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Louisville Business First
How a Louisville rideshare startup is plugging a gap in the market
Rideshare services have been embedded for more than a decade, beginning with the launch of Uber in 2009, and later Lyft in 2012. <\p> It has grown to a $15.2 billion industry over the last five years, according to data provided by IBIS World, a market research firm. <\p>
Cookie caper? Please & Thank You seeks compensation from Derby vendor
Brooke Vaughn, owner of Please & Thank You, was confused when a longtime customer tagged both her bakery and Churchill Downs Inc. in an Instagram story just days before Kentucky Derby 150 earlier this month.<\p> The motivation for the post didn't become clear until after Vaughn received a text. This time, it was a photo of cookies being served in one of the hospitality suites around the famed racetrack's newly renovated Paddock. <\p>
Local pizzeria closes
A downtown New Albany, Indiana, pizza shop has closed, its owner posted on Facebook on Wednesday.<\p> 8th Street Pizza, at 411 E. Spring St. in the Breakwater development, opened in 2019 at its original location of 800 E. Eighth St. The business is owned by Jeff Minton.<\p>
Large local nonprofit opens St. Matthews facility
Hosparus Louisville cut the ribbon on its new $4 million grief counseling center in Louisville on Wednesday, celebrating the completion of the 7,000-square-foot facility that will provide services to kids, teens and adults. <\p> According to a release from Hosparus, the Harshaw Family Grief Counseling Center features state-of-the-art areas to help families work through grief. Spaces include art and sand-therapy rooms, counseling offices and a planned outdoor healing garden that's currently in development. <\p>
Valhalla co-owner following PGA Championship: 'I am exhausted'
Although the 106th PGA Championship is officially in the books, Jimmy Kirchdorfer Jr.’s world is still on spin-cycle. <\p> “I am exhausted. It’s so much fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it,” Kirchdorfer told me Wednesday. “It’s just very exhausting.”<\p>
Louisville public company closes 3 acquisitions
BrightSpring Health Services (Nasdaq: BTSG) is on a shopping spree.<\p> The Louisville-based publicly-traded company closed deals this month to purchase three separate companies, according to a news release.<\p>
A Covid-era option for bankruptcy filings is about to expire
Small businesses will be left without a useful Covid-era bankruptcy tool when it expires in the coming weeks — a development occurring just as bankruptcies are on the rise.<\p> The program, called Subchapter V, was created to enable businesses with less than $2.75 million in debt to go through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization process in a streamlined way. In March 2020, as the pandemic took hold across the country and worldwide, Congress raised that benchmark to $7.5 million, allowing many more businesses to use the Subchapter V option. <\p>
President of Louisville's largest private school to step down
Trinity High School President Rob Mullen will leave his post next summer after nearly 25 years at the helm of the all-boys Catholic school.<\p> In a Tuesday news release, Trinity said Mullen will step down from his role as president in June 2025 before transitioning to a new role as vice president of mission. <\p>
The 'lock-in' effect is hitting homebuyers. It may get worse.
Americans expect high mortgage rates to rise even more in the coming years, a perspective that could further dampen the housing market.<\p> The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s SCE Housing Survey found Americans expect mortgage rates to climb from just under the 7% they are now to 8.7% a year from now and 9.7% in three years — the highest recorded since the agency started asking Americans that question in 2014.<\p>
Longtime CEO out at Galt House parent
Former CEO Scott Shoenberger and Al J. Schneider Co., which owns the iconic Galt House Hotel and other hospitality and real estate properties, have parted ways, according to a WDRB report.<\p> It's not clear why Shoenberger is out as CEO of the hospitality-giant or who is taking his place. Shoenberger did not respond to a request for comment from Business First. <\p>
Wawa, QuikTrip plot local stores
Two new-to-market gas station and convenience store chains are coming to Southern Indiana.<\p> According to the town manager of Sellersburg, Indiana, a QuikTrip will be west of where Interstate 65 meets Ind. 60 off Payne Koehler Road. On the east side of I-65 and highway 60 on the Apple Leaf Lane side will be a Wawa. <\p>
Apartment market cools with record amount of new supply wrapping up
The national rental-housing market has continued to cool, with differing outcomes based on geography and unit type.<\p> Several markets in the South posted significant year-over-year declines in apartment rental rates as of April, according to a new Realtor.com analysis. Those declines were led by Nashville, Tennessee, and Austin, Texas, the latter of which has seen an 8.3% annual drop in asking rents and an 11.5% drop since peaking September 2022. <\p>
Investors pocket 50% gain in $20M apartment sale
A South End apartment complex has sold to a Nashville, Tennessee, firm.<\p> Cooper Creek Apartments at 4807 Cooper Village Terrace was purchased by Cooper Creek Multifamily Partners LLC for $19.75 million, according to a deed filed with the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office.<\p>
Workers with learning disabilities face stigmas in the workplace
There remains a big stigma facing workers seeking workplace accommodations for certain disabilities — and those employees worry asking for help will hurt their careers. <\p> A new survey by The Harris Poll on behalf of nonprofit Understood.org, which works with people who have learning and thinking differences such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, found while 69% of workers know their employers must provide reasonable accommodations for disabilities, about 60% said there is still a stigma around asking their employer for support.<\p>
Trilogy founder bringing early education franchise to Louisville
A seasoned local health care entrepreneur is bringing a chain of early education schools to the Louisville area as his next career step.<\p> Randy Bufford, who founded Trilogy Health Services and later served as CEO of Synchrony Health, on Tuesday said along with his wife, Susan, he's leveraging his family's investment firm to partner with LeafSpring Schools, a Virginia-based preschool franchise which operates 14 schools across Indiana, Texas, North Carolina and Virginia.<\p>
Former pawn shop property Downtown sold
The Downtown building that formerly housed Stewart’s Pawn Shop has sold.<\p> The property, at 113 W. Jefferson St., was purchased for $1.125 million by a group of investors under the name of Jhoolay Lal Properties LLC, said Robert Scholtz of PRG Commercial Property Advisors, who represented the seller.<\p>
Longtime Goodwill executive departs
The Goodwill Industries of Kentucky executive who spearheaded the marketing and fundraising efforts for the nonprofit's new $50 million campus in West Louisville departed the organization earlier this month.<\p> DeVone Holt left his job as Goodwill’s vice president of external affairs on May 17 after giving the nonprofit four-weeks’ notice. In a Facebook exchange with Louisville Business First, Holt said he felt now was the time to make a change.<\p>
Well-known Louisville startup to 'go dormant' this week
Louisville-based social commerce startup GoWild will “go dormant” this week, according to a LinkedIn post made Friday by founder and CEO Brad Luttrell.<\p> In the post, Luttrell did not disclose why the Louisville-based outdoor social media community and e-commerce platform was on pause, but said GoWild Alpha Inc. is in need of a long-term partnership.<\p>
GLI exec stepping down next month
A longtime executive is leaving Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI), the regional chamber of commerce.<\p> Rebecca Wood, GLI’s chief operating officer and executive vice president, is leaving the chamber June 21. Wood announced her departure in a LinkedIn post last week.<\p>
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