Home Care In Louisville, CO

LOUISVILLE — Restaurant supplier Shamrock Foods Co. is opening a food warehouse in a Louisville building that formerly housed an Alfalfa’s Market Inc. grocery store.

The Arizona-based company confirmed the move this week after BizWest reported this month that it has applied to Louisville for a business assistance incentive package — essentially a reduction in taxes and fees — to help it set up shop at the 28,190-square-foot storefront at 785 E. South Boulder Road. That incentives offer was approved by the Louisville City Council.

“Shamrock Foodservice Warehouse is a one-stop solution for restaurant operators of all sizes. The stores are designed to complement Shamrock Foods’ Colorado foodservice distribution business by allowing existing customers to supplement their direct delivery orders with the professional foodservice brands they know and love,” the company said in a news release. “Open to the public and with no membership fees, the stores’ thousands of chef-approved products are also easily accessible to caterers, food trucks, home cooks, community organizations, schools and more.”

In a memo provided to Louisville officials, Shamrock said it hopes to have tenant improvements completed at the former Alfalfa’s by this winter, and its news release this week said the food warehouse is “tentatively scheduled to open in 2024.”

The company “estimates that the project will include $1.8 million in tenant finish improvements and an additional $10,000 in signage,” city documents said. “The company estimates that it will collect and remit $730,000 in new retail sales tax over the first five years of operation.”

Louisville leaders approved $321,338.25 in total incentives over five years. That total comes from 50% reductions in building permit fees and construction use tax and signage permit fees and taxes.

Because Shamrock will be taking over a vacant business, it will be eligible for a vacancy bonus incentive of $1 for each square foot of retail space. In this case, that total bonus would be $28,190.

To be eligible for any incentive, Shamrock would have to be operational by the end of 2024, city documents show.

Shamrock is opening another food warehouse in Aurora. Combined, the locations will employ 45 workers.

Alfalfa’s closed the Louisville grocery store in April 2021 amid a broader collapse of the grocery chain.

In the months leading up to the Louisville store closure, Alfalfa’s locations in Longmont and its flagship operation in Boulder were closing.

As those stores were closing, BizWest obtained internal documents showing that the company owed hundreds of vendors more than $4 million.

“Unfortunately, the challenges of this last year, coupled with existing weakness in the company’s financial health, leave us no choice but to dissolve the company,” the company said in 2021.

This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2023 BizWest Media LLC.

Former Louisville Mayor Dennis Maloney started the Louisville City Council meeting for the last time Tuesday night before councilmembers were sworn in.

The Louisville City Council remained mostly the same after the election, with all members maintaining their seats except Maloney. Councilmembers Caleb Dickinson, Deborah Fahey, Barbara Hamlington and Dietrich Hoefner took the oath of office at the Tuesday meeting. Chris Leh was sworn in as mayor and took over Maloney’s seat.

With Maloney’s departure from Council and Leh becoming mayor, Leh’s former seat as Ward 1 representative has become vacant. According to Louisville municipal code, if a vacancy occurs during a councilor’s term the Council will elect a resident to fill the vacancy until the next regular election as the state elections have already passed. The appointee will serve in the Ward 1 seat until November 2024.

Leh expressed his urgency to ensure the Ward 1 seat gets filled quickly, but recognized the holiday season might slow that process. Hoefner and Hamlington agreed the holidays will slow down the process but it is better to have a slower process to fill the vacancy to ensure they have great candidates for the seat.

“We want to find the best candidate to represent Ward 1 and I’m afraid shortening the timeline will not lead to a fair and equitable process,” Hamlington said.

While a specific date as to when the application would be available and due was not immediately agreed by Council, they plan to release the application soon, have interviews in January and appoint the Ward 2 seat by February. Applicants should reside in Ward 1 for more than 12 months, be United States citizens, older than 18 and a registered voter.

More information on filling the vacancy will be available at louisvilleco.gov.

Maloney has served as Louisville mayor since February and has spent eight years on the council. He didn’t run for reelection. Before Maloney’s departure, he expressed his honor and gratitude for serving the city. He called Louisville residents resilient as 60% of people displaced because of the Marshall Fire have either returned or have started the process of rebuilding their homes. Maloney thanked city staff for their work and his councilmembers for all their work.

“The City Council has the energy, commitment and the ability to make clear collaborative decisions, and for that I think they will serve the city very well,” Maloney said.

He said he learned a lot and appreciates the city even more now as he is leaving the council. He said the council is strong, and he is confident that the city is in good hands. Leh then took over the meeting as mayor. Leh recognized the council works as a team to help lead the city and said he is excited to handle his responsibilities as mayor.

Council unanimously elected Dickinson as the mayor pro tem.

Ana Roci?o A?lvarez Bri?n?ez

A tornado made its way through Todd County on Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service of Paducah confirmed.

The agency said through social media a "large tornado" passed through Southern Todd County between Trenton and Guthrie and continued along Highway 79. At about 2:30 p.m. the tornado watch for Todd County was cleared and had moved to Logan County.

On Sunday, the National Weather Service of Louisville confirmed that there had been a tornado on the ground in Logan County for approximately 18 miles. The weather service determined in a preliminary assessment that the tornado had sustained winds of at least 115 mph.

