Access Louisville

UofL Health is building a new seven story tower in Downtown Louisville. We talk about this new development on this week's Access Louisville podcast. This will be the first new tower in Downtown Louisville for some time. And it's substantial because it follows a string of recent health care investment announcements. Later in the show we talk about plans for a Janet Jackson concert on Derb...

For fans of University of Louisville men's basketball, the last season may have been forgettable. But last week was most certainly memorable, as the program ushered  in a new era with the hiring of coach Kenny Payne . On this week's Access Louisville podcast, LBF reporter Laurel Deppen talks about this hire after attending the news conference where he was officially introduced. Reporter...

Breeze Airways announced a new nonstop flight from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) this week.  It's been a long-sought destination for the region because of Silicon Valley. The new direct flight comes after American Airlines announced nonstop service to Boston — another highly-coveted tech and health care hub — in December. Dire...

There's soon gonna be something new to eat in Louisville. Jack in the Box, a San Diego-based fast food joint, has announced plans to open up at a former Steak n' Shake location in Louisville. We talk about where it's going and why people are excited about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Later in the show, we chat about a couple of properties along Bardstown Road in...

When you talk about housing in Louisville it tends to trigger debates. Lots of people agree that Louisville needs more affordable housing. And market-rate and luxury housing fetches plenty of interest too. But, frequently, when a developer proposes a new housing development, be it single family homes or apartments, the reaction is negative. That's particularly true with the 'not-in-my-ba...

Humana Inc. has released its latest plan to return workers to its offices in Downtown Louisville. Getting Humana workers back Downtown should be a boon for neighborhood restaurants and shops as it's expected to bring a number of people back. We chat about that plan on the Access Louisville podcast this week. We also talk about the idea of coming back to the office. We've got some differe...

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer gave his final state of the city address last week before the Rotary Club of Louisville. On this week's Access Louisville podcast, we chat with Reporter Michael L. Jones who attended the Rotary meeting about his biggest takeaways from the speech. We also chat about Fischer's legacy and how he will be remembered after leaving office.  After that, we chat with...

We roundup some of the latest Louisville area restaurant news on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Specifically we chat about the owner of two downtown Louisville establishments — Riot Cafe and Limbo — that are looking for help from the community during the always tough winter season. We also chat about a new hip-hop themed restaurant in Fern Creek, Melt 502 . And a the opening date for...

Louisville-based FreshFry was on a great trajectory prior to the pandemic, helping restaurant clients extend the life of their frying oil with its oil cleansing pods on a national level. But when the early days of Covid-19 shut down restaurants, things began to look starkly more difficult. This week on the Access Louisville podcast we welcome FreshFry founder Jeremiah Chapman, who tells us how the...

The character of accommodations are changing in Louisville — offering much more boutique and unusual experiences. We chat about that on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The impetus of the discussion is a recent cover story in Louisville Business First, which highlights a number of unique hotel projects that have taken place around town in the last few years. Later on in the show, we cha...

What does 2022 hold for Louisville? On this week's Access Louisville podcast a full crew of Louisville Business First staffers give predictions for the year. We take on a full range of topics: What will happen with Downtown office buildings, what new stores might come to town, what new restaurants might open and even what will become of specific projects such as the Starks Building and One Pa...

Was 2021 predictable? In some ways, yeah. Last year around this time the Access Louisville podcast crew made several predictions about what 2021 had in store. On this week's show we go back and talk about what we got right and what we got wrong. In some cases the predictions were spot on. For instance, LBF Editor Shea Van Hoy somehow correctly predicted that Muhammad Ali Airport would get a f...

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport has finally added a flight to Boston . The new flight starts in June from American Airlines. Reporter Michael L. Jones joins this episode of the Access Louisville podcast to talk about the announcement. It caps off what has been a big year for the airport in terms of adding flights. We also talk about the reopening of a staple Louisville music venue ,...

The news cycle belonged to University of Louisville this week, with President Neeli Bendapudi and Athletic Director Vince Tyra both announcing they’re leaving.  Plenty has been said about it (here’s a reaction story about Bendapudi’s announcement. ) We can’t help but pile on a little more commentary on the situation for the podcast this week. Later in the show we talk about restaurant news includi...

JK McKnight, founder of Forecastle, a long-running music, art and activism festival in Louisville, joins the Access Louisville podcast this week. McKnight has a new venture : Art of Impact, which is focused on reaching Millennials and Gen Z audiences through experiential marketing. We talk about how this agency does that as well as which brands fit the best. We also chat about music festivals in g...

We’ve got another classic Access Louisville restaurant roundup this week. Reporters Michael L. Jones and Eleanor Tolbert join us to talk about several food stories (many of them related to pizza.) • Tony Impellizari is retiring after 42 years • Square Cut Pizza opens in Shelby Park • LaRosa’s is coming to town . • A new generation takes over at Anne’s Café After the restaurant, discussion we talk...

Downtown Louisville is getting something new: Dream Hotel. Details of this facility just dropped and we discuss it on this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast. A key point to consider here is the size of the hotel: 168 rooms. That's not as big as the Omni, Marriott Downtown or Galt House. But it is larger than some of the boutique style hotels we've seen popping up aroun...

Social media has impacted American culture in a lot of ways — for better or worse. On this week’s Access Louisville podcast, we talk to Brad Luttrell, co-founder and CEO of Louisville-based GoWild, which operates a social media platform focused on hunting, fishing and outdoors.  We cover a lot on the show — how he started, how he’s raising money and so on. But a big piece of our discussion is focu...

One of Louisville's biggest industries — health care — is going through dramatic changes of late. That's a key discussion for us on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The biggest headline we have in this realm is the anticipated launch of ScionHealth .  This company is expected to be launched and headquartered in Louisville following LifePoint Health's acquisition of Kindre...

Startups are an odd thing. On the one hand, they're often small, sometimes micro, businesses — not yet changing the world. But on the other hand, it's fascinating  to watch a founder put so much on the line for an idea they believe in. On the Access Louisville podcast this week, we chat about a couple of Louisville area startups that we're watching with great interest. The first is...

There's much to talk about on this week's Access Louisville. We chat about the new One Park North development being proposed in the Highlands. A restaurant in the area that's closing if it isn't sold. And the latest political news.   Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services.

A  former church in Louisville's Clifton neighborhood is being redeveloped into office space. We chat about the transition and who's behind it on this week's Access Louisville podcast. It's an interesting project ( photos here ) and it gets us chatting about the future of office space. Will office towers be less useful post-pandemic as smaller spaces that require less commitmen...

There's plenty going on in Louisville's restaurant scene of late. On this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast, reporter Eleanor Tolbert joins us to talk about several recent stories. Against the Grain, a well-known brewer in Louisville, is opening a sandwich shop . There's something new moving into the former Pesto's spot in Downtown Louisville. And Decca is re...

The Kroger Co. is getting a little more competition in Louisville with Publix entering the market. Louisville Business First reported that the Florida-based grocery store chain is moving into East Louisville earlier this week.  LBF reporter Ellie Tolbert joins the Access Louisville podcast to talk about where exactly the store is going and who is bringing it to town. She also tells us about breakf...

In a football game, is it usually better to go for it on 4th and short? Or is punting the safer bet It actually depends on a lot of different factors and the situation, of course. But making that decision correctly, in a specific situation, is one thing that Louisville tech company EdjSports strives to help teams do. The company provides data and analytics to improve decision making in sports. Thi...