Business Lexington January 2024

IN THIS ISSUE

JANUARY 2024 | VOL. 20 ISSUE 1

A Legend Lives On

Branching Out: Recent sale of Town Branch Tree Experts to an international tree-care company set to grow the scope and services of the business PAGE 8

Wicked Technologies for the Win: Tech ideas step into the spotlight at annual pitch competition PAGE 9

Never Say Die bourbon is inspired by the transatlantic story of the first Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred to win the Epsom Derby PAGE 6

PHOTO FURNISHED

SalesRiver’s Koby Hastings honored as a Kentucky Emerging Entrepreneur, credits contributions from a dedicated team PAGE 10

BizLists Accounting Firms PAGE 12 | Nonprofit Fundraising PAGE 13 | Wealth Management Firms PAGE 14

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Book your business.

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JANUARY 2024

WWW.BUSINESSLEXINGTON.COM

BusinessLexington Chuck Creacy PUBLISHER

chuck@bizlex.com Chris Eddie PUBLISHER

chris@bizlex.com Tom Wilmes EDITOR

tomw@bizlex.com Donna Hodsdon ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

donna@bizlex.com Drew Purcell ART DIRECTOR

drew@bizlex.com Nikole Christensen COPY EDITOR

Tanzi Merritt

CONTENTS

QuickBites Rise N’ Brine, Desperados Cantina Highlight Recent Restaurant Openings

PVAStatistics

The latest statistics on local residential properties PAGE 4

PAGE 7

EconomicAnalysis

A monthly look at economic indicators compiled by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Kentucky PAGE 5

WriteStuff

Crafting an excellent virtual presentation

3

Wicked Technologies for the Win: Tech ideas step into the spotlight at annual pitch competition PAGE 9

Entrepreneur Sees Success as a Team Effort: SalesRiver’s Koby Hastings honored as a Kentucky Emerging Entrepreneur, credits contributions from a dedicated team PAGE 10

PAGE 5

BIZLISTS EDITOR

bizlists@smileypete.com Emily Marks SALES MANAGER

emily@smileypete.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Amy Eddie

amy@bizlex.com Ann Staton

ann@bizlex.com

CraveWorthy

Local Lending Outlook: While Central Kentucky is insulated from the brunt of national lending trends, soft demand, rising interest rates, and limited inventory continue to impact the market

A legend lives on: Never Say Die bourbon is inspired by the transatlantic story of the first Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred to win the Epsom Derby PAGE 6

IndependentBusiness

Branching out: Recent sale of Town Branch Tree Experts to an international tree-care company set to grow the scope and services of the business

PAGE 11

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PAGE 8

(859) 266-6537 www.smileypete.com advertise@smileypete.com info@smileypete.com

BizLists

Accounting Firms PAGE 12 Nonprofit fundraising PAGE 13 Wealth management firms PAGE 14

Who’sWho

Employment updates and notable achievements from around the region PAGE 18

PHOTO FURNISHED

Q&A with Jeff Wiseman and Pete Wright: The founders of Barrel House Distilling Co. on bringing craft distillation to Lexington and building a new distillery PAGE 16

`Tis the season for gift cards!

Purchase and redeem at any BHG restaurant. $20 gift card bonus valid through December 30, 2023.

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4

JANUARY 2024

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PVAStatistics These statistics on local residential and commercial property are compiled by the office of the Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator. The data reflect the most up-todate information available at the time of printing for this publication, but monthly figures may be revised as additional public records of property transactions are submitted and become available.

Top Commercial Transactions for November 2023

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DATE

ADDRESS

PRICE

ENTITY

11/9/23

410 Redding Road

$7,100,500

Genesis Health Clubs Lex Tennis

11/30/23 2251 Elkhorn Road

$5,750,000

Rainmaker Holdings Xi LLC

11/15/23 1454-1526 Jingle Bell Lane

$4,100,000

Malco Inc.

11/13/23 2297 Executive Drive

$3,750,000

I Shree Hospitality Inc.

11/20/23 2191 Nicholasville Road

$1,300,000

Goodwill Industries of KY Inc.

11/15/23 735 E. Main St.

