Welcome to eFYI, your exclusive monthly e-newsletter from Greater Louisville Inc. - The Metro Chamber of Commerce. As one of our valued partners, you can count on eFYI to cover the topics and issues of most interest and benefit to you. Share your comments and ideas with us any time at VFisher@greaterlouisville.com.


U of L entrepreneurship program honored
Bucks for Brains births medical breakthroughs
United plans Louisville-Denver service
Derby Festival gets top industry award
'Green' roof in downtown Louisville is state's largest
Louisville to host 2012 NCAA games
LogistiX Games showcase skills of local distribution workers
U of L program gets $15 million more


U of L entrepreneurship program honored

Entrepreneur magazine has ranked the graduate entrepreneurship program at the University of Louisville College of Business as the 16th best in the nation for 2009.
The magazine ranks programs using such criteria as number of faculty who are entrepreneurs, the number of entrepreneurship clubs, mentoring programs and business plan competitions. Read more.


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Bucks for Brains births medical breakthroughs

It sounds like science-fiction -- healing the heart with stem cells from fat, curing sickle-cell anemia with bone-marrow transplants and preventing lung cancer with a vaccine.
But at Kentucky's two largest universities, researchers are trying to turn those theories in reality -- and along the way transforming Kentucky into a growing center for globally significant medical breakthroughs.

A decade of public and private investment into local research has started to pay dividends, offering hope in a state with some of the nation's highest rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

It was jump-started by Bucks for Brains, a multi-million-dollar spending initiative launched with the state's 1998-2000 budget that has brought top researchers to state universities. Read more.


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United plans Louisville-Denver service

United Airlines will begin daily, nonstop jet service between Louisville International Airport and Denver International Airport, starting December 17.
United Express carrier SkyWest Airlines will operate the service, using a 50-seat Canadair regional jet. Read more.


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Derby Festival gets top industry award


The Kentucky Derby Festival has received the Grand Pinnacle Award - the special event industry's highest honor - at the International Festivals and Events Association's 54th annual convention and expo, held recently in Indianapolis.
The award is for the best overall festival program among the association's membership of more than 2,400 festivals from around the world. Read more.


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'Green' roof in downtown Louisville is state's largest

From above, it's the green that stands out in a sea of concrete, asphalt and brick.
Made with hundreds of thousands of tiny water-absorbing sedum plants, the new roof on the American Life & Accident Insurance Co. building on Main Street also appears to be a natural extension of Louisville's Belvedere, the grassy park that extends over Interstate 64.

At 17,000 square feet, the new roof is the largest of its kind in Kentucky, according to Turner Construction Co., which oversaw its installation.

The living roof, which replaced a tar and gravel cover, is expected to cut air-conditioning costs by 75 percent while reducing stormwater runoff by 50 percent. Read more.

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Louisville to host 2012 NCAA games

The University of Louisville recently announced that it will be the host for games in the first two rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
The games will be played March 15 and 17, 2012, in the downtown arena that is under construction on Main Street.

The $238 million, 22,000-seat arena is scheduled to open in November 2010. Read more.


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LogistiX Games showcase skills of local distribution workers


Louisville's finest distribution and supply-chain employees had their talents on full display when the third annual LogistiX Games was recently staged at Jefferson Riverport International.
The competition, which features five events, including the truck mini-marathon, box put and pallet jack relay, pits area companies against each other, with the winner claiming the Golden Pallet Award.

Awards are also given for team spirit and to the winner of a box-decorating contest. Read more.


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U of L program gets $15 million more

A research program led by the University of Louisville has received another $15 million from the National Institutes of Health.

The money is an extension of funding for the Kentucky IDeA (Institutional Development Award) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), a collaborative effort among six state-funded institutions, according to a news release from the school.