JPMorgan Chase invests in Louisville
WLKY reports that JPMorgan Chase is investing money in Louisville. Specifically, it is making twin investments of $270,000 to support AMPED’s Russell Technology Business Incubator (RTBI) and Story’s Wild Beta Accelerator Program, which focus on Black and Latino founders.
Louisville ripe for fostering tech talent
Louisville was featured in this year’s CBRE Scoring Tech Talent report as one of the cities that could be ripe for fostering tech talent. The report scores cities on tech employment, wage growth, and number of tech degrees. Louisville, ranked 18 on the list, employed a total of 16,960 tech workers in 2021, with the average wage of $83,329, representing a 12 percent growth over five years. Software developers’ wages increased by nearly 14 percent in that period as well. Here’s the 2022 CBRE Scoring Tech Talent Report for more details.
Louisville’s Open Data website
Grace Simrall was hired by Mayor Fischer to be the Chief of Civic Innovation and Technology for the city of Louisville with the goal of preparing Louisville for emerging technologies. One of Simrall’s projects has been Louisville’s Open Data website. The portal contains more than 200 data sets on everything from crime reports and 311 service requests to an interactive map of city parks and their amenities. [Louisville Future interviewed Simrall in 2020 about her role.]
AppHarvest secures $50M in loans
AppHarvest is in the news again! The sustainable food company that builds some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms, has secured $50 million across two loans guaranteed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through Greater Commercial Lending (GCL), a subsidiary of Greater Nevada Credit Union. The financing will support AppHarvest’s high-tech indoor berry farm in Somerset, Kentucky, which is about 84 percent complete and expected to be operational by year-end.
Climavision’s RaaS tech makes station debut in NC
Television station WBTV, located in Charlotte, NC, will become the first station in the U.S. to access the new Radar as a Service (RaaS) offering from Louisville-based climate tech leader, Climavision. The station will have exclusive access to the most advanced, high-resolution, dual-polarization X-band radar in the Charlotte media market. The radar has a resolution up to 10 times higher than the NEXRAD radars used by the National Weather Service. Louisville Future interviewed Climavision’s co-founder and DEO Chris Goode last year.
New method for molding small plastic parts
Manufacturing company Hummingbird Nano, located in Nicholasville, Kentucky, has taken advantage of the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program and Kentucky’s matching funds, to advance a revolutionary method for molding small plastic parts that are primarily used as components in medical devices and systems.