Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Announces Investments In West Louisville

everybody wants to know that's right governor everybody wants to know um good morning everyone my name is devon holt and i am the chief external affairs officer at goodwill industries of kentucky and thank you and uh i will tell you guys one of my biggest fears is and has always been hosting a party and no one show it's been a big fear of mine and i'm thankful today that you guys did not let me down uh we planned a hundred seats uh riggs lewis and i with norton healthcare predicted uh that we'd exceed that but i had no idea this would turn into this type of showing but let me tell you i think what we're announcing today warrants this attention and this presence because today we are committed to announce 100 million dollar commitment to 28th street and broadway and i don't have to tell you guys that that is a big deal we all get it we all know it we all understand that west louisville has been an underserved community and i know that not just because of this work that i'm doing with goodwill not just because of the work that we're doing in partnership with norton healthcare but because i'm a resident of west louisville a long time resident of west louisville where i have intentionally planted my personal flag and decided that's where i wanted to call home so that i could be part of the solution i will tell you years ago my great-grandfather told me something that has never left me he said a friend is someone who walks into your life when other people are walking out and as a long-time resident of west louisville i've watched a lot of people leave west louisville i've watched a lot of businesses leave west louisville i've watched a lot of organizations and investments move to other parts of the city but today i'm happy to announce that west louisville has two new friends who are walking in when others have walked out goodwill industries of kentucky and norton healthcare and we're not alone we have some other partners who are also going to be co-located with us in this space and we're going to share all of those details with you we're going to talk about the historic investment that norton healthcare is making we're going to tell you about work that we've done in the community that helped lead us to this point today but before we do all of that i want to invite amy latrell the ceo of goodwill industries of kentucky to share with you how we got to this point because it was a vision that our board and our ceo and leaders inside of goodwill had that ultimately led us to this point today and so i'm going to ask you to welcome amy latrell to share more details about why we're here this morning amy [Applause] hello everybody and i just want to add my thanks to all of you for being here to help us celebrate today i haven't gotten to speak with all of you but i hope i do before we all leave today so thank you so much goodwill industries of kentucky is so excited to be here today to announce our opportunity campus in the parkland community at the corner of 28th and broadway we've already been working on this for several years but now it's coming to fruition we expect to break ground this summer and to move in mid-2023 so it's coming so first i'll tell you what the opportunity campus is and why goodwill is doing it you can think of it as a community of support to surround a person who wants a different life but who hasn't been able to make it happen because they haven't been able to access all the resources that they needed to break through the barriers that they face and that applies to a lot of kentuckians over the past few years goodwill has committed all of our efforts to helping people escape poverty and this is throughout kentucky we know everything that poverty means in people's lives how corrosive it is and that's our goal is not to help people just get a job but to get all the way out of poverty so to that end we have broadened our own services but we've also partnered with other organizations that have services that we don't have and you will see some of those organizations here with us today who are actually going to be part of the opportunity campus so what's been taking shape and it will continue to grow is this community of support a holistic approach that can make the difference in what kind of life a person is able to have our goal is to fill gaps and level the playing field so that every kentuckian in poverty has an equal opportunity to escape it that's our goal we're calling it an opportunity campus because opportunity means conditions that are conducive for success so we furnish information we furnish resources of all kinds and we furnish a lot of personal support what we call a hand up for people each person to be able to decide what kind of life they want to lead and to work toward achieving that goal and we see so many people do exactly that we know the importance of location and ease of access so we've evaluated all of our locations statewide and in louisville that process led us to identify both the south part of louisville down around preston highway and west louisville as areas where we were absent and where we needed to be so this opportunity campus at 28th and broadway will help to remedy that gap as part of our planning we talked with a lot of people in west louisville and we will continue to do that we talked with leaders residents business people and we asked them what do you think is needed in west louisville what would you like to see in west louisville and what can goodwill do to try to be a good neighbor in west louisville because we really do want to be a good neighbor and so devon in just a few minutes we'll tell you more about that process and the feedback that we got as a result and we're going to make that feedback available to the whole community because there will be a lot of pieces that we can't do they're not a fit for our mission but that we hope and believe others will do this campus will also serve as the new headquarters for goodwill industries of kentucky goodwill is a statewide organization and so this opportunity campus will be our statewide headquarters this was a decision of our board of directors and it will bring additional higher level jobs and additional investment to west louisville i want to recognize jason groenick who's raise your hand please jason who's the chair of our board we also have here with us today charles kane who's immediate past chair of our board and i know we have hugh hayden who's a member of our board and i don't know if we have any other board members or well i know we have dan hall dan hall was chair of our board before charlie kane and dan was one of the voices who nudged us to offer more in west louisville because dan loves west louisville so much a lot of you know dan and you already know that dan started talking with me pretty much as soon as i moved back to kentucky in 2014 and saying you know what's goodwill going to do in west louisville well my immediate answer was i don't know but here we are and dan i hope you're pleased