Lisa Benson

Haskins philosophy on business : it’s never too big; it’s never too small. From a bathroom renovation to a sports arena, he’ll do it all. @weirdlouisville

Haskins talks about West End challenges and talks about engaging talent, those here and those who left Louisville, to come back and help the West End. @weirdlouisville

Audience question about tips for smaller contractors that want to scale. Haskins saysthere are projects that are too large for one contractor to handle. He suggests forming partnerships, teams, and offering something that’s unique that has value to other partner @weirdlouisville

Audience question about how to grow the number of black developers. Haskins talks about mentorship to form teams and teach. “It goes back to relationships” he said. @weirdlouisville

Asked what sustains him, Haskins talks about his faith. He also gives credit to his team to be able to navigate through challenges. And “you have to have mentors,” he says. @weirdlouisville

Haskins’ work includes 30 designs in Park DuValle and work on the Urban League project in West Louisville. Also 1619 The Gathering Place and a container home project in west Louisville. @weirdlouisville

Haskins says his 32 years in business is built on passion and building fruitful and caring relationships. @weirdlouisville

Tonight’s program, West Louisville Trailblazers, honors Milton R. Haskins Jr. founder of HDDS, specializing in architecture design and construction. @weirdlouisville

I’m at 1619 Gathering Place tonight for @weirdlouisville’s West Louisville Trailblazers Awards.

New manufacturing construction in the us has doubled in the last four years thanks to a confluence of several policies incentivizing the sector , creating a renaissance for us manufacturing. @ACGKY1

More people have jobs, they are paid more and they are working more. Those are the most important stats. And retail sales are hovering near all time highs. The consumer remains solid. @ACGKY1

The speaker at @ACGKY1 today is Mike Skordeles, economic chief at Truist. Top line takeaways: the us economy is cooling but not weak. Inflation is slowly moderating.

The LEDA will have 30 people on its board, a $5M annual budget. Then a national search will start for a leader, likely this summer.

Deputy Mayor Pat Mulloy talks about creating new economic development authority. Looking a 501 c 6 private public partnership that can do advocacy work and is dominated by the private sector. Louisville Economic Development Alliance will be stood up at end of month.

I’m at @GLIchamber Regional Economic Update event listening to a discussion about the trajectory of Louisville’s growth. @LouisvilleMayor talks about his administration’s plan and concludes with the need to figure out our community’s brand and concisely tell our story

I’m at ⁦@VSoftConsulting⁩ this afternoon for the opening of the company’s new HQ. Gov Andy Beshear says he’s really happy to be in Louisville today.

John Waggoner says more connectivity would help Louisville. No good way to get his 420 visitors that get off his boats and go from attraction to attraction to attraction. All visitors are looking for unique experiences and they want to get to them easily @UofLFreeEnt

Question is what’s the visitor experience here? Answer from Scott: Disjointed, finding quality consistent entertainment is hard. Authentic local nightlife is hard to find here. Sam: there’s potential for an entrepreneur to help guide tourists to authentic local experiences.

Answers: Sam Grabush says convention business and more business travel. Scott from AJS Hotels: vibrancy of a healthy downtown. Jeff Waggoner from American Queen Steamboat says we are not using our waterfront well. No amenities for waterfront visitors and the water is dirty

Cleo Battle makes a distinction between us and Nashville, saying we want to be more like Napa and focus on tasting experiences with bourbon. He asks the question, what’s missing here?