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BEREA
The Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE), headquartered in Berea, has been named as one of two recipients of the 2009 Wachovia NEXT awards for Opportunity Finance. FAHE was selected to receive the award – which comes with $2.75 million in funding – based on its “innovation and bold strategy” in eliminating substandard housing conditions in central Appalachia. FAHE is a member-based network that includes housing authorities, developers and community action agencies that share a commitment to increasing safe and affordable housing in Appalachia. FAHE serves Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia by providing loans and equity products to its member organizations to support rental housing and community facilities. 

BOWLING GREEN
Western Kentucky University has unveiled a Chinese language program that is being funded through a grant from The Language Flagship of the National Education Security Program at the United States Department of Defense. The WKU Chinese Flagship Pilot Program is an intensive undergraduate four-year course of study that leads to an honors degree in a home major and certified proficiency in Chinese. According to WKU, the program will be the only fully articulated four-year Chinese language program in the state and will not only help students become global professionals but have a positive impact on Kentucky’s trade relationship with China. All students participating in the program will complete a capstone year of study at Nanjing University and an internship experience in China.

COLUMBIA
The Adair Progress reports that Imo Pump is planning to expand operations at its manufacturing plant in Columbia, where it produces high-pressure gear pumps. Sue Stivers, executive director of the Columbia-Adair County Economic Development Authority, made the announcement and said the company initially plans to rent space in a building owned by McCammish Manufacturing; another building will be added down the line if all goes well. 
The North Carolina-based company, which has had operations in Adair County for approximately 35 years, currently employs 90 people there and could add up to 50 new jobs in connection with the expansion.

COVINGTON
St. Elizabeth Healthcare has reached an agreement to sell its campus on East 20th Street in Covington to a group of investors for an undisclosed amount. George Hagan, one of the principal investors, will own and operate an 82-bed nursing home at the site, and the Diocese of Covington will also keep its offices and an historic chapel on site. The St. Elizabeth emergency department, wound care center, dialysis, women’s services, and additional outpatient services have relocated to the new St. Elizabeth Covington Ambulatory Center.

ELIZABETHTOWN
Akebono Brake Industry Co., a Japan-based company that has its North American’s headquarters in Elizabethtown and manufacturing operations in Elizabethtown and Glasgow, has announced plans to purchase the foundation brake assets of Robert Bosch LLC. A new company named ABMA LLC has been established for the purpose of the purchase of assets from Bosch and will be a fully owned subsidiary of Akebono Brake Corporation North America. The new assets purchased include manufacturing operations in Clarksville, Tenn., and Columbia, S.C. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

ERLANGER
Steinert US, a company that produces separation equipment for the scrap metal market, has announced plans to move its North American headquarters to Northern Kentucky.  The company, which is currently headquartered in Clearwater, Fla., will move its entire parts warehouse and administration activities to Erlanger, where it will occupy 7,500 s.f. near the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Company officials said a number of other locations were considered for the move – including Chicago, Memphis, Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte – but they found the Northern Kentucky site to be the best fit, based on its central location, access to a major airline hub, a diverse workforce and proximity to major universities such as the University of Cincinnati, Xavier and Northern Kentucky University.

FLORENCE
Turfway Park ended its 2009 fall meet, which marked the track’s 50th anniversary, with a 16.1 percent decline in on-track handle. Track officials said the drop was likely attributable to economic conditions in the Northern Kentucky area, where unemployment is around 10 percent – nearly double what it was last fall. Daily purses averaged $128,001 this fall compared to $154,691 during the fall meet last year. To help support daily purses, the track this year eliminated four stakes races from its fall schedule and cut the purse for the Kentucky Cup Classic from $350,000 to $200,000.
 
HORSE CAVE
The T. Marzetti Company is planning to expand operations at its plant in Horse Cave, where it produces salad dressings and sauces.  According to local reports, the Ohio-based company is consolidating its production operations and will be bringing work from other company facilities to the Horse Cave plant. Marzetti is investing more than $3 million in equipment and installation to support the plant’s expanded production level and expects to add up to 40 employees. The Horse Cave plant was built in 2006 and in 2007 received the Food Plant of the Year award by Food Engineering magazine.

JEFFERSONTOWN
The Standard Group, a privately held folding carton converter, is investing $3.2 million in its Jeffersontown manufacturing operation to add new equipment that will improve product diversity and enable the company to penetrate new end-use markets. The Standard Group has operated out of Jeffersontown for more than 25 years and currently employs 147 people. The company has been approved by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority to receive up to $1 million in tax benefits.

LEXINGTON
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) is hiring 300 new customer service agents to accommodate increased business activity in Lexington. Fifty of the positions are permanent, while the remaining 250 positions are temporary positions needed to fulfill a project that is expected to last until February. ACS is the third largest private employer in Lexington with approximately 2,000 employees and is the sixth largest private employer in Kentucky with approximately 4,000 employees.