today in planning this campus it has been our hope and our belief that our investment and our presence would be a catalyst for other investments we saw that happen with the urban leagues the louisville urban league's athletic facility and we believed that it would happen also with our project the first evidence of this is the norton healthcare investment that you're going to hear about in a few minutes norton approached us a few months ago with an idea that they had that would add to their physical presence in west louisville and would also bring some health care services that people in west louisville had told us they want so norton healthcare president and ceo russell cox will tell you more about norton's investment shortly but i want to tell you that as part of that investment norton healthcare will be the lead sponsor for the opportunity campus with naming rights let's thank them [Applause] of course we are thrilled and so grateful to have that kind of partnership with norton healthcare and to be able to facilitate them having such a significant presence in west louisville so how will goodwill pay for this campus we do have several sources of funds that we're going to bring to bear but we also will be asking the community to support the project financially and of course the norton healthcare sponsorship is our lead gift over the past few years a lot of you have already seen goodwill add significantly to the services that we provide in kentucky so now i ask you to stay tuned for this next phase because together goodwill norton healthcare and our partners we're going to leverage this opportunity campus to offer even more support than we ever have before to louisvillians who want a better life thank you very much [Applause] so goodwill and norton obviously are uh big names that are coming to west louisville but there's more to this picture and when we decided we wanted to build an opportunity campus we recognized that while there are a number of things that goodwill does very well there were other things and voids that needed to be filled that we just weren't positioned and poised to do because of that we started building relationships with other organizations and i'm excited now about the the family i call them that we are bringing with us to west louisville and the person who's helped manage that process and pull this family together is our ceo rena sharp and she's going to tell you a little bit more about how all of this come together thank you devon what an exciting day so this week marks five years since i joined goodwill and what an incredible five years it has been i have met with hundreds of partners here in louisville and across the state to talk about our mission and the supports that we offer and to learn more about the services that they provide and talk about ways that we could partner together at goodwill as devon said we realize that working together with other agencies is paramount in helping our clients to navigate through the barriers that hold them back i recall telling amy several years ago that we should all just move in together in one big house to make it easier for our clients to access the resources they so desperately need not knowing then that it would be possible but we have formed some amazing partnerships and we are here today to announce that we are moving in together not in a house but the outcomes will be the same imagine whether it's the free drop in child care at the ymca for the young mother who otherwise would not be able to attend trainings or access services or the career pathway in barbering at the kentucky college of barbering or just access to an affordable haircut and shave career training and employer connections through kentuckiana works and equus legal services with legal aid yes they will have full-time attorneys on site monday through friday not only for our clients but for the community of west louisville affordable dental care and behavioral health with our partners shawnee christian healthcare bigs and littles coming together at big brothers big sisters as well as easy access for young adults to their new mentoring program voa is restorative justice veterans community health workers and housing program full service banking including second chance banking for those needing a fresh start and financial literacy from our partners with park community credit union and creative spirit our existing partner will be there with us to provide their amazing behavioral health and counseling services advance culinary certifications with catholic charities and common table kim moore with joshua community connectors recruiting and retention of young adults to all of goodwill's and our partners programming and goodwill will be offering free barrier removal services housing transportation expungement services a chapel with spiritual support personal and professional development including soft skills digital literacy computer basics forklift certifications welding training mock interviewing a computer lab open to the community and more what else we will have a training center that will be available and free to the community and other non-profits for events as well as a business center available to the community with computers copier facts and wi-fi and don't forget everyone loves to eat we may or may not heard that that would be something that might be welcome in the community and we will have a full service cafeteria offering healthy options and hot meals for breakfast lunch and dinner [Laughter] so as we stand here together today we are celebrating a partner collaboration that will rival any other national example and is certainly the first of its kind in kentucky whether it's the partners that are co-locating with us or others with offices elsewhere that will have flexible space that we will provide to them in the center we are all coming together in unity putting the needs of the community first and making it possible for individuals to access life-changing resources in one place we've all heard the saying that it's amazing what we can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit that makes sense to me thank you very much so i hope you guys get the point that this is big it's it's it's enormous and there are so many moving pieces and parts to this opportunity campus that is going to bring what i hope will be a great sense of hope to our community and we got to this point not because goodwill had a single vision but because we were very intentional about making sure that we didn't just show up out of the blue one day and say to the community we're here what we did do in fact was spend half of a year six months engaging the community in deep substantive conversations surveying them to get a sense of what's needed what's necessary in west louisville in order to make significant change and i'm proud of the work that we've done in order to get to this point today because what you've heard from rena and from amy is in many cases a reflection of what the community has shared with us many of you received when you walked in the door a press kit and in that