Louisville mayor spent $180,000 to entertain enterprise leaders in the course of Derby

The value tag contains hotel rooms, transportation and meals and beverages for a handful of executives from Bezos Academy, LinkedIn and other corporations. Tickets to the Derby at Churchill Downs had been the biggest single expense, coming out to just more than $80,000.

Greenberg’s spokesperson Kevin Trager stated in a statement that the Derby permits the city’s financial improvement group to showcase “the greatest of Louisville.”

“We are confident that immediately after seeing all our city has to present and meeting members of our awesome neighborhood this exclusive financial improvement chance will lead to the continued development and strengthening of our economy,” Trager stated final week.

Greenberg and his wife also hosted a brunch on Derby Day attended by quite a few hundred folks, according to Trager. The invite list was a who’s who of neighborhood leaders and city officials which includes Metro Council members, members of the Brown and Bingham households and “mayor’s workplace employees, spouses, kids, loved ones members, and close friends,” records show. Greenberg spent $15,748 on meals from Mayan Cafe and $three,417 on flowers, napkins and linens.

The all round price of Greenberg’s Derby hosting was larger than final year, when Mayor Greg Fischer spent about $140,000.

The guest list

As opposed to Fischer, Greenberg publicly released his guest list ahead of Kentucky’s premier horse racing occasion. The Fischer administration refused to determine his Derby guests all through his 12-year term, arguing it would have a adverse effect on the city’s capacity to recruit new corporations. Metro Council voted in 2018 to permit the Louisville mayor to hold their Derby guests secret.

On May possibly two, Greenberg announced seven executives across diverse industries accepted Louisville’s Derby invite. 3 guests had donated to his current principal and common election campaigns.

Campaign finance records showed Valerie Bruce, the common manager of BBC Studios – Los Angeles, contributed $four,000 to Greenberg’s campaigns. Dan Roth, who’s the vice president and editor-in-chief of Linkedin, gave $three,000 to Greenberg involving his two campaigns. Roth’s wife Lisa, who was also a single of Greenberg’s guests, donated $four,000. Dan Roth grew up in Louisville and, along with his siblings, lately created a donation to the renovation project at the Trager Household Jewish Neighborhood Center.

Other executives who attended Derby as Greenberg’s guests had been:

• Mike George, President of Bezos Academy, and spouse Beth
• Rob Mills, Vice President of Unscripted and Option Entertainment for Walt Disney Tv
• Donna Orender, CEO of Orender Limitless and former president of the WNBA, and spouse M.G.
• T.J. Rodgers, founder of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, and spouse Valeta
• Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, and spouse Leigh

Greeberg’s workplace did not say why they chose to invite these guests, but lots of perform in industries that have develop into a priority for neighborhood and state leaders.

For instance, Fischer announced final December that the extended-vacant Louisville Gardens creating downtown would be renovated into soundstages for film, tv, music and digital production. The developers, River City Entertainment Group, LLC, are hoping to get incentives from the state to support cover some building expenses. Greenberg’s workplace stated Thursday cleanup perform at the Gardens will start subsequent month.

In 2021, the Kentucky Basic Assembly revived the state’s film tax credit system in order to incentivize film corporations to shoot right here. The BBC Studios’ L.A. arm has made shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “Top Gear America.” Mills, meanwhile, oversees the creation and production of reality tv for the Disney, ABC and Hulu brands.

Mike George, president of Bezos Academy, was in town in March to announce its very first tuition-totally free preschool in Kentucky. Anticipated to open in 2025, the Montessori-style pre-Kindergarten system will be positioned adjacent to Jefferson Green and Jefferson’s Landing, inexpensive housing developments in Okolona.

Whilst on the campaign trail, Greenberg promised to make universal access to preschool a reality in Louisville.

Donna Orender’s look on Greeberg’s Derby guest list could be associated to the extended-standing efforts by fans and deep-pocketed neighborhood leaders to bring a experienced basketball group to Louisville. The city hasn’t had a experienced basketball group considering that the Kentucky Colonels folded in the mid-1970s.

There’s no publicly obtainable data about plans LinkedIn could have for Louisville or city efforts to attract the business, and Trager did not right away respond to a query about this.

It wouldn’t be Greenberg’s very first foray into the tech planet: LEO Weekly obtained emails in February displaying his administration is attempting to lure YouTube creators Dude Great to find a proposed $one hundred million theme park right here.