Promoting Economic Growth
GOAL 1
PROMOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH
The KIPDA region boasts a strong regional economy with health care and social assistance, manufacturing and retail trade leading as the top three largest industries. Louisville Metro Government has several “buy local” initiatives and works with several private and non-profit organizations to enhance the regional economy by recirculating revenue throughout local communities. Some of these initiatives focus on agriculture and good production since there is still ample farmland available in the region. These opportunities for sustainable local food economy to emerge would help mitigate disparities in food accessibility and bolster urban and rural synergy and workforce collaboration.
Public-private partnerships and the leadership of local governments to promote business development and assistance programs must continue to be a priority for the regional economy to grow and thrive.
Increased employment opportunities in economically depressed and under-served areas is a challenge that must be addressed in order to make sure that income disparity does not decrease the quality of life in both urban and rural communities. Targeted efforts should be focused on areas that are expected to experience the largest population growth in the region. Sustainable development will help to improve the quality of the built environment in the area by allowing for economic activity to occur responsibly within the region’s carrying capacity. Collaboration on economic development projects that cross jurisdictional boundaries will be required in order for the region to successfully maximize its economic potential.
The manufacturing industry includes 11.1 percent of the total workforces in the region. The diversification of businesses and industries must be promoted in order to provide a wide array of employment options and allow for a more sustainable and resilient economic environment. In today’s evolving workplace access to high speed internet and technology is becoming increasingly necessary. In order to remain competitive and recruit a larger employer base it is imperative that technological advancements continue in all industry sectors.
STRATEGIES
- Actively promote local, state, and federal business development and assistance programs.
- Improve access to capital for a wide range of businesses in an equitable manner.
- Increase opportunities for growth and development in economically depressed and underserved areas.
- Enhance the quality of life in the region in order to attract and retain a highly-skilled workforce.
- Support a diversified supply chain for procurement to promote inclusive economic growth best practices.
- Promote increased collaboration and communication between the urban and rural public sector and private entities for future projects.
- Identify current high growth clusters and future development opportunities throughout the region.
- Identify regional driven projects and job creation opportunities.
- Promote the diversification of industries and businesses.
- Align best practices and ESG standards with local corporate social responsibility and impact investing goals.
- Pursue the development of clean industries such as clean energy, energy storage, etc.
- Encourage economic activity to occur within the region’s environmental carrying capacity.
- Promote higher density, infrastructure supported development to occur.
- Encourage the use of policies and incentives that increase revitalization efforts, specifically the redevelopment of brownfield sites.
- Continue hosting the quarterly Regional Planning Council.
- Promote regional collaboration between local government, public services, non-profit organizations and local businesses to better plan and coordinate regional economic development efforts.
- Work across state lines with Indiana to broaden regional collaboration.
- Increase the ability for businesses to offer telework employment that would expand job opportunities for residents with mobility issues.
- Continue to work with Kentucky Wired and local municipalities throughout the region to develop a plan to improve high-speed internet access.
- Continue to collect and improve Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to meet the needs of the counties within the KIPDA region.
- Improve accessibility to all regional GIS and document files by providing data on KIPDA’s website.
FUTURE MILESTONES
- Creation of quarterly CEDS committee at KIPDA
- Educate and connect local officials with public-private partnership opportunities
- Identify broadband service gaps
- Promote Build Ready sites
- Create a revolving loan fund with EDA funding to support economic development and job creation in the region
- Research the need and work towards the development of an additional riverport in the region.
*For more information on Build Ready sites, visit Think Kentucky: Build Ready
METRICS
- New business growth trends
- Economic growth that has occurred in targeted under-served areas
- Volume of new regional driven ventures
- Number of brownfield sites being re-developed
- Availability of regional data
- Population Growth within the Region
- Median Income Growth in the Region
- Coordinated planning efforts leading to securing State and Federal Funding (DOT/EDA/HUD/EPA)
- Increase in number of submissions/participation in State PDI initiative
SUCCESS STORIES
The Henry County Fiscal Court, in partnership with Louisville Distilling Co. and Carrollton Utilities, was awarded nearly $2 million in federal funding from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the Kentucky Department for Local Government’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
EDA funding is made possible via the American Rescue Plan Act, which allocated $3 billion in supplemental funding to the EDA to build back better by accelerating the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks.
Funds will be utilized to expand sanitary sewer access for the planned Angel’s Envy distillery site located between Campbellsburg and New Castle. Approximately 14,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer force main and a pump station will be installed, providing services for the distillery’s employees and visitors.
Staff of KIPDA’s Community and Economic Development Division assisted with grant application and management processes to secure funding and will work with project partners to administer the project.
XLerateHealth
XLerateHealth’s accelerator programs include an intensive three-month lean startup “boot camp” and a multi-year virtual incubator. The accelerator targets healthcare companies and has been named one of the top 50 accelerators in the U.S. each of the last two years by the Small Business Administration.
The Vogt Awards
The Community Foundation of Louisville’s Vogt Invention & Innovation Awards, focused on supporting entrepreneurship in the Louisville region, is the longest-standing program of its kind. Through an endowment left by Henry V. Heuser, Sr. in 1999, the Vogt Awards uniquely allows founders to retain full ownership of their business as they leverage a 10-week startup education program and mentorship in addition to an infusion of capital to accelerate their company’s growth. Established by Henry Vogt Heuser, Sr., the Vogt Fund and Awards were created to strengthen Louisville’s economic health by supporting innovative startups and inspiring entrepreneurship. This initiative plays a critical role in our community’s economic growth as a city that’s poised to be a break-out for startups: ensuring the support and success for new and future businesses.
The Russell Tech Business Incubator
The Russell Tech Business Incubator (RTBI) is the first business incubator for Black entrepreneurs in west Louisville. Black business owners will have access to services and resources through RTBI to help them get started, succeed and grow. Services from marketing and finance to sales and technical advice along with business coaches will help support new growth and sustainable businesses.
KIPDA worked in coordination with the Cabinet for Economic Development to develop an inventory of build-ready sites. Each ADD was in charge of developing their own inventory for their respective region. The project used ZoomProspector to build the inventory for use by potential businesses wanting to relocate or expand in Kentucky. The project allows the user to see pictures of the location, utility information and capacity, specifications and characteristics of the site, broadband availability, satellite imaging with various map layers, etc. In addition, the website shows region specific labor force information, demographics, wages, consumer expenditures, education attainment, and other industries in the area. The site is currently in use with plans for future improvement.