Economic activity in Greater Louisville continues to accelerate. As we move full steam into the fourth quarter of the year, GLI’s economic development team continues to hit the gas and grow our project pipeline. Since the end of the first quarter, the project pipeline has grown by more than 58% with 46 open projects. Through proactive outreach to site selectors and corporate decision makers, we have put Greater Louisville on many company’s expansion and relocation short lists and we hope to see their investments in our region in the year ahead.

GLI and the Greater Louisville Partnership plan to build on that momentum by leveraging existing and new tools. In early November, GLI will be hosting our annual Familiarization (FAM) Tour, where we welcome national site selectors to tour our region and see the unique assets and opportunities Greater Louisville has to offer. With support from our partners LG&E KU Energy, the Louisville Metro Cabinet for Economic Development, City of Jeffersontown, One Southern Indiana, Trimble County, Bullitt County, Nelson County, and Oldham County, we will take these decision makers on an immersive tour of our region. The event will culminate in “Looking at Lou”, our popular panel discussion where site selectors share their feedback on what our region does well and could do better. This event is open to all GLI investors and is a great chance to hear about how the business community can lift our region’s national profile.

If you missed last month’s top investor exclusive, I shared our Quarterly Economic Summary which outlines the key economic indicators for our region. The report was positive with all signs pointing to continued economic growth in our region. Not only is our pipeline growing, but so is our team. We promoted Clark Welch to vice president of economic development and hired a new economic development manager, Veronica Vaughn. We currently have two open positions that will support our work to generate more leads and work closely to grow our project pipeline through outreach and research. Please encourage any candidates who would be a good fit to apply here.

As the GLI team is working hard to grow the pipeline, we are also seeing increased buy-in in our regional approach to economic growth. 12 municipalities have pledged funding into the Greater Louisville Partnership for lead generation and support with regional economic development including: Bullitt County, Clark County, Floyd County, Harrison County, Jefferson County, the City of Jeffersonville, Nelson County, Oldham County, Scott County, Shelby County, Spencer County, and Trimble County. Several other partners are also considering investing in the partnership which shows a shared understanding that regionalism is the best way to compete for transformational projects that will set Greater Louisville up for success.

Last month, our team also had the opportunity to present to Louisville Metro Council’s Labor and Economic Development committee and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. In both meetings we were able to update state and local partners on GLI’s work and also participate in open discussion on ways our organizations can further collaborate. GLI is also continuing to finalize a contract with Louisville Metro Government for funding allocated in the city’s most recent budget. We have been working closely with Mayor Greenberg and Deputy Mayor Mulloy on the contract and are also participating in the city’s economic development strategic planning process to ensure our work closely aligns. We are planning to use those insights to form the basis of a national marketing campaign that will be deployed next year to drive business attraction leads to Louisville.

The future looks bright for our region, but we can always use your support. If your business or a business you know is growing or interested in relocating, please contact our team. We can assist with research, site searches, incentives, and much more to simplify the process and grow Greater Louisville.