$1,250,000* Ashemain LLC

11/29/23 3213 Summit Square Pl. Ste. 200 $1,100,000

Edge Commercial Property LLC

11/9/23

120 Quinton Court

$950,000

120 Quinton LLC

11/9/23

1067 Whipple Court

$900,000

Helfry Properties LLC

11/1/23

1095 Majaun Road

$824,720

DDR Group LLC

11/16/23 137 Sycamore Road Road

$782,500

137 Sycamore LLC

11/10/23 597-601 E. New Circle Road

$650,000

Rayyan Properties LLC

11/3/23

728 N. Broadway

$540,000

Dms Holdings LLC

11/3/23

734 N. Broadway

$540,000

Dms Holdings LLC

11/27/23 301 N Broadway

$410,000

Zev Properties LLC

11/30/23 330 Codell Drive

$380,000

Hatfield Enterprises LLC

11/9/23

300 Codell Drive

$310,000

Andrukhov, David Oleg

11/20/23 1053-1057 Goodwin Drive

$190,000

Goodwin Industrial LLC

11/30/23 2505 Larkin Road, Unit 103

$177,500

Larkin Road Holdings LLC

*Sale Price Based on a Multiple-Parcel Transaction ** Parcel includes multiple improvements, see property record for details

Residential Sales Data for November 2023

“Your flexibility with the evolving design and attention to detail enabled a smooth transition to our upgraded program. With over fifty users to tie into the process, your expertise made the difference for our staff. We look forward to work with you again.”

– BILLY GAYHEART, RUGGLES SIGN

The chart below shows the monthly residential sales activity in Fayette County for the previous 24 months. The data for the most recent month reflect a projected estimate from the office of the Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator and are subject to change.

2023 RESIDENTIAL SALES

2022 RESIDENTIAL SALES

2021 RESIDENTIAL SALES

800 700 600 500 400

WE PROVIDE CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER BUSINESS PROCESS, EFFICIENCY, AND OUTCOMES. MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT WEB DEVELOPMENT CLOUD HOSTING APPLICATION SUPPORT PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPLICATION DESIGN & TESTING SYSTEMS INTEGRATION TECHNICAL STAFFING

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300

SITEK INC

siteksolutions.com 1040 Monarch St. Ste. 205 Lexington, KY 40513

200 100

A MINORITY OWNED BUSINESS JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

-36%

-32%

-18%

-39%

-28%

-21%

-18%

-20%

-17%

-16%

-3%

-43%

MONTHLY PERCENTAGE CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS YEAR For more local residential and commercial real estate information, visit the website of the Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator at www.fayettepva.com.

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EconomicAnalysis A monthly look at economic indicators compiled by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Kentucky. For more on CBER, visit www.cber.uky.edu.

Recent Data Nov. 2023

1-Month Change

1-Year Change

Payroll emp. MSA**** Manufacturing Employment Durable Goods (KY) **** Manufacturing: Lexington-Fayette MSA Total Employees**** Unemployment Rate MSA****

299,500 Oct. 170,400 Oct.

0.3% -0.2%

3.7% 3.5%

31,600 Oct. 3.10% Oct.

-0.6% -11.4%

-0.5% -3.1%

Payroll Employment, US Manufacturing Payroll Employment US Unemployment Rate, US

157,087,000 Nov. 12,985,000 Nov. 3.70% Nov.

0.1% 0.2% -5.1%

1.8% 0.1% 2.8%

Consumer Price Index, Southern Region Consumer Price Index, US Producer Price Index, US

298.93 Nov. 307.91 Nov. 253.0 Nov.

-0.0% 0.5% -0.6%

3.9% 3.8% -0.9%

Index of Leading Indicators** Fed’s Index of Industrial Production**

103.9 Nov. 102.6 Nov.

-1.4% 0.2%

-8.5% -2.0%

3-Month Treasury Yield*** 10-Year Treasury Yield***

5.27% Nov. 4.50% Nov.

-1.3% -6.3%

27.0% 15.4%

3rd Qtr. 2023

1-Month Change

1-Year Change

22,506,370.00

1.3%

NA

Real GDP (millions $)

Note: In some cases 1 mo. And 1 yr. changes are based on revised data from previous mo./yr/ * Source: The Conference Board Research Group; http://www.conference-board.org/ ** Source: Federal Reserve Statistical Release, http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G17/ *** Source: Federal Reserve Statistical Release; https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/ **** Source: St. Louis Federal Reserve; https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/ ***** GDP is reported as Real Gross Domestic Product, Chained Dollars [Millions of chained (2012) dollars] Seasonally adjusted at annual rates (Updated numbers as of Jan. 27, 2023); https://apps.bea.gov/histdata/histChildLevels.cfm?HMI=7

WriteStuff

By Samuel Gilbert

Crafting an Excellent Virtual Presentation In recent years, the need for solid virtual presentation skills has become paramount.

Presenters, facilitators, and attendees of virtual events have all had a steep learning curve for how best to present their material.

Below are a few best practices for crafting and delivering in a virtual environment: Get to the point. These days, it is practically a truism that attention spans aren’t what they used to be. Nevertheless, it bears repeating. Virtual meetings can be held at home or in public, which also increases the possibility of distractions. Getting to the heart of your material quickly will ensure that your audience’s attention remains where you want it: on you. If you are presenting with a slide deck, keep your speaking notes to no more than a few hundred words per slide or reveal.

Be engaging. While your material should find its center quickly, be prepared for your audience to participate. Seek out engagement by asking questions or including polls. Your audience’s attention span can be measured in minutes: • Prepare a point of interaction every five to 10 minutes • If you are presenting with a camera, make sure you keep your eyes on your camera and make virtual eye contact with your audience • Keep your camera at eye level. Imagine that it is the person you are speaking to

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• Solicit interaction both verbally and with your text/chat functions so that audience members have multiple ways to engage with you (and be sure you check your text/ chat frequently to address any questions or comments).

Adapt. There will be a lag between your words, when your audience hears them, and when they respond. When crafting your presentation, give space in your script for responses and be ready to go off-script with a clear path back to your main point.

Sometimes, a virtual presentation can seem like a train ride — on rails and on schedule — but often, your audience will respond to your engagement with questions of their own, so expect the unexpected by delivering a flexible presentation.

• Keep a list of questions you anticipate receiving (and prepare answers) • Embed Q&A sections in the script, between topics, or after a large amount of information has been shared.

We’re committed to being a true community partner, which is often expressed in the ways we give back. Just as valuable as monetary contributions, our employees donate countless volunteer hours serving on nonprofit boards, building homes, mentoring youth, collecting food and so much more.

We’re proud to be a local bank supporting our communities.

Virtual presentations will continue being a useful tool, so keep in mind: every presentation you craft should bring value to yourself and your audience. Remembering a few best practices should bring value to your audience and to you. BL Samuel Gilbert is a virtual training coordinator at Valvoline and a volunteer with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

traditionalbank.com

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CraveWorthy A Legend Lives On Never Say Die bourbon is inspired by the transatlantic story of the first Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred to win the Epsom Derby

BY SHANNON CLINTON

O

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ne spring night in 1951, on land leased for horse breeding within Hamburg Place farm near Lexington, a foal was born amidst high hopes. A grandson of Triple Crown winner War Admiral, the newborn struggled after a difficult delivery, and it was feared he might not live to see the morning.

As the story goes, horse owner John Bell retrieved a bottle of bourbon from a nearby tack room and poured some down the colt’s throat in an effort to revive him. It worked, and the horse was named Never Say Die. But the story doesn’t end there, not by a long shot. The colt began a training regimen and performed admirably in a few early races. Racing as a three-year-old, Never Say Die was listed at 33-to-1 odds for England’s 175th annual Epsom Derby.

He ended up passing every one of his more accomplished competitors to win by two lengths, becoming the first Kentuckybred horse to win the prestigious race.

A British woman named Mona Best was especially glad to hear of the horse’s win, as she’d loved the horse’s name so much that she sold her jewelry to place a sizeable bet on him. She used the winnings for a down payment on a house in Liverpool. Years later, her son, Pete Best, and his friends would meet at the house to practice with their band, the Quarrymen. The band later changed its name to the Beatles.

Today, Patrick Madden, a real estate developer and attorney who developed his family’s Hamburg Place farm into a successful retail shopping area, is taking another kind of gamble — launching his own bourbon label, Never Say Die. Madden recalled a time several years ago when he met with some friends from Cam-

bridge over a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle and shared the vignette about the horse.

“We said, ‘You know what? We ought to do a bourbon in honor of this horse,’” Madden said. “We wanted to make it something special and something different and we weren’t going to sacrifice quality.”

Launched in 2017, the bourbon is distilled in Kentucky from a traditional mashbill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley. It’s aged in the state for at least one year to meet the requirements to be labeled as a Kentucky bourbon whiskey. Barrels are then loaded onto ships headed for England, where the bourbon matures for at least another four years.

The idea, Madden said, is that the effects of ocean aging and exposure to two different climates add to the character of the final product. He isn’t just relying on conjecture, as others involved in the venture include bourbon industry veterans Shane Baker and Dr. Pat Heist, who recently sold their popular and fast-growing Danville-based brand, Wilderness Trail, to the Campari Group.

Rounding out the company cohorts are a couple of Madden’s friends from Cambridge and Brian Luftman, a friend from Lexington.

Luftman said he’s been convinced by the merits of ocean aging on the bourbon.

“We assumed that the ocean trip would change the profile and quality of the whiskey, but we have been blown away with the noticeable increase in flavor,” he said.

Judges at the fall 2023 Global Spirits Masters agreed, awarding Never Say Die a gold medal. Although the bourbon was judged blind, a cool backstory doesn’t hurt, either.

“In a crowded marketplace, it’s fun to give bourbon fans something they have never tried before ... with a story to tell while they share it with friends,” Luftman said.

PHOTO FURNISHED

Never Say Die, a newly launched bourbon named after the first Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred to win the Epsom Derby, is distilled in Kentucky and aged in England.

Some of the bourbon has been released in limited quantities, with more batches to follow, Madden said.

What are his impressions of the bourbon thus far?

“Very unique flavor, that’s what everybody says,” Madden said. “It’s very smooth going down and then it has kind of a little bit of a spicy-sweet aftertaste; caramel and leather. Everyone says something different when they try it, but everybody seems to think it’s unique and good.”

Madden said future plans include taking the brand global, and he’s lining up a net-

work of distributors across Europe.

While attending Stanford University in the mid-1980s, Madden introduced more than one Californian to the wonders of bourbon, at a time when bourbon wasn’t as popular as it is today.

“Most of my friends [from that time] say, ‘I remember you because you introduced me to bourbon, and you had that bottle of bourbon with the wax on it,’” he said.

Now that the Kentucky bourbon industry has worked wonders to make the spirit beloved and renowned, he’s glad to join the party with his own label. BL

Its producers say the effects of a transatlantic voyage and years spent aging in England’s temperate climate add to the character of Never Day Die bourbon.

PHOTOS FURNISHED

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QuickBites Desperados Cantina, a new venture from the co-owners of Goodfellas Pizzeria, recently opened in the Distillery District.

PHOTO FURNISHED

Rise N’ Brine, Desperados Cantina Highlight Recent Restaurant Openings

BY SHANNON CLINTON

A

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

particular menu item at a Lexington restaurant has sparked such a strong following among its customers that it’s getting its own spinoff.

Matt Borland, one of the owners of East End Tap & Table on East Main Street, mentioned that the restaurant’s chicken and biscuits have always been a hit during its weekend brunch.

“We decided to parlay that into a fastcasual concept,” he said.

Now open, the sister restaurant Rise N’ Brine Chicken Biscuits — located at 331 Romany Rd., in a former Hart’s Dry Cleaning building — will offer a full coffee/espresso bar featuring Nate’s Coffee and a breakfast sandwich menu that includes a handful of fried-chicken-and-biscuit variations. The biscuits are made from a cherished family recipe, and the chicken is marinated in a mixture of pickle brine and buttermilk.

Options include a cheddar cheesetopped chicken biscuit, another with cheddar and egg, and a BLT chicken biscuit served on an Everything But the Bagel seasoned biscuit. Savory toppings like mashed avocado and garlic aioli can be added; sweet options include a French toast biscuit battered, griddled, and served with cheese, egg, and, of course, fried chicken. Vegetarian offerings featuring fried tofu and plant-based sausage options will also be offered.

Hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, Borland said.

In other local food and beverage news, another local restaurant owner branching out with a new concept is Goodfellas Pizzeria. Co-owners Alex Coats and Eric Boggs have opened Desperados Cantina near the Distillery District location of their popular pizzeria. The restaurant is located at 1224 Manchester in the former location of Middle Fork Kitchen Bar. The duo opened the original Goodfella’s location at 110 N. Mill St. about 17 years ago with a relatively simple concept of pizza by the slice, available all day and late into the night. With the new restaurant, their aim is to “disrupt the norm,” according to its slogan, with scratch-made tacos, high-end tequilas, and mezcals and, naturally, margaritas, all served from 4 p.m. to midnight.

From the initial idea to its mid-December opening, the concept took about two years of planning, construction, and renovation, Coats said.

A new, all-season room with garage doors has been built to resemble an old service station, and at night, it will have more of a bar feel, with the main building maintaining a taqueria vibe. In early 2024, a weekend brunch will be launched with

BLX_Jan24_20.indd 7

churro waffles, mimosas, and more.

“We have some really unique tacos,” Coats said. “We’ve done some Korean pork belly tacos, and steak huitlacoche, which is a Latin-inspired taco delicacy. We have some shareable items.”

Another unique menu item is carne apache, a beef tartare-style preparation with chipotle and lime. Avocado fries with jalapeno ranch are also available as a side, and the restaurant’s massive chips and salsa bar boasts more than 20 house-made salsas and hot sauces.

“People can come and expect to have fun,” Coats said. “It’s going to be big volume, high energy … [and] more of a party atmosphere at night.”

Honey J’s Southern Eatery has opened at 1474 Anniston Dr., with chicken, Southern sides, and seafood.

A new Lexington location of Biscuit Belly was set to open in mid-December at 112 Lucille Dr. Blue Door Smokehouse began the process in early December of moving to a new location on National Avenue and is expected to reopen in a couple of months, a Facebook post on the restaurant’s page announced.

Ceci’s Grill House food truck is now offering Brazilian-style BBQ skewers, drinks, and other sides at 3220 Nicholasville Rd. Salt & Vinegar has bid a friendly adieu as the food concept within Blue Stallion Brewing Co., but newcomer Blue Rider has opened its doors with sandwiches, nachos, wraps, soups, pretzel bites, quesadillas, and more, according to the brewing company’s Facebook posts. Salt & Vinegar will maintain its presence in the Ethereal Public House.

After 12 years, Wine + Market’s owners announced via their newsletter that they would be closing the shop at the end of 2023 to spend more time with family.

Chocolate Holler announced that it wouldn’t reopen after Christmas, leaving the door open for future partnerships or selling the shop to a new owner.

Big changes are in motion at Broomwagon Coffee+Bikes, as its kitchen closed on Nov. 12, making way for a new restaurant joining the cafe space in January.

“It was a decision that was not made lightly, but one that will allow us to focus and meet the explosive growth in demand the bike shop has seen over the past four years,” a statement said.

LaRosa’s at 115 Southland Dr. closed in November.

Common Grounds closed its Richmond Road location on Nov. 19, though the Old Todds Road and Hartland locations remain open. BL Have a food- or beverage-related update to share? Please email info@smileypete.com.

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IndependentBusiness “These guys now climbing trees are going to be sales members or managers someday, and there would be no way we could grow our company to accommodate their long-term career paths.

That was our motivation in selling,” said Sara Hesley, co-founder of Town Branch Tree Experts.

PHOTO FURNISHED

Branching Out Recent sale of Town Branch Tree Experts to an international tree-care company set to grow the scope and services of the business

BY DAN DICKSON

A

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

s its name suggests, Town Branch Tree Experts has established itself as a leading tree service company in and around Lexington for its depth of knowledge and experience. Sara Hesley, who co-founded the “little mom-and-pop niche tree care operation” with her