Frontier Airlines will launch daily nonstop jet service between Louisville International Airport and Denver International Airport beginning Apr. 19, 2010. The airline will operate one daily flight using a 132-seat Airbus 319 aircraft.
Frontier originally began offering flights between Louisville and Denver in 2007, but eliminated the route in August 2008, several months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This past August, the airline was acquired by Republic Airways Holdings Inc., an Indianapolis-based company that operates a maintenance hub in Louisville.  “The airport has worked diligently over the past 12 months to re-establish vital links to top business destinations in the western U.S.,” said Skip Miller, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. “Thanks to the support from our partners in the business community, Louisville International Airport has recently announced new routes by Midwest Airlines, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines.”  
 
Lexmark has announced additional restructuring initiatives that are expected to impact 825 positions worldwide. The reductions will primarily affect the company’s manufacturing and supply chain areas, service delivery overhead, marketing and sales support, corporate overhead and development. The Lexington-based printer and cartridge manufacturer expects the cuts to be complete by the end of the first quarter 2011. The company said the reductions will generate savings of approximately $70 million in 2010 and ongoing savings of $110 million, beginning in 2011.

LONDON
Wazoo Sports Inc., a London-based sports broadcasting network, has launched a regional network that will provide sports programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Wazoo broadcasts will include live high school, NCAA and NAIA football, basketball, baseball, soccer, softball and volleyball.  In addition to live content, the network also will exclusively rebroadcast sports content of the University of Kentucky going back several decades. 

LOUISVILLE
Some 10,000 people submitted applications for 90 jobs being added at General Electric’s Appliance Park facility, according to a report in The (Louisville) Courier-Journal.  The positions, which will pay around $27,000 per year plus benefits, are being added to staff a new second shift that will handle the assembly of Energy Star  certified washing machines. GE currently has approximately 2,100 hourly workers at Appliance Park, in addition to 2,000 white-collar positions.

After experimenting with nighttime racing this past summer, Churchill Downs has decided to install permanent lights at its famous Louisville racetrack. “We found our racing fans loved the experience and Churchill Downs is trying new ideas to bring different types of fans to our iconic track,” said Churchill Downs’ Track President Kevin Flanery. The track’s first-ever night racing events were held on June 19, June 26 and July 2, 2009. The average attendance each of the three nights was 29,705 with 33,481 in attendance the final evening, bringing the total attendance for the three nights of racing to 89,115.

The board of directors for Louisville-based Yum! Brands Inc. has approved an 11 percent increase in the company’s quarterly dividend and authorized $300 million in share repurchases. Yum Chairman and CEP David Novak said the company’s “global growth potential, consistent performance and track record of generating strong free cash flow give us the confidence and ability to return significant cash to our shareholders even in these challenging economic times.” Novak noted that the most recent dividend increase to 21 cents per share, which went into effect Nov. 6, marks the company’s fifth annual increase. Yum is the parent company of KFC, Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and A&W Restaurants.

ResCare Inc., a Louisville company that provides education and services to people with special needs, has acquired the assets of All Quality Care, a New Jersey home care agency. All Quality Care serves approximately 220 people in 10 counties and has annual revenues of approximately $5 million. ResCare serves more than 65,000 people in 39 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico and seven international locations.

LOUISVILLE
According to the results of a recent study of 2008 data, Louisville International Airport (SDF) and Bowman Field (LOU) comprise the largest employment center among private operations in the Louisville area. According to the survey’s results, Louisville’s airports helped generate 55,608 jobs and nearly $2 billion in payroll, over $5.6 billion in economic activity, and more than $277 million in state and local tax revenues. In 2008, Louisville International Airport handled more than 3.6 million passengers; 158,356 landings and take-offs; and 4.3 billion pounds of cargo, making it the third-largest cargo airport in North America and ninth in the world. The volume of goods shipped through Louisville International Airport more than quadrupled from 1986 to 2008. Bowman Field, an essential reliever airport for Louisville International Airport and a key component of the community’s airport system, handled more than 82,000 landings and take-offs in 2008.

MIDWAY
Midway College has unveiled a new bachelor’s program in Mining Management and Safety. The degree program will be available in accelerated formats online and on campus and will provide a general overview of coal and coal mining from exploration to combustion. According to information released by Midway, students who obtain a degree in the Mining and Safety program also will be qualified for positions in banking and finance, transportation, electric utilities, with industrial coal users, companies that own and/or control vast mineral reserves, environmental regulation agencies, and state and federal government agencies that regulate coal mining.

