on Louisville's waterfront. The designs were created by London-based Heatherwick Studios, which is also behind the Vessel in New York or Little Island in Brooklyn.There's been a few pieces of news on the project including it's cost and timeline. Mayor Craig Greenberg has also appointed an executive to lead the effort.But the reception on social media has largely been negative. Yes, we realize that people generally use social media to complain but it got us talking about other big Louisville ideas that have seemingly been met with scorn — Museum Plaza, the Big Four Bridge, a Mid-City Mall redo and so on. Even when the Clark Memorial Bridge got a coat of paint that wasn't grey, people seemed upset by it. We have our theories as to why — everyt

We chat about several local construction projects on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Topping the discussion is what looks to be a new grocery store at 201 Blankenbaker Parkway. LBF Reporter Joel Stinnett spotted a demolition permit that had been filed to tear down part of the structure there (which used to be home to a Winn-Dixie and Walmart Neighborhood Market) in order to make way for something new.The permit hints at a retailer going into the space and it's the right size for one — though nothing has been confirmed yet. After that we also chat about Kentucky Educational Television (KET) opening its new studio on Main Street, which Digital Editor Zak Owens got a look at earlier recently. Also on this week's show we talk about demolition planned at the former EMW Women's Surgical Center at the corner of 2nd and Market streets. A new 27-story hotel tower has been discussed for that space in the future, but for now the building is being demolished for a parking lot, as Stinnett report

We talk strategy with the CEO of a popular Louisville attraction on this week's Access Louisville podcast.DeVone Holt has been at the helm of the Muhammad Ali Center, as president and CEO since September. He's the first in the organization’s history to hail from Louisville. On the show he talks about how he plans to both foster local relationships and expand the organization's reach. “It really has been a whirlwind of activity,” Holt said on the podcast, which was recorded with LBF Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy in late December. Holt spoke about the immense honor of spreading Muhammad Ali’s legacy around the world, calling it “literally one of the greatest honors of my professional career.” Ali is revered by people from all walks of life and continues to inspire the center’s mission, he said.Holt worked for Goodwill Industries of Kentucky prior to his CEO appointment and helped shepherd the organization's $50 million Opportunity Campus development in West Louisville. He speaks about his roo

The bourbon news doesn't seem to stop flowing.We chat about a major strategy change for Louisville-based distiller Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE: BF-A, BF-B) on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The discussion was spurred by the recent news that the company, which owns Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester and other spirits brands, is laying off 12% of its global workforce and shutting down its Louisville cooperage.You can read more about the news from Brown-Forman here, as well as some reaction from the industry on the cooperage closure specifically.We chat about what the news means for local tourism. Bourbon sales are undoubtedly slowing down. But the famed Kentucky spirit still has plenty of fans that are up for a visit. You can check out our most recent list of the area's biggest bourbon attractions here. We also discuss a local Hemp company that's considering a similar tourism-driven facility in Louisville. After the bourbon and hemp talk, we switch gears to talk movies —

We chat about what's next for the bourbon industry on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Specifically, LBF Bourbon Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt is on the show to talk about the coming year for the industry. Schmidt recently talked to several people in the industry for a two-part story on the year ahead in this signature Kentucky space. He heard a little bit of everything from speculation on acquisition deals to expanding the ways in which brands sell to their consumers. You can read part 1 of Schmidt's bourbon prediction story here, and part 2 here.A key takeaway: Last year was a challenging one for the industry — at least compared to the boom years of the last decade — and that's expected to continue in 2025.After that, we chat about a couple restaurant stories with Reporter Michael L. Jones. He tells us about a new location for popular Mexican restaurant I Love Tacos. He also shares an update about the former Pints & Union Space in New Albany, which will soon be home to a new taver

We've open up our crystal ball, blew on the circuit board and put it back together.Surely, now, we're ready to predict the future. As we have the last few years, we start another year of the Access Louisville podcast by making predictions for what we think will happen in the area over the next 12 months. We tackle a large range of topics in our predictions — construction, sports, business trends bourbon and more. You'll have to listen in on your favorite podcast streaming app to hear all of them but here are just a few to give you a taste: Mid-City Mall will be sold (it is on the market after all) but there will be legal battles related to what is developed there;A new building conversion program will finally get work moving on the Starks building redevelopment project;Louisville will make a push to land a WNBA franchise considering expansion plans for the league;And Buc-ee's will continue it's expansion into Kentucky with a location between Louisville and Cincinnati.Keep in mind thes

If only we had a crystal ball.In the last several years, the team at LBF's Access Louisville podcast have developed an end-of-the-year tradition where we sit down and try to predict what might happen the next year. In this week's episode, we revisit predictions we made for 2024 — and it was a mixed bag on what we got right and wrong.Some of the things we covered include Racing Louisville FC falling short of the playoffs, rumors of Humana’s sale to Cigna (talks of a deal are reportedly off the table) and plans for a new 27-story hotel in Downtown Louisville. We also chat about the latest with the University of Louisville men's basketball team, tensions over development in West Louisville during the last year and Bob Dylan's new attraction in town.Be sure to tune in next week as we look to the future to make predictions for the upcoming year. And the plan is to review them in a year and see how we did.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on po