We didn't get the part, but we gotta keep auditioning.

Louisville was recently snubbed on a bid to land the Sundance Film Festival. As we reported a few weeks ago, the legendary film festival had Louisville on a short list for possible relocation. Then it narrowed its list even further and the Derby City is now out of the running. But that doesn't mean our film ambitions have dried up entirely.

Soozie Eastman, founder and president of 502 Film, joins the Access Louisville podcast this week to talk about where the city goes from here in terms of its developing film industry. Of particular interest to us is the reuse of shuttered Louisville Gardens in Downtown Louisville, which has been proposed as a site for a sound stage that could bolster the business.

That effort was considered during the Sundance bid and is continuing forward and eyeing completion in late 2026, she said — though she's more of a supporter of the project, not an active developer on it.

"Sound stages are really, really special pieces of property within the film industry," she said. "It becomes a hub for a community. And quite honestly, while we have been doing incredibly well growing our film economy as is, having a sound stage is kinda that missing link that helps us grow to the next level."

That's just a sample of what Eastman had to say. Be sure to check out the show for more. And for a wider look at Louisville's film industry, check out this recent piece from LBF Reporter Michael Jones. (Note: This was written while Sundance was still in play.)

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We catch up with the latest restaurant news on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Reporter Michael L. Jones leads the podcast with a story about Renshoku Ramen, an Old Louisville restaurant that has faced a few struggles of late, including being hit by a car (known as being MagBarred) more than two months ago. The crashed killed the driver and caused a fire that spread to the building at Second and Oak streets. Co-owner Nick Robey told Jones in a recent story about how the ramen shop reopened in late August, but the crash is still impacting his business.

That's just one of the stories on this week's show. We also talk about a favorite New Albany doughnut shop, Honey Créme, which recently hit the auction block. The online reserve auction launched last Monday with an opening bid of $750,000.

We also chat about the sale of Kyros Brewing in Louisville's Portland neighborhood; an expansion for Back Deck BBQ into the Butchertown neighborhood, the closure of Bakersfield in the Highlands and a new location for Derby City Pizza that's coming to Jeffersonville.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Every once in a while, you have to look back at your career and your place in the community and not only ponder where you've been but look ahead at what's coming next.

That's what we did on Monday, Sept. 9 as we sat down with our newest inductees in LBF's Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame:

• Sandra Frazier, founder, Tandem Public Relations
• Jimmy Kirchdorfer, chairman and CEO, ISCO Industries Inc, and an owner of Valhalla Golf Club
• William Summers, chief community development officer, Republic Bank

The three joined us on the most recent episode of the Access Louisville podcast, which was recorded live in front of an audience for a special event at Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana.

We covered myriad topics on the show — from Louisville's hits and misses to honing in on specific moments of the three honorees careers.

For an example of the latter, Kirchdorfer spoke about taking his family's business from a small irrigation company that primarily served clients in Kentucky to one that serves people around the world. He remembers walking into the company's plant and watching a system that was going to be used in Asia being built right here.

"They needed our expertise, halfway across the world — calling us," Kirchdorfer said. "That kinda inspired me to think bigger."

Fraizer told us about the advice she gives to young professionals looking to advance in their careers and get more involved in the community. She tells them to slow down, learn from what they're doing and don't worry about offending people.

"If you do want to get engaged in things, have a strategy and processes. You've got to come to it from a thoughtful place that isn't going to immediately shut people down," she said.

And Summers spoke about a few of the community's key turning points, such as the opening of the KFC Yum! Center. He was a long-time member of the Louisville Arena Authority board, a non-profit that oversees the arena's management and operation, which he called a big part of his career.

Opening the arena was a key win for Louisville. But the community has had its misses too, such as not bringing an NBA franchise to the city.

"That would have been a game changer," he said.

Summers believes there are a lot of opportunities to be had for Louisville, though. "We as a community, we have to be comfortable taking more risks," he said.

Access Louisville is also available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First, where we cover recent news and spotlight local business and community leaders. Monday's recording was only the second time we've recorded in front of a live audience. The last live show, which featured former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Philanthropist Christina Lee Brown, can be heard here.

You can check out who made this year's Forty Under 40 class here. And you can read more about the Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame (including past inductees) here.

Louisville has a big decision to make about what kind of public transportation system it wants.

Transit Authority of River City, better known as TARC, is facing a "fiscal cliff" as a result of several factors, including covid-era stimulus funding running out. We talked about the issues with TARC executive director Ozzy Gibson on a bonus episode of the Access Louisville podcast this week.

Gibson and others want to hear from the community about what they want out of the agency. And it's collecting input via an online survey, which you can take part in here. The deadline for the survey is Sept. 20.

Lots of people around town, and on social media, have voiced support for a robust transit system, complete with rail and bus offerings. But, as Smith explains on the show, it's most certainly a financial issue.

"Everybody tells me, you need to look at what Cincinnati's doing, Indy. They tell me to look at Richmond [Virginia] — all three of those raised taxes to get the good service they have."

For Louisville to do that it would require the support of 14 Metro Council members to bring fourth a referendum, which would then be decided on by the voters.

A few of the aforementioned cities raised taxes in 2017 or 2018, so when they got money from Covid-era stimulus packages, they were able to make upgrades and add new busses, Gibson said. Louisville, had to use its stimulus money to keep service running — and now that's running out.

"If we wanna be the best, it's gonna cost money to get there," Gibson said. "Otherwise, we're just going to be little ol' TARC. We will be cut [by] 50%. And how long will it take us to get back to where we were? Maybe not in my lifetime. If people don't take the survey and reach out to the powers that be, we can't be anything."