press kit is a document that says the west louisville community engagement report and this report is a reflection of what we were able uh to collect in responses from more than uh 2 000 residents in west louisville who were asked questions as amy mentioned to you like what do you like about west louisville what do you find challenging about west louisville what are your hopes and desires for west louisville what resources do you think are necessary in order for west louisville to fulfill its greatest potential and then we asked what did they believe would be necessary for goodwill to do in order to be a good neighbor when we move into west louisville and we captured all of those results we worked with iqs research company to compile and synthesize that data into digestible amounts of information that help us understand where we needed to invest resources but more importantly i think it helped us create a vision for how we work to improve west louisville you know so often my friends at equal reynolds talks about how people from outside of our community come into west louisville looking to project their desires and ambitions on this community with no interest to hear from the community itself well that was not the road we took we spent a good amount of time hearing from the community and what we've done is respond to that i want to encourage you to spend some time looking at this report understanding what the community says is important in west louisville for those who live here for those who own property here for those who work here their voices are reflected in this report and they shared a lot of things with us but i want to share with you four themes that we found that ran common throughout this report the first thing that we saw through and through this report was that there was a strong sense of fondness and pride for west louisville among the people who live in or have grown up in this area the people who live in west louisville love west louisville the people who were raised in west louisville love west louisville and that's because they get to see it on a daily basis and recognize that there's so much more to this community than what we see projected in the news in some cases and in circles of conversation among people who don't get to experience this community up close and personal the second thing we heard uh and and the theme that ran throughout this report was that there's a common belief that outside organizations planning to move into west louisville will encounter varying levels of trust and acceptance based on their willingness to be transparent engaging inclusive and sincere in other words don't just come show up and think we will embrace what you have to offer in this community they want to recognize that their voices have been heard and that there's a sincere effort to engage and connect with the work that's already happening in west louisville third west louisville residents do have a strong desire to see the area thrive but they are skeptical of outside organizations based on past plans and promises that were not fulfilled and we know those stories right we've heard them time and time again in west louisville how this thing had been proposed and that thing has been proposed but unfortunately they have not come to fruition the community recognized that as an eyesore as a frustration as a pain point that any organization coming into this community would have to confront and lastly they said despite their skepticism community members recognize the need for services to help improve the laws of west louisville residents most notably residents view job services as the service most needed in west louisville and so those four themes we recognized when we began putting together plans for this opportunity campus and i believe everything that you hear and see will reflect our desire to address many of the concerns that the community has but as amy said we also recognize that there are gaps that west in west louisville that goodwill is just not positioned and poised to fulfill and so our desire and our hope is that this report will be one that other organizations and other businesses might utilize as they consider plans to relocate expand or move into west louisville we want to make sure that this work is not work that's done just for the purposes of benefiting goodwill but we believe that those who are looking to follow behind will also find great advantage by learning more about what the community has to share and wants to offer and so with that we were able to not only use this report to help shape our vision for what we were bringing as a non-profit organization to west louisville but we were able to also share that with norton healthcare as amy said they came knocking on the door with this great idea of co-locating with goodwill on the corner of 28th and broadway and i will just take a a moment of privilege while i have this microphone in this stage to say that russ cox the president of norton healthcare is an exceptional visionary who has a heart for doing good in this community and one of the things that he put on full display and our interactions with him through this process is that it doesn't have to take very long to make big decisions that when your heart is in the right place and you have a desire to do good you don't have to wrangle with a lot of bureaucracies you can get straight to it and let me tell you this is a man who wanted to get straight to it in fact if it was up to russ cox we would have this press conference two weeks ago but i had to hold him off and tell him we've got a few more ducks we got to get a line but uh today we are here and i'm thankful to have his partnership ladies and gentlemen won't you welcome and appreciate the work that norton healthcare has done through their leader russ cox please don't judge me for my folder matching my tie totally unintentional wow divine thank you so much you sound like a person who's had to negotiate with scott watkins for two or three weeks that's an inside joke most of all amy goodwill your leadership around this is incredible it's energized norton healthcare in a way that our community needs energy so round of applause everyone from goodwill renee one minute in and i'm off script but as i'm sitting on this stage and i'm looking at the portraits that are above us and looking at this event and i see the names and i think they're proud of this they're proud of this so much of what you're going to hear me say are things that i've learned from people who are in these pictures that's important place is always important i want to thank our board of trustees led by our chair edie nixon edie would you stand let's give edie a round of applause it takes courage to be a board chair when you have me as the ceo edie's up to the task we have many of our board members here today and i'd like to ask them to stand and please recognize their courage as well our board of trustees would you please stand thank you there's a whole lot of folks here who make up the norton healthcare family by coming to work every day and living out our