OWENSBORO
Aethlon Medical Inc. of San Diego has formed a relationship with Kentucky Bioprocessing to establish processes that will support Aethlon’s Hemopurifier®, a medical device that absorbs viruses and immunosuppressive particles from the bloodstream. “The relationship with Kentucky Bioprocessing represents an important step towards establishing the long-term commercial feasibility of our Hemopurifier®, said Aethlon Medical CEO Jim Joyce.  “Beyond a significant cost reduction of our affinity agents, the relationship offers large-yield production potential in time frames that could improve our response capability against viral outbreaks, including unforeseen bioterror and pandemic threats.”

SOUTH-CENTRAL KENTUCKY
Job seekers in the Cumberlands Workforce Investment Area, which encompasses 13 south-central Kentucky counties, will have the opportunity to receive job training through a $500,000 grant provided by the state’s Workforce Investment Act. The grant will pay to train unemployed and underemployed workers in the areas of computer networking, Microsoft applications and manufacturing technology. The grant will be based on tuition per participant, and could help as many as 315 people. Tuition includes instruction, books and supplies for each training opportunity. A total of 5,081 unemployed people reside in the Cumberlands labor market area.

TAYLOR COUNTY
Three Kentucky businessmen have purchased the former Fruit of the Loom facility in Taylor County for $750,000. Fruit of the Loom closed the 700,000-s.f. plant in 1998 and the building sustained damage this past summer as the result of a fire.  According to a report by the Central Kentucky News-Journal, John C. Miller, Dennis Brinley and Danny Pyles plan to clean up the property and would like to see it provide space for new industry and jobs.

WASHINGTON COUNTY
The Lebanon-Springfield Airport has a new fixed-based operator with the addition of Douglas Aviation. The company offers charter service, fuel sales, airplane maintenance and flight instruction.

WILMORE
Construction has started on Asbury College’s new $12 million Andrew S. Miller Communication Arts Center. The 50,000-s.f. facility, named after an alumnus and former member of the board of trustees, will support the communication arts major areas of study, which include media communications, journalism, theater and cinema performance, and communications. The center will include a 6,000-s.f. television studio and 5,000-s.f. black box theater – both set up as sound stages – as well as classrooms, offices and staging areas.

STATE
Total enrollment in Kentucky’s public and independent postsecondary education institutions reached a record high of 254,560 students this fall, based on a preliminary enrollment report released by the Council on Postsecondary Education. The estimated headcount is an increase of 12,970 students, more than a 5 percent increase over last year and a 40 percent increase over 10 years.

Kentucky’s state government has put hundreds of surplus vehicles on the auction block in an effort to boost the bottom line. The auctions have included everything from mowers and bush hogs to motor graders and trucks. “We have to find innovative ways to move this state forward,” said Gov. Steve Beshear.  “Thinking outside the box and creating opportunities like this, where we can generate much-needed revenue for the state while also improving the environment are the kinds of initiatives we need right now to continue making progress while being fiscally prudent in the face of a tough economy.”

Murray State University’s Hancock Biological Station and the University of Kentucky have been awarded a $3 million cyberinfrastructure grant from the National Science Foundation. The funding will allow for state-of-the-art environmental sensors to be placed in Kentucky Lake to understand and visualize ecological processes. Data will be used in the development of graphic and 3-D visualization applications. New types of sensors will be developed by researchers from UK and UofL, some of which also will be deployed in Eastern Kentucky streams by Eastern Kentucky University.

STATE
Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate fell to 10.9 percent in September 2009 from a revised 11.2 percent in August 2009, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET). September 2009’s jobless rate is 4 percentage points higher than the 6.9 percent rate recorded in September 2008. “Kentucky’s economy continued to struggle under the weight of the recession, suffering the biggest monthly employment decline and the largest number of year-over-year job losses on record dating back to January 1990.  The drop in the unemployment rate reflects individuals who have faced long-term unemployment becoming discouraged and dropping out of the labor force,” said Dr. Justine Detzel, OET chief labor market analyst. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, employment in Kentucky has decreased by 113,800 positions.

VIPdesk, a Virginia company that specializes in outsourcing virtual customer service solutions for companies, will begin hiring more than 100 people in Kentucky next month to serve as home-based customer service representatives. The representatives will handle incoming calls from debit cardholders who have questions about their accounts. The jobs will pay $8 to $9 per hour.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a settlement granting Columbia Gas of Kentucky Inc. an annual revenue increase of $6.125 million. The increase is $5.43 million less than the amount sought by the utility. Under the settlement, the only change for residential customers will be a $3.05 increase in the monthly customer charge, from $9.30 to $12.35. The gas delivery charge will remain at $1.87 per 1,000 cubic feet (mcf). The rate change affects only Columbia’s base rate; the commodity cost of the gas itself, which is adjusted frequently to reflect market prices, is determined separately and is passed through to consumers on a dollar-for-dollar basis by Columbia.
Columbia is headquartered in Lexington and serves about 138,000 customers in Fayette and 32 other counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky.