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I had a fantastic week, and I hope you did too. I opened up Leadership Louisville's Bingham Fellows Program (what a great group!) with a two-hour talk on where AI is today, hosted a happy hour Tuesday right as the skies unloaded (see these giant snowflakes), and attended ACG's social hour at Five Iron Golf.

There were several big announcements, including my friends Lee Weyland & Tyler Smith had their official ribbon-cutting at Mashup Hall. Poe Cos. announcing plans to repurpose the Humana Building into a 1,000-room convention hotel.

So many stories of growth across the city led me to write more about what Trevor Pawl said at the Venture Connectors Luncheon His comments on where our city is headed is worth paying attention to.

Hot job 💼: Operations Manager at Trajan Scientific and Medical ($140K–$150K). Lead manufacturing operations for a global scientific and medical device company out of their Technology Drive facility. Before you apply, watch their wild homepage intro.

📈 Number: 5 is the number of fingers LMPD’s Assistant Chief Edelen is asking for from citizens (must see video here or scroll to the bottom). 🤣

As always, I appreciate you reading. 👊

-Todd

Trevor Pawl's name has been in the headlines as much as anyone in Louisville's business community lately, and rightfully so. He's the current leader of LEDA and the future leader of a combined GLI. I've gotten to know him through a few private conversations, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing him lay out the following points at Venture Connectors this week.

🧳 Why He Picked Us: When asked what attracted him to Louisville, his answer was honest. An executive recruiter told him: "They don't understand the swagger they have. Your job will be to help them understand that." But that pitch reminded him of Detroit in 2010, a city that didn't know what it had yet. Pawl had options. Cleveland and Albuquerque among them. He picked us.

🪞 Flip the Script: Pawl called out something most of us feel but don't say out loud. Louisville keeps retelling a story from 10 years ago. His challenge: find the new narrative that's already happening here and push it every day.

📸 Study Who's Moving, Not Who's Loud: Peer city comparisons are "snapshots, not tattoos." Pawl said Louisville is doing more innovative things than Nashville right now. He'd rather study cities like Chattanooga, Richmond, and Birmingham that are making real moves.

🚫 Say No to What Doesn't Work: Fewer councils that collect opinions and never act. Fewer metrics that make everyone feel busy but produce nothing. Pawl says Louisville needs honest conversations about where the money and energy should actually go.

⚡ Spark Take: Pawl's ask wasn't complicated. Be louder. It's the same thing I’m trying to remind you of here in this space. We have many great things to be loud about and it’s Pawl's job is to turn up the mic. Ours is to keep giving him something worth amplifying.

Read more summaries from Amber Fields & Jordan Clemons.

Bourbon and spelling don't usually go together, but that's exactly the point. The Fourth Annual Great Bourbon Spelling Bee brings teams of eight to Mellwood Art Center for a night of spelling challenges, trivia, gourmet "middle school cafeteria food," and plenty of bourbon. It's a fundraiser for Educational Justice, a local nonprofit running peer tutoring programs for 5th through 8th graders.

Grab a table with friends or build a fundraising team to improve your chances of taking home the title of Louisville's Bourbon Bee Champions. VIP gets you an early bourbon tasting before the competition kicks off.

⚡️ Spark Take: Shoutout to Spark Live attendee and EJ board member Chase Sanders for putting this one on our radar. Spelling gets harder, the bourbon gets smoother, and the kids win either way.

Birthday love for some local standouts.

Industrial Engineer at Radial Inc. ($105K–$142K). Drive labor standards, process mapping, and layout optimization across Radial's fulfillment operations. Lean culture experience a plus.

Senior Process Engineer at C&I Engineering ($110K–$165K). Design process solutions for industrial clients in oil & gas, food & beverage, and distilled spirits. Join a 40-year-old, employee-owned firm with hybrid and four-day work week options.

Medicaid Planning Attorney at Triplett & Carothers ($90K–$140K). Help families navigate Medicaid eligibility, estate planning, and asset protection. Work alongside attorneys with 40+ years of combined experience in elder law.

General Manager at The Connor Group ($85K–$105K). Lead operations, sales, and team performance at an upscale apartment community. No apartment industry experience required. Path to equity partnership projected at $2M+ over 20 years.

Databricks Architect at Mphasis ($150K–$180K). Design and implement scalable data architectures using Databricks, Spark, and cloud platforms. Build ETL pipelines and lakehouse solutions for enterprise clients.

Meg Dietzel – Chief Marketing Officer at Confluent Health
Brian Eichenberger – Director of Marketing at Medical Transformation Center
Ann Marie Maldini – Commercial Banker at JP Morgan
Stephanie Reese McCrery – President/Interior Designer at Reese Design Collaborative
Chase Sanders – Associate Manager, State & Local Government at Yum! Brands

Big Four Bridge, Cherokee Park, Headliners Music Hall, Kentucky Derby Museum, LCFC game, Louisville Thoroughbred Society, NuLu, Work the Metal, The Zoo

Big Brothers Big Sisters, Blessings in a Backpack, Educational Justice, Hand In Hand Ministries, I Would Rather Be Reading, New Directions Housing

Josh Bell / High Five Sports Academy, Joe Frazier / Bring Your Own Sauce BBQ, Ken Hagan / Left Bank Bourbon.

🍽️ Perso in Germantown.. a chef's table dictating what you eat
🍚 Simply Thai's loaded fried rice makes you rethink what fried rice can be
🍣 Oishii on Taylorsville Road might be the best sushi value in town
🍋 Limon y Sol's orange blossom margarita is the one to order

We found the fun, so you don’t have to.

🎤 Love Jones with Lemonade Hayride
8:00 PM @ Headliners Music Hall
Louisville's own Love Jones returns with the new album "The Greatest Show on Earth". The title track and a new seasonal song, "December 15" are out now. Doors open at 7:00 PM.

🎸 Sundy Best 8:00 PM @ Mercury Ballroom
Eastern Kentucky's own Sundy Best brings their whiskey-voiced blend of classic rock, country, and bluegrass to the Mercury Ballroom. Think the Eagles meet Tom Petty with an Appalachian twist. All ages, standing room, general admission.

🏈 It's Super Bowl Sunday. Whether you're posted up for the big game or tuning in for the Puppy Bowl, grab your favorite spot, your favorite people, and enjoy the day.

Assistant Chief Bryan Edelen sat down at Rev. Dennis Lyon's Bishop's Table and made one thing clear: crime doesn't go down by accident. He broke down exactly how our community plays a role, dropped some real numbers, and delivered a five-finger analogy you won't forget. Facts, praise, and a few laughs. (You're welcome.)