mission vision and values wave or stand if you're here thank you for all that you're doing it's a big crowd back there now at the risk of hyperbole of which sometimes i am guilty today could be the most transformational day in the history of health care in our community perhaps more significantly today provides us with an opportunity to truly begin to change the narrative about investment in west louisville permanence of commitment in west louisville and sustainability in west louisville you can applaud for that those are important things so grateful to goodwill for letting us be part of this opportunity campus we absolutely believe that people can't truly have opportunity if they don't have access to quality health care that's how everybody's going to live their best life that's what this is about 1845 the year 1845 177 years ago is when construction began on the last hospital in louisville that was built west of knight street that was the marine hospital that opened in 1852 sadly it closed in 1933 now since that time what's happened well a person's zip code has become one of the biggest factors in determining their health outcome in louisville kentucky that's something that we all have to look in the mirror every day and decide whether or not that's acceptable it's not it is not that's something we all have to face and address according to the most recent health equity report for the city of louisville residents in west louisville have some of the highest rates of cancer the highest incidence of stroke and the highest incidence of heart disease that's unacceptable look your genetic code is going to do enough to you and going to have enough of an impact on your health status your zip code can no longer come into play with your health status we've got to address this and we've got to take steps to meaningful change health outcomes we're going to do that we're going to change this narrative by living up to the mission that we look at every day we're going to provide quality care across the entire community in november we opened our institute for health equity led by dr kelly mccants kelly is with us today kelly if you'd stand i want to thank kelly for the wonderful work that he's doing but look that's just one approach we know what it will take to truly change outcomes and provide access so today we are proud to announce that norton healthcare will invest 70 million dollars to build the first hospital west of 9th street since that marine hospital was built 176 years ago and there's what it's going to look like no wait there's more you got to sit down [Applause] there's more as you know it's going to be part of this goodwill opportunity campus at 28th and broadway we're going to focus on people first and then we're going to focus on improving those health statistics now this facility is going to include both adult and pediatric physician offices there's going to be a 24-hour emergency department there'll be access to specialty services like women's health cardiology neurology endocrinology we're going to have diagnostic services that are going to be there like x-rays ct scans and yes we will have approximately 20 inpatient beds to start out with that will enable people to have inpatient procedures right in this neighborhood you thank you but the future of this facility is about a vision of what else we can do and continued growth in the future today is just the first step not only will norton healthcare provide easier access to this care but approximately 100 new jobs will be available at this facility to begin with this facility is going to be a destination for medical professionals from across the country who are leading experts in their fields as we work to keep our community healthy we also have to create careers in health care we've partnered with simmons college of kentucky to introduce more students to the medical field as well as coordinate with other hbcus from across the country our goal is to develop a pipeline of providers who are prepared to care for our community that look like our community [Music] without question we're going to create a model nationally that others are going to want to replicate that's important we're also going to quickly accelerate the goal to make louisville known as an hbcu town the only thing i can say there is watch out nashville we're coming for you in a recent survey of physicians and community leaders we heard about the need for increased access points of care in west louisville we're listening and we're acting and it's going to happen increasing access to care is the most important thing we can do we are committed to meeting people where they are and in a permanent sort of way i love mobile vans and there's a place for mobile vans but mobile vans roll in and roll out this hospital is permanently in this community so this is an incredible opportunity for norton healthcare in an incredible opportunity campus it gives us opportunities that we've never had but you know what this kind of work comes together through incredible collaborations just like amy said the one you're hearing about today when i took the role of ceo of norton healthcare in 2017 it was always clear from those people who stood and from that board chair that my priority needed to be about health equity access and partnerships it's what's guided our work and led us to this point today yesterday i heard dr cosby so eloquently tell this story at the simmons breakfast about the turtle on the fence post and yes i do steal things from other speakers he talks about that turtle on the fence post and the realization that he didn't get there by himself somebody helped somebody else was involved in it it stuck yesterday as i drove home from this breakfast that today norton healthcare is that turtle and much like that turtle we didn't get there on our own so many great people and partners have helped us sid equal rentals the urban league thank you for allowing us to partner with you siddique will allowed us to partner on the world-class track and field facility known as the norton healthcare sports and learning center and quite honestly it's bringing people hang on a second it's bringing people to 30th and muhammad ali that otherwise would never have known where 30th and muhammad ali was outside our community but people inside our community as well but sadiq we're more than anything else thanks for inspiring me personally to do more to think bigger and to think about things like we're announcing today moreover thank you for allowing us to partner with the urban league on coveted testing vaccines your willingness to trust us created trust for us in this community that's how it works so thanks for putting us on that fence post steve tarver and the ymca of louisville thank you for allowing us to partner with you at the facility at 18th and broadway simply put our clinic there is full the confluence of health care and wellness is a powerful combination thank you steve tarver and the ymca for helping put us on that fence post let's give a round of applause to steve how about the reverend dr james setter