LOUISVILLE, KY – Community Ventures (CV) recently relocated its primary business office to new office space at its kitchen incubator, Chef Space, located at 1812 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd. For more than a decade, CV has served Louisville’s residents from its Second Street location & CV will continue to offer affordable housing, small business lending and training in its new location.
In conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Community Ventures will continue to operate the Women’s Business Center of Kentucky which serves women-owned entrepreneurs and business owners through business coaching, technical training and business webinars, workshops and networking events. The Women’s Business Center has also relocated its operations to 1812 W. Muhammed Ali Blvd.
Over the years, Community Ventures continually expanded its products and services in the Jefferson & surrounding counties and has become an essential community resource. Through its various programs, including housing initiatives, New Markets Tax Credits, and Business Lending & Training, CV has helped 1,500+ individuals with housing services & provided lending assistance to 400+ individuals to start their own businesses or own their own homes. Through its New Markets Tax Credits program, CV has helped fund 9 large-scale community projects which created and retained nearly 1,000 jobs. Overall, CV has helped people in this community while funneling $254 million into the local economy.
In terms of regional impact, the office move is part of CV’s strategic focus on its community development efforts in West Louisville. The community-based nonprofit’s highly successful Chef Space, a kitchen incubator that supports food entrepreneurs with a focus on early stage catering, retail, food truck, and wholesale food business, is a nationally-recognized program. Chef Space’s location in the heart of the Russell neighborhood helps it serve a dual role of supporting food entrepreneurs in West Louisville while also providing the community with a variety of fresh-food options, through its various members and its restaurant concept Jay’s 120. In 2016, Chef Space helped stimulate the local economy by providing support to 30+ West Louisville food entrepreneurs, with 7 entrepreneurs locating their business in the community. Increasing fresh food access to the Russell neighborhood, Community Ventures has provided a vital food source to the 200+ families in the West Louisville area.
CV continues to plant roots in the Russell neighborhood through its housing development on Cedar Street. The company recently welcomed its first Louisville Cedar Street clients, Walter and Marshae Smith, to the neighborhood with a community celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Community Ventures President Kevin Smith and Mayor Greg Fischer. “West Louisville is a historically-rich, culturally diverse part of Louisville’s downtown core,” said Kevin Smith. “It’s important to the future of the neighborhood and the city for us to support the development of a sustainable and inclusive community in the Russell neighborhood. By moving our offices to the Russell neighborhood, we can direct even more resources to our development efforts in this community.”
For more info about CV & its programs, contact the CV staff at (502) 566-6076.
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