Service cuts are already the first of a three-pronged strategy to address the operational budget gap projected to be as much as $30 million by July 2026 without cuts, additional revenue or some combination of the two. Those strategies include:

• The January 2025 service reductions.
• A community-focused network redesign process called TARC 2025 that launches this summer and will result in a full plan for an updated TARC network within the reality of available funding by February 2025.
• Comprehensive efforts to identify new sources of revenue to support service from local, state, and federal sources.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, which are linked above. You can also listen in the player above. Since this is a bonus episode, look for us to drop another episode later this week.

Is Louisville's lack of population growth a cause for concern? We talk about that on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

LBF Reporter Piper Hansen recently finished a story examining population trends in Louisville.

Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released in June show Jefferson County’s population decreased by 1.4%, nearly 11,000 people, between April 2020 and July 2023. Meanwhile, the Louisville MSA gained only 2,602 people (0.2%) while the Nashville MSA gained 80,929 people (4%); the Cincinnati MSA gained 19,5050 (0.9%) and the Indianapolis MSA gained 45,723 (2.2%).

Sure, there are people who like Louisville the size that it is and they don't want to see the population explode like it did in Nashville. That comes with its own set of problems.

But we're not exactly on that road right now — or even going in the direction of that road.

“We’re not going to be the next Nashville overnight, everybody can relax,” Christine Tarquinio, GLI’s vice president of talent, workforce and brand strategies, who launched the Live in Lou initiative, told Hansen for her story.

After the population talk we switch to a few lighter topics, including:

• Renovations at the Holiday Manor Kroger store and the groundbreaking of a new Kroger in Highview;

• A couple of new shops around town, including Kawaii Candy & Karaoke in Anchorage as well as Goldie's "For the Love of Food" in Nulu; and

• The end finally coming into sight for the Sherman Minton Renewal Project.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular services like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Join us for Access Louisville's next live recording: Sept. 9 at JA BizTown, sponsored by Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana. Tickets and details here.

We switch into sports talk radio mode on this week's Access Louisville podcast with three big local sports business stories.

Stephen P. Schmidt, who covers sports business at Business First, tells us about Bellarmine University moving its men's basketball program back to Knights Hall in the Highlands. For the last few years the program has been playing at Freedom Hall. Knights Hall is on campus and it provides a much more intimate setting for watching games. But it does make us wonder what's next for Freedom Hall now without that regular tenant. Fortunately, it's on the Kentucky State Fairgrounds, where a big renovation project is underway.

Next, we talk about the rise of volleyball and how Louisville fits in. The KFC Yum Center is hosting the University of Louisville's women's volleyball team for several dates in the next few months and is the host for the championship later on in December.

After that, we go over our takeaways from a joint appearance by UofL men's basketball coach Pat Kelsey and University of Kentucky men's basketball coach Mark Pope. The two coaches, both new to their respective jobs this year, were interviewed on stage this week at the Leadership Louisville Luncheon by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.

(We also swerve into some college football talk later in the show — not much of a business story, just a thing that is happening.)

After sports we go over some recent restaurant news, including:

• The owners of local favorite Monnik Beer Co. have a new concept planned;

• Chef Shaq's Kitchen, a Downtown restaurant, is teaming up with a new cigar lounge;

• The former KFC 11 property in the Highlands has been sold;

• Starbucks is getting a new Downtown location;

• A bluegrass bar is moving into the former TimTam space; and

• A south end favorite, Khalil's, is closing to make way for a new Clucker's location.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular services like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Join us for Access Louisville's next live recording: Sept. 9 at JA BizTown, sponsored by Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana. Tickets and details here.


The former the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co. shipyard — Jeffboat, as it's known — is no doubt one of the area's biggest redevelopment project.

The former shipyard, closed to downtown Jeffersonville (and just across the Ohio River from Downtown Louisville) closed in 2018 due to economic struggle in the industry. Now there's a push to have it redeveloped as mixed use commercial, residential and green space.

We talk with Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore about that project on this week's Access Louisville podcast. He sees it as a major chance for his city to capitalize on quality of life and million-dollar views of the city. Taking it on is Thrive Cos., a real estate development company based in Columbus, Ohio, as Louisville Business First recently reported.

We also talk about development at River Ridge, including landing Facebook parent Meta, which is opening a data center there. And how best to address the high-number of short-term rental properties around the city, among other topics.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular services like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, which are linked above. You can also listen in the player above.

We check in on some retail news on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Topping our show is a story from Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt on Swags, a popular retailer for runners, changing hands. Schmidt talked to the founder of the store about how this handoff came together.

In other retail news, Kroger is making some headlines lately both with a new store on Louisville's East End and plans for a big renovation on Louisville's West End.

In restaurant news we make note of a bankruptcy filing from World of Beer, which is a Tampa-based company that has a Louisville location. And we chat about a new restaurant going into the Speed Art Museum.

Schmidt also talks about his recent interview with well-known bourbon industry luminary Fred Minnick, who was named Louisville Business First's Volunteer of the Year thanks to his notable philanthropic work. The Volunteer of the Year honor came out as part of our Partners in Philanthropy program.

Lastly, we wrapped up the show with a bit of soccer talk on the news that the Lexington Sporting Club is joining the USL Championship League. That means both Louisville City FC and Lexington SC will be in the same league, which should make for a fun rivalry for fans in the commonwealth.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular services like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Join us for Access Louisville's next live recording: Sept. 9 at JA BizTown, sponsored by Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana. Tickets and details here.