ferguson thank you for partnering with us and allowing us to establish the headquarters for the norton healthcare institute for health equity in mobile village 12th and jefferson this presence is allowing us to redefine health equity exactly where we should be redefining it so james setter thanks for putting norton healthcare on that fence post dr cosby thank you for allowing us to partner with simmons college and be a part of a renaissance that you're so masterfully orchestrating the youth of our community the youth of west louisville now have hopes now have dreams that can take flight and not only change our community but change our state change the world thank you for putting us on that fence post and amy thank you for trusting us to be a part of something that is so special and creating an opportunity in a place that so many have ignored for so many years looks like our missions are now intertwined and together we're going to be more effective in this case one plus one it's going to equal three thank you for putting us on that fence post with you folks these partnerships in this new hospital are going to redefine our organization but more importantly they're going to establish a new narrative for our community in this moment we've all stood up together and said we're going to change things we're going to rewrite the story of this community and by the way stay tuned we have some more partnerships we're going to be talking about in the near future you know today is made really special in so many ways but folks it always comes back to people for me people who share your hopes and dreams allow me to get personal for a second 14 years ago we hired our marketing and communications executive dana allen and we hired her from a great west louisville organization known as brown foreman one of the reasons we hired her was because she knew we knew she had a heart for the underserved she had a heart for west louisville and she put herself out there on a daily basis to do what was right well friday she officially retires from norton healthcare so dana allen i hope you're here so dana thanks for your relentless pursuit of access and approachable expertise for all you know we told dana you can leave you can retire as long as you can find someone with the same heart and passion that you have and she had did so and she is now passing that torch to renee murphy who is our new senior vice president chief marketing and communications officer so that's why dana looks really relaxed today and renee is really hoping that i'll stop talking soon so folks thank you very much for for enduring me today this is such a a big moment for people and that's what norton healthcare is about but you know what it's not only a significant day for louisville this is a significant day for our commonwealth so at this time i'm going to introduce somebody who's been there for us throughout some of the biggest challenges in healthcare over the last two years and you know what i was reading the script and thought the biggest challenges in health care i've had conversations with this governor who's dealing with the most historic floods ever in the history of kentucky the most catastrophic tornadoes ever in the history of the state and by the way i've come to know when you see him in that kentucky emergency management blue jacket it's not good good things are not happening if he's got that blue jacket on as you can expect though during the pandemic i had regular phone conversations with governor beshear every conversation we had there was always a discussion about health equity and reaching out to the communities that have been made even more vulnerable by covet i assure you his last phrase to me was always this what else can i do to help you help others his commitment to health equity in our state is what's made today possible so please join me in welcoming welcoming our governor andy beshear 100 million dollars what a great day a hundred million dollars and i can't think of a better location to make today's announcement the kentucky center for african american heritage many of us were just here last week doing the right thing with the posthumous promotion of colonel charles young to brigadier general in the u.s army it was a joyful day writing a historic wrong and recognizing that we did that in kentucky two years earlier but it was a day that also reminded us that lack of opportunities to promotions to jobs into careers have been barriers for our fellow citizens not just in the time of colonel charles young now general charles young but in the hundred years since his death and how it is our duty to address these historic inequities in our time opportunity requires access and to be truly successful i believe that means access not just to job trainings and jobs and promotions but also access to health care today i think we're living out our duty living our faith and living our values we're here to celebrate an incredible leap forward in building a better west louisville a better louisville and a better kentucky goodwill industries and norton healthcare are a couple of names that are well known in this community and throughout this state they are both storied not-for-profit entities with deep roots here goodwill industries of kentucky has been headquartered in louisville since 1923 where it's worked to give folks a needed hand up as they work towards self-sufficiency norton health care has been providing high quality health care to the residents of louisville and southern indiana and across the commonwealth for decades and let me just say to them and every other leader here to the urban league to our pastors i can't thank you enough for your leadership in health care during this pandemic now as we sat in the midst of one of the scariest times i remember july of 2022 black kentuckians were making up 20 percent of our state's deaths and the leaders in this room and so many others made a commitment to provide better access to health care and health insurance to make sure that we were doing everything we could to make every one of our programs equitable and i think those efforts prove that when you are intentional when you are listening and when you're working together what's possible because in a year and a half we've moved those numbers from 20 percent of cova deaths to less than seven percent but today we're here together as these two team kentucky players are joining forces to do even more with this new hundred million dollar investment to create an opportunity campus right here you know as governor i've gotten to announce a lot of new investments it's an exciting time in kentucky but when you're on that cusp of prosperity which i believe that we are a record-setting year in economic development last year record 11.2 billion dollars of new investment a record eighteen thousand new jobs at the second highest wage we've ever announced it comes with the responsibility that that prosperity reached not just every part of kentucky but also every neighborhood in each of our cities to make sure that those that are too often left out in historic