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Mayor Greg Fischer is consolidating Louisville's economic-development efforts, taking control of business recruiting for the city in a move that will end the Metro Government's nearly $1 million contract with Greater Louisville Inc.
Fischer is reorganizing more than 200 city staff members and will hire more personnel under two umbrella agencies — Louisville Forward and Develop Louisville. Their mission will be to develop real estate attractive to companies and work to lure employers and talented employees to the city, he said.
The mayor did not specify how many employees the city would hire, but he said the moves would not require more city spending.
In addition, the city will redirect much of the $955,700 it gives GLI annually to hire staff and cover economic-development expenses. The city will continue to use GLI for market research.
GLI said it will focus on activities such as business expansion, retention and growth.
"That's all economic development," said Eileen Pickett, interim CEO of GLI. "... GLI is still in the economic-development business."
Six positions at GLI, including vice president for economic development, will be eliminated and Fischer said he hopes some GLI staff, including vice president Daryl Snyder, will apply for similar jobs with the Metro Government.
"We all want exactly the same thing. We want this region to grow and prosper," Kerry Stemler, current chairman of the GLI board and owner of KM Stemler Trucking, said of working with the city.
The city effort will be led by Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, the mayor's chief of strategic initiatives, and will take effect July 1, the beginning of the next fiscal year. Develop Louisville will manage real estate development under the arrangement.
"I'm excited about the transformational possibilities of Louisville Forward," Wiederwohl said in a prepared statement. "Our team will use an intentional and comprehensive strategy to make Louisville the best place in America to live, work, create, and innovate."
Fischer said the change comes after a review of economic-development activity around the nation, with Atlanta and Chicago adopting similar models.
Fischer said Louisville Forward will take an approach to economic development that puts more emphasis on bringing talented people to the city, theorizing that new jobs are created around them and they seek out cities with a high quality of life.
GLI, which had operated as both a traditional chamber of commerce and an independent economic development agency, relied on the city for about 13 percent of its roughly $7 million budget, Pickett said.
The GLI officials said they were excited and optimistic about the changes and change in focus. Pickett said there should be no effect on GLI financially since they are simultaneously eliminating the economic development positions and related costs.
The agency has been beset by internal turmoil recently.
GLI lost more than 800 members, was operating with a deficit, laid off several staff members, lost one top executive to another chamber and pushed out its most recent CEO, Craig Richard, in February after just over a year on the job. Pickett, a former GLI executive, was brought in as a temporary chief.
GLI operated with a $400,000 deficit in 2012, but now has a surplus, said incoming chairwoman Diane Medley, founding partner of local accounting firm Mountjoy Childon Medley. She attributed the deficit to accounting policies, "we were basically reporting on a cash basis."
"I am very pleased with what we have accomplished on the finances," Medley said.
At its peak, GLI had 2,750 members before the recession and now has 1,900, according to Pickett. Medley said those are the core members, but two-thirds of the organization's revenue from investors and membership comes from some of the biggest companies in Louisville.
Pickett said membership organizations and associations throughout the nation are seeing a decline, a trend cited by Steve Williams, a member of GLI's executive committee and CEO of Norton Healthcare, who said the recession prompted many "to tighten their belts."
Currently, GLI has 36 employees and is recruiting to fill three positions, including CEO, vice president for public policy and executive director of Enterprise Corp.
"I'm comfortable with where we ended up and where we're going," Stemler said.
Stemler said he hopes the organization is close to finding a permanent CEO and said there has been significant interest in the job. Pickett and Stemler have said she is not interested in the permanent post and is working until a new CEO is hired.
Wiederwohl, 39, joined the Fischer administration in July 2012 as deputy chief of staff and chief of strategic initiatives overseeing policy intergovernmental affairs, communications and green initiatives such as the Office of Sustainability and Brightside. She was also a leader in the mayor's 25-year plan and a failed effort to get legislative approval for a special local sales tax to fund specific projects.
PREVIOUSLY: GLI CEO Craig Richard on indefinite leave
TRANSITION: Greater Louisville Inc. acting CEO doesn't want permanent post
liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
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liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
Thursday afternoon, Press Secretary Jay Carney tried to spin newly
released and damning Benghazi email evidence as Republicans politicizing
a tragedy, accusing them of being conspiracy theorists.
"What hasn't changed is the effort by Republicans to claim a
conspiracy when they haven't been able to find one," Carney said, adding
Republicans are, "trying to politicize a tragedy."
In case you missed it yesterday, new emails show
White House National Security advisor Ben Rhodes deliberately altering
talking points to cover-up the terror attack by shifting public focus
to a YouTube video.
Previously unreleased internal Obama administration emails show that aThis was the talking point used by former UN Ambassador Susan Rice on
coordinated effort was made in the days following the Benghazi terror
attacks to portray the incident as “rooted in [an] Internet video, and
not [in] a broader failure or policy.” Emails sent by senior White House
adviser Ben Rhodes to other top administration officials reveal an
effort to insulate President Barack Obama from the attacks that killed
four Americans. Rhodes sent this email to top White House officials such
as David Plouffe and Jay Carney just a day before National Security
Adviser Susan Rice made her infamous Sunday news show appearances to
discuss the attack. The “goal,” according to these emails, was “to
underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a
broader failure or policy.”
five Sunday shows nearly a week after the attack when the White House
had known for days the incident was connected to al Qaeda and in fact a
terrorist attack, not something prompted by a protest outside the
consulate.
"This is a conspiracy theory," Carney said. "How much time have we spent focused on talking points?"
Carney also promised the administration is dedicated to bringing the
Benghazi perpetrators to justice, despite the fact not a single person
has been arrested for the 9/11 attack.
"There is an active investigation to find the people who are
responsible. There is an active investigation into the details," he
said.
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