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Affordable housing is an issue affecting many communities in the country, including Louisville. We get into some of the factors behind it on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Elizabeth Strojan, executive director of the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, joins the program to give us her insights on the issue. You might not realize how many people in Jefferson County are impacted by the Authority's work — which is something Strojan admits surprised her too. It directly serves 30,000 people in the county.

Strojan and LBF Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy go over a number of topics on the show, including reactions to the recent Big Beautiful Bill — passed by Congress and signed by President Trump — as well as affordable housing needs.

They also talk about the reaction that new affordable housing proposals often garner — specifically when it comes to density.

"It's really the same everywhere," Strojan said. She recalled that even while working in New York City in affordable housing finance, neighbors opposed dense housing developments.

"We're talking about a densly built city where people are scared of density," she said. "I think it's unfortunately a part of human nature to fear change and fear the unknown. The best way to get people supporting affordable housing is to build the affordable housing. Because they see the sky doesn't fall."

Strojan also talked about what's next for the Dosker Manor public housing complex.

She said it's unfortunate that it has to be demolished but, after a physical needs assessment, there didn't look to be a way to save it. Right now, the authority is in the process of relocating residents (about 200 remain). The three highrises and the former First Link grocery story will be demolished and several hundred units will be rebuilt (which won't be as dense as before.)

"Overall we want obviously to increase the supply affordable housing. But that level of very high needs population in one city block was not sustainable for an organization like ours," she said.

You can hear the full interview on the show. Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We take a trip to the Hoosier State on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Our discussion revolves around some of the economic goings on in Clark and Floyd counties. LBF recently took a deep dive into trends in the area for a section we called Southern Indiana spotlight.

To start, we chat about new home development, which has taken off despite higher interest rates affecting housing affordability

New single-family home inventory grew by 8.8% between April 2024 and April 2025 in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, Glenn Hockersmith, a Realtor and broker with Schuler Bauer Real Estate, told LBF in a recent report. Despite the increased supply in the area, the average number of days on the market for these homes plummeted 12.9% during the same period.

River Ridge Commerce Center, a 6,000-acre commercial and industrial park in Jeffersonville that produced an estimated $3.04 billion in economic output in 2024, has a lot to do with that growth. But we also discuss how the various school systems in the region play a role.

On the show, we also talk a restaurant boom in New Albany, including something new heading into the former Toast on Market space.

We chat about the backstory on Hidden Hill Nursery & Sculpture Garden, which recently hit the market. We discuss a new recreational trail in Borden, Indiana, which is supposed to eventually connect to Mitchell, Indiana (and even up to Indianapolis at some point.) And we go over the plans for Origin Park, which we recently toured.

Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

GE Appliances President and CEO Kevin Nolan says a move to bring expanded laundry machine production to Louisville, from China is part of the company's ‘zero-distance’ business strategy.

We talk about the move and the strategy with LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

As Stinnett reported on Thursday, GE Appliances is spending $490 million to expand its local footprint and create an additional 800 full-time jobs at Appliance Park. The investment will move production of the GE Profile Combo Washer/Dryer and the GE Profile UltraFresh Front Load Washer from China to Building 2 at Appliance Park, located at 4000 Buechel Bank Road.

The strategy seeks to make appliances as close as possible to our customers and consumers and "aligns with the current economic and policy environment,” Nolan said in a news release announcing the investment.

GE Appliances is Louisville’s eighth-largest employer, according to Louisville Business First research, with 8,400 local employees. The company has been at Appliance Park, which is more than 6 million square feet on 750 acres, since 1953. The park houses GE Appliances’ technology and engineering center, industrial design, distribution center, warehouse operations and production of washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators.

The company was spun off from General Electric and acquired by China-based Haier in a $5.4 billion deal in 2016.

The expansion comes one year after GE Appliances laid off 4% of its global salaried workforce, citing an appliance industry that was, “even more challenging than anticipated.”

JCPS news and more

Later in the show we talk about Yum Brands Inc.'s donation of its 28.4-acre campus at 1441 Gardiner Lane to Jefferson County Public Schools. Stinnett spoke with JCPS Marty Pollio about the donation recently.

After nearly 30 years as an educator, Pollio doesn’t shock easily, as you can imagine. But he told Stinnett he was floored by the generosity of the gift.

“This donation from Yum Brands is the equivalent of a brand new elementary school at JCPS that we will be able to build as a result of this,” Pollio said. “That generous gift will impact generations of young people in this community.”

Pollio's last day as superintendent was June 30. His replacement, Brian Yearwood, started July 1.

For the last segment of the show we talk about gas stations — including a new location for Wawa and the sale of the former Thornton's property in Downtown Louisville.

Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify (which are linked above.)