moments are not left out well today we're talking about a hundred million dollars of investment and 200 high quality jobs in west louisville that's pretty special we're talking about 20 acres of development of an opportunity campus that's going to include goodwill putting 30 million dollars into a state-of-the-art job training facility and norton healthcare investing 70 million providing direct access to health care for the community the 30 million dollar main campus will house goodwill's headquarters as well as offices for their key partners i know you heard them but it's exciting to hear them all together big brothers big sisters kentuckiana works volunteers of america the ymca the legal aid society park community credit union shawnee christian health care center and the kentucky college of barbering how about that for cooperation i don't know about you but i jumped out of my seat for the official announcement we've known about this for a couple months but we're pretty good at keeping secrets that norton is opening the first comprehensive medical facility in the neighborhood in more than a hundred years so i just think a little bit about symmetry a hundred years since charles young's death and he's getting his due 100 years since there's been a facility like this maybe just maybe we're getting this historic moment right the project's going to have a huge economic impact all by itself it is expected to bring more than 200 jobs to the neighborhood with an average annual wage of 59 000 and that's talking about permanent jobs in the meantime 200 construction jobs on site building a state-of-the-art campus you know it's amazing but i believe it's just the tip of the iceberg the center expects to serve 50 000 people each year with programs and services that will enhance lives and careers so the full economic impact from this center is expected to be 18.7 million dollars every single year it's in operation and talk about a projection we got to make sure occurs it is expected to place more than 600 job seekers into full-time employment every year it's in operation this center is coming at such an important time you know kentucky is on a roll we talk about an economy on fire we talk about a workforce where we need everybody everybody because jobs and wages right now at a better place than they have ever been so what better time to try to get it right what a better opportunity to break cycles of poverty what a better time to make sure that every neighborhood in every city including this city is included at what might be our best chance as a state to leap forward i don't know about you but i'm pretty tired of being 40th in anything and the great lesson of covet is we are all connected in fundamental special and important ways you know if we want a leapfrog not three states but 30 states we do it together we do it across every neighborhood and we do it by investing in areas that haven't seen enough investment in ensuring just like addressing health care disparities that we are intentional and i think that's being what's being done here today and i will never know and never be able to feel the crushing weight of racism of the vestiges of segregation and of slavery there are a lot of great leaders here that have been willing to teach and i hope you've seen somebody willing to listen and then to work you know this is one of my best days i've had as governor and i don't say that just because i've been governor covett you know we've had days where where i've gotten to announce the single largest economic development project in kentucky's history i've gotten days where we've been able to announce amazing programs throughout the state biggest investment in western kentucky in 25 years but this today ranks right up with our best days we got to restore voting rights to over 180 000 kentuckians this here today i think is a day of incredible opportunity where i hope we are getting it right and just think about these three or so blocks because we've also located the kentucky transportation cabinet driver's licensing regional office in this exact same area at the nia center a chance to be an area where hundreds of people are working bustling economic opportunity so many people being able to see not just what's going on but also what's possible in every other block i want to thank tark for being set up right there to make sure that everybody can access these surfaces and i want to thank goodwill and norton for not just seeing an opportunity but a transformational opportunity for thinking really really big and for truly uh acting and i hope that covet has taught us that access to health care is not just a basic human right it should be good business as well that ensuring we have services in every part of this state so that everybody can live their healthiest lives is absolutely necessary now this is our chance this is our chance as kentuckians to be something bigger and something better than ever before which makes this announcement just as important maybe more important and just about anyone i've been able to make so i want to thank everybody in this room who has supported and believed in this project has supported and believed in this administration and has believed a day like today not only is possible but i'm gonna tell you we're gonna have a lot more days like this as we move into the future thank you all very much it is indeed a good day governor and when you have good days it's important that you bring out uh good people to be a part of uh what we're doing and so today we also uh want to ask our mayor greg fisher to share uh his perspective on what this means for our city had a good amount of time in several tenures as mayor of this city to see a lot of good happen and i hope no pun intended goodwill is a part of the good that you recognize coming into wrestling well good afternoon everybody or almost good afternoon and uh great to have everybody here thank you devon this is an amazing event to be part of here today and i do believe as has been set up here this day will go down as a remarkable day for west louisville in our city for all the reasons that have been set up here already i want to thank the governor for being with us today in the role that the state played in so much this eric friedlander thank you as well i want to thank amy luttrell amy when we first met she's a quiet lady but she's a quiet and powerful leader here in our community as evidenced by what's taking place here today russ cox and the norton healthcare team i'm going to talk more about they've been true champions for our city and thanks to all the partners that have helped make this happen as well the whole goodwill team arena and devon thank you very much and all of norton team as well and everybody else you know success has thousands of fathers and mothers and we're going to have them on this project and that's a good thing i'm going to talk a little bit about what this project means to louisville because one of my first goals when i came to office in 2011 was to create unprecedented investment in west louisville west louisville have been disinvested in for an awfully long time and i know the proud history of west louisville but we have to tell all the history of west louisville as well so it's a proud history but over the years it's incontroversial that west louisville has been dis devastated by disinvestment and including institutional racist policies like urban renewal and redlining that's part of the history of west louisville so right from the start as we were coming out of the great recession of 2008 2012 my team and i started having conversations with west louisville residents about how can we revitalize this important part of our community and people got to remember west louisville is 60 000 people if west louisville was its own city it'd be the fourth biggest city in kentucky so this is a large part of our city in a large part of our commonwealth so since 2014 through a lot of planning the communities of west louisville have experienced capital investment totaling 1.2 billion dollars before

today's announcement now i guess we can say it's 1.3 billion dollars in west louisville so it's an unprecedented amount of investment that's taken place in the west and to me it's a good down payment it is not the full investment by any stretch of the imagination so our plan was to build catalytic investments around the russell neighborhood the perimeter of the russell neighborhood and lay a strong foundation for other investments to radiate throughout the west so it's always great when a good plan works and so from where we now stand the biggest investment that took place was when we won the federal grant we were competing against 60 other cities for a choice neighborhood grant so that led to what will be over 250 million dollars to transform beecher tears so of course that's the biggest and that was the start of this and then the recently opened village at west jefferson is sold out including a bank a sit-down restaurant and a theme you're going to hear for the next couple of minutes a norton healthcare facility as well to the north we're working and investing to expand waterfront park phase four to establish to establish one continuous waterfront park connecting the eastern portion of the park to west louisville and to the west we have the newly opened louisville urban league norton healthcare sports and learning center i want to thank all the citizens of louisville the louisville metro government taxpayer dollars were the lead investment 10 million dollars on that project and the donation of the land and then of course it wouldn't have happened without the urban league and of course norton healthcare once again and then just blocks from here is the republic bank ymca at 18th and broadway 18th and broadway is always just a critical intersection for our city with in the republic bank a norton healthcare facility and then also a site for the city's first bus rapid transit line i'm confident we're going to see more growth too at 18th and broadway on the west side that part of broadway needs to be developed very soon so today we add a 100 million dollar project at 28th and broadway to this growing list of investments and for louisvillians i want you to think about what this means for broadway okay broadway is one of our most historic corridors from cave hill to shawnee park and with the bipartisan infrastructure law passed by president biden and congress there'll be a lot more money coming into this city as it relates to infrastructure so our partnership with the state is going to be important on this to how we can further transform broadway and you can see this is already underway so a hundred million dollar project that brings together our city core values of lifelong learning health and compassion city is certainly pleased to be part of this project through michael gritten with kentuckiana works which is our region's workforce development board so in today's announcement we're seeing a lot a lot of intentions over the years by metro government by great community partners like goodwill and norton healthcare coming together and meeting residents where they are and where their needs are but it's about more than capital investments it's also about investing in people because we know in our city talent is spread but opportunity is not we're all working to fix that and this project this is an institutional investment is going to make an incredible difference for people when it comes to better jobs better health and of course brighter futures and this concentration of resources this removal of barriers is going to make that difference for black louisville who have paid for gross inequities and disparities for much too long in workplaces classrooms and in medical outcomes all throughout our country but we got to take care of the business here in our city and so recognizing this advancing racial equity has been a major focus of my administration for this past decade and when i signed the executive order in 2020 declaring racism as a public health crisis and released an advancing racial equity plan as a road map for change it was projects like this one being announced today that we dreamed about and that we hoped would follow now the truthful telling of history is vital to a better future for humanity because history shows that life has not always been fair but we can absolutely strive to make it more fair in the here and the now so my team and i remain committed to promoting racial equity through every policy that is drafted and approved at all levels of metro government and this commitment by goodwill and norton is an exclamation point to equity let's give them a round of applause so in closing i want to thank goodwill for seeing the possibilities in a of a brilliant future in this formal industrial site that was just sitting there waiting for something to happen and way too long they sit for way too long rev but when amy and charlie kane devon came and said we're going to create an opportunity campus in west louisville on this abandoned 20-acre site i said thank god you know bold and visionary and when you're doing this kind of work it's lonely sometimes for people to come forth and put their money where their mouth are and say we're going to do something that's important that's overdue in this community and we are making a powerful statement of equity and opportunity so i don't think we can thank goodwill enough for seeing that without that we wouldn't have seen the announcement from norton healthcare today norton healthcare want to thank them for continuing their investment in west louisville we've heard this here today but it really deserves noting these this is just this is not their first investment so it shows the culture of the company the values of the board the steadfastness of their approach building upon the presence at the republic bank ymca the village of west jefferson of course the norton healthcare sports and learning center and now with this announcement we're here today bringing so much more hope and opportunity to west louisville with this long overdue hospital so this is such a strong move for the city i