The company is hiring in just about all positions at its hub operations at Louisville International Airport, including package sorters, ramp workers, and administrative and air-cargo personnel.

The jobs stem in part from the company's December 2004 acquisition of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, whose Dayton, Ohio operations are being consolidated at the airport.

UPS is Louisville's largest private sector employer, with more than 17,000 jobs. The new jobs would increase the company's local work force nearly 9 percent.  Read more.

That figure includes only jobs created by companies that the three organizations worked with during the year and does not represent total jobs in the Louisville area.

Of those 5,208 jobs, 4,107 were created from expansions of current Louisville businesses. Read more. 

When Ford Motor Co. announced its restructuring plans, neither of Ford's two Louisville factories were slated for immediate closure. 

Ford's plan would close vehicle plants in St. Louis, Atlanta and Wixom, Michigan.  Parts plants in Canada and Ohio also would close.  Ford will announce two additional assembly plant closures later this year.  By 2012, the plan should cut 25,000 to 30,000 jobs.

With St. Louis closing, the Louisville Assembly Plant will be the sole source of the Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport utility vehicles.  The Kentucky Truck Plant makes the F-series Super duty pickups, part of Ford's best-selling product line.  Ford officials said that the F-Series line remains vital to the company's future and that they plan to invest more in the vehicle in the coming years.

Ford, the area's second-largest private employer in Louisville, employs about 9,000 workers. Read more.

Identifying those opportunities is "becoming an increasing part of what we do" in the law firm's international department, said Dehner, the department's Cincinnati-based chairman.

"At any one time, we're working with five to 10 clients who want to go into China," Dehner said. "That is compared with about one every six months just five years ago."

As businesses from the United States continue to enter China, Dehner and other experts say those businesses located in Louisville have a distinct advantage over businesses exporting from or importing goods to other parts of this country.

Forbes required companies on the list to have revenue of at least $1 billion, have stock prices above $5 per share and must have been public for more than two years.  

Legislative appropriations to state arts agencies nationwide totaled $327.5 million for 2006. According to the report, 37 states and U.S. jurisdictions reported some level of budget gains, while seven states reported flat funding, and 12 states experienced budget reductions. 
 

In the publication's fourth annual listing, investors and brokerage firm analysts identified the top CEOs in 62 industries. The magazine surveyed more than 1,700 investment professionals at about 475 firms.

Louisville-based Yum Brands operates about 34,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories.  Read more.