More:6 dead as Nashville, Middle Tennessee ravaged by high winds, possible tornadoes

The National Weather Service of Louisville placed 15 counties between Central and South Central Kentucky under a tornado watch until 8 p.m.:

The National Weather Service of Louisville said through X, formerly known as Twitter, that there is no longer a tornado warning for the area, but they are monitoring the storms passing through Tennessee that will probably move toward South and Central Kentucky.

Severe storms in Tennessee left at least six people dead and damaged structures and homes. Three fatalities were confirmed in Clarksville, and three additional deaths were reported in Madison. Montgomery County officials also said 23 people were injured and are being treated at area hospitals.

The National Weather Service of Louisville placed several states under tornado watch, including parts of Western Kentucky, on Saturday afternoon.

The weather service post on X said the tornado watch is in effect until 7 p.m. Saturday, and there are a few tornadoes likely, possible hail and winds up to 70 mph. Another post placed several parts of Kentucky under severe thunderstorm warning, including Beaver Dam, Rochester and Rosine.

Other parts of Kentucky and Indiana are under a hazardous weather outlook, including Jefferson, Oldham and Trimble counties in Kentucky and Floyd, Clark and Jefferson counties in Indiana.

According to the forecast for Louisville, there is an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms before midnight, and the temperature will reach a low of 36 degrees.

"New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms," according to the National Weather Service of Louisville forecast for Saturday evening.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- What started out as a local Louisville beverage company has turned into a multimillion-dollar operation.

After starting 30 years ago, Flavorman has grown into a business headquartered in Louisville with 68 employees. Confidentiality is key, with ingredients and combinations kept tightly under wraps.

On Tuesday, science was at work at the Louisville tasting lab as chemists and food scientists measured and tested what could be the next big thing when it comes to the beverage industry.

"You really find your success," said David Dafoe, founder and CEO of Flavorman. "For us, it is the number of beverages we create every year. When we go to the store and we see all these beverages on the shelf, we are like 'We did that.'"

Dafoe welcomed President Joe Biden’s Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and Kentucky U.S. Congressman Morgan McGarvey to take a tour of the facility Tuesday. Guzman presented Dafoe with a national award recognizing him for his success as a small business owner.

"Not only are they successful as entrepreneurs themselves but they are also helping to create entrepreneurs around the country and the globe," she said.

Business is bubbling for Flavorman. In addition to a new 27,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center, it also hosts Moonshine University to teach students who want a career in a distillery.

"We have a good infrastructure here for small businesses, and there are places to go learn," Dafoe said. "The SBA has a ton of places locally you can go and learn things."

Many small businesses are setting up shop around the commonwealth. In the last two years, Kentucky has had 115,000 new applications.

"Our local community — they know to keep Louisville weird," said Jennifer Lubenstein, executive director of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance. "They know why buying local is important, and, for those businesses to feel that love, that makes a difference to our small business community.

But Lubenstein was quick to point out what it calls a "Silver Tsunami."

"There is a huge age shift of folks that are approaching 60 and thinking about 'What am I going to do next?'" she said. "So we have shifted our programming to focus more on succession planning."

Not only is it important for new businesses to grow, but retention also needs to be a focus. That's what Dafoe was focused on three decades ago, and now, he has clients around the world, including Jones Soda, Kellogg's, Chiquita Brands and Ocean Spray.

But despite Flavorman's now global appeal, Dafoe knows his roots remain in Louisville.

"This is awesome, but I look around this room and I see all these people who really made it happen," he said. "And so I am really grateful to everyone in this room."

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For nearly 150 years the Louisville Slugger has been synonymous with America’s pastime. Hall of Famers and Hollywood stars alike have clung to the wooden handle since 17-year-old Bud Hillerich made the first one in 1884.

This is the story of how one Louisville family came to make the most famous baseball bat in the world.

After Louisville Eclipse major league player Pete Browning — aka “The Louisville Slugger” — broke his bat during a game, Bud Hillerich crafted him a new one at his father’s woodshop. When the three-time batting champ debuted the new bat, the Hillerich bat business started to buzz, but it wasn’t until 1894 when Bud took over the family wood company that they would fully commit to producing Louisville Sluggers.

In 1916, Frank Bradsby joined the company to amp up the marketing side of things and Hillerich & Bradsby Co. was established.

H&B changed the world of sports marketing when future Hall of Famer Honus Wagner endorsed the Louisville Slugger and H&B paid him to put his signature on its bats — a practice we see across all sports today. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr., and Derek Jeter are among the list of players who went on to endorse the Louisville Slugger.

Fun fact: An exact-scale replica of Babe Ruth’s 34-inch Louisville Slugger towers 120-ft into the sky outside the museum. It weighs 68,000 pounds and has been a tourist attraction since 1996.

Today, players from every MLB team have contracts with H&B to make their specific bats.

From Carrie Underwood taking a “Louisville Slugger to both headlights” to Merril Hess swinging at an alien with one in “Signs,” Louisville Slugger has become a household name. Watch these other six movies featuring the famous baseball bat.

Louisville Slugger was the third most used bat brand by Major League Baseball players from 2019 to 2023.

In 2019, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory tourism had a $38.5 million economic impact on Derby City. It also created a bourbon attraction, Barrels & Billets — where guests can blend and bottle their own bourbon — and completed its largest renovation since 2009 this past spring.