couldn't be more delighted about this historic announcement this is me when i look really excited by the way so before i pass the baton here one thing that i've repeatedly heard from west louisville residents about economic development in the west is that they were used to promises being made but few far few two promises materializing and they told me that they will believe the promises when they see construction now over the past couple years residents tell me that promises have been made and promises have been kept and today's announcement on top of goodwill's original opportunity campus pledge is one more promise that will be kept we're witnessing a growing foundation whose pieces are complementing each other to benefit untold louisvillians to come and this is what happens when people of goodwill who share a common goal work together all of us everybody in this room residents businesses hbcus non-profits everybody working together so again i just want to say thank you to everybody thanks to the team at goodwill industries of kentucky and norton healthcare for their commitment to this wonderful project and i look forward to joining everybody later this year to break ground on the opportunity campus thank you all congratulations thank you mayor [Music] when we determined that it was 28th and broadway where we wanted to build our opportunity campus the first call that we made outside of our goodwill network was to council president david james that's because this property is in his district as a council member and he stepped up not only as a council member but quite frankly as a friend to goodwill helping us navigate this process of establishing a new home uh in west louisville and so i'm going to ask david james if you share a few words with us tell us a little bit about what well hello everybody one of the things i learned about being last is that when you prepare speech in your last everybody says what you're going to say so don't use it um mayor governor thank you for everything goodwill and norton outstanding i'm going to be a good politician and just talk for a short period of time but i want to say a few things first of all i want to echo what mr cox just said to pastor cosby we will be in hbu city we will be the other thing that i wanted to recognize is i see a couple of my colleagues in the audience and that's jakory arthur and councilman keisha dorsey stand up stand up let people see it um and so uh devon i need to tell you that with redistricting i no longer have that spot otherwise i'd be super happy but i am very very happy um the when devon called me a little over a year ago i think it was and said hey i got a secret for you and i said oh god and so and uh he told me what it was and it took my breath away actually when he first started talking about it and then i got invited down to the office and we talked about it intently and he asked me he said what kind of things you think we do you think we should have there and as i was listening to amy talk those are the exact same things that we talked about and so um it's not um that david james is a smart guy i just listen to everybody and we see everything i think if you ask councilwoman dorsey and councilman arthur the same thing they would tell you the same answers and so this is like a dream come true for us and it's going to be a dream come true for west louisville and it's going to be so good for the citizens of west louisville 100 million dollar investment in the way that you're investing it is a dream and so i just want to say that thank you to everybody i'm looking forward to the grand opening and i love you all thank you david did something extremely important i want to pause for a moment just to recognize that we do have a number of special people who have joined us today a number of our elected officials if you're here as an elected official first off we're going to ask if you stand just to be recognized so we can acknowledge your presence here today [Music] morgan congressman yarmouth corey keisha we appreciate you guys for being here i know there are a number of other candidates who are running for office and i'm going to ask if you are running for office today if you would stand so we might recognize you as well [Applause] [Laughter] i guess he is running for office isn't he oh that's great so we are going to uh in just a second uh open this up for a few questions that i'm certain the media and and maybe several of you have but before we do that uh you know one of the most important pieces of this puzzle uh is how we're going to pay for this and fortunately for us at goodwill we have an incredible cfo mark holman uh and we're going to ask mike mark to come up and share for us just a few minutes our plan to make this happen because uh as much as we are committed to doing a lot of this work through our channels at goodwill uh there's also a need for the community to be in part of what's also about to happen here mark well if you know me a few minutes i don't need i'm brief amy mentioned a 30 million dollar investment from us and probably 25 million in hard construction costs we have we're constructors they're going to be our partner and vadim kaplan and studio a is going to be our architect so that's exciting how we're going to get there as far as our other partners new markets tax credits we have old national bank here maybe tommy elliott can stand uh they're a huge investor they've invested both the new new market tax credit and as a community development entity so that's a huge we wouldn't be able to do that without them and there's other partners as well but really for the other piece of it the 25 million left if you do the math uh maybe two five million for new markets tax credits we're gonna ask the community norton our number one donor uh to step up and do half and google will match the other half so that's all of you who've donated your clothes that's where that's coming from in our in our generous donors in your shoppers so devon is going to be in charge of this capital campaign so i'm getting his attention so he will be asking and knocking on your doors i hope you support us and i've already we've already got some support from trees i see some someone out in the audience offered us trees yesterday so that's exciting thank you cindy sullivan and henry heiser so uh point of privilege here just as we begin to take uh questions uh from the media we do have a number of extremely important people here and i'm thankful that you have all been able to attend this morning but there's one person in particular who i'm extremely happy was able to attend this morning that's my mother pamela dickerson staying mom and i'm excited that my mother's here because she raised me in west louisville and we watched this community go through a transformation and she knows that i have a heart for this place where she uh helped groom me and now we get a chance to see it come back to life and so we started a good portion of our journey at 227 south 39th street where kevi

2022-02-25 14:31

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