About Us
Louisville Forward is an integrated approach to economic and community development, combining business attraction, expansion and retention activities, and talent and workforce attraction, with all of the city's real estate development, land use and planning and design functions to present a unified solution for job growth and quality of place. The Department of Economic Development is a division of Louisville Forward. View our complete organizational chart.
Louisville Forward has been named a Top Ten Economic Development Organization eight times by Site Selection Magazine, the leading trade publication for economic development, with announced expansion and attraction projects totaling more than $10 billion of investment and 37,000 new jobs since 2014. In total, Louisville has had $22.8 billion in projects announced, constructed or underway since 2014.
Look below for a video about how we are moving Louisville forward, as well as information about our Department of Economic Development team.
Leadership & Administration
Benjamin Moore, Director of the Department of Economic Development
Benjamin oversees all economic development for the city. In his role as director, he works daily to attract new companies to Louisville, help businesses already located in our city expand, and support entrepreneurs.
Call him at (502) 574-1379.
Joshua McKee, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Development
Joshua oversees the Target Industries and workforce solutions functions while leading the cluster strategy. He also is the point person for foreign direct investment and international economic development, in addition to serving as the strategic connector for university town-gown partnerships and relationships.
Call him at (502) 574-1526.
Keisha Allen, West Louisville Senior Economic Development Manager
Keisha focuses on the nine neighborhoods of West Louisville, and she works collaboratively with community organizations and businesses both small and large to retain, attract, and grow their operations throughout the communities of West Louisville.
Call her at (502) 574-6950.
Key Industries
Ron Burse, Health & Aging Innovation Economic Development Manager
Ron specializes in Louisville’s Health & Aging Innovation sector and supports the economic development of companies that specialize in health technology, innovations that improve quality of life for the world’s aging population, and companies interested in joining the world’s largest concentration of company HQs dedicated to health and aging care.
Call him at (502) 574-2974.
Jacob Medley, Business Services Economic Development Manager
Jacob specializes in Louisville's largest sector, Business Services, and works to retain, attract and grow businesses that specialize in traditional back-office and HQ operations like tech, finance, accounting, law, consulting and much more.
Call him at (502) 574-4596.
Alex Mercer, Advanced Manufacturing/Logistics & eCommerce Economic Development Manager
Alex specializes in the Advanced Manufacturing sector and supports economic development of businesses in the Logistics and eCommerce sector.
Call him at (502) 574-6279.
Matthew Bowen, Workforce Solutions Manager
Matthew serves as the strategic connector for businesses in Louisville to our robust workforce and talent development pipelines. As the liaison to KentuckianaWorks, the region’s Workforce Innovation Board (WIB), higher education, K-12, and various nonprofit and for-profit training programs, Matthew is able to design unique solutions to meet the needs for businesses in and those considering relocating to Louisville.
Call him at (502) 574-6803
Research & Data Analytics
Melissa Ryan, Senior Research Analyst
Melissa primarily analyzes national and regional labor force data, researching current economic and business trends, and assisting with local policy initiatives and grants.
Small Business
Christy Jarboe, Senior Small Business Development Manager
Christy focuses on development across Louisville and specializes in providing resources and information for aspiring entrepreneurs and experienced business owners.
Call her at (502) 574-6235.
Ashby Eggers, Small Business Economic Development Manager
Ashby specializes in providing resources and information to aspiring entrepreneurs and experienced business owners throughout Louisville, with a special focus on the Dixie Highway corridor.
Call her at (502) 574-1140
Theresa Hathaway, Small Business Development/METCO Manager
Terri manages the Metropolitan Business Development Corporation (METCO) small business loan program. The METCO Board approves and provides a variety of loan options to support the growth of small businesses. Terri also manages the underwriting, servicing and collection of loan requests and closing.
Call her at (502) 574-1346.
Brenda Hyatt, Small Business Development/METCO Loan Specialist
Brenda works with Terri to administer the Metropolitan Business Development Corporation (METCO) small business loan program.
Call her at (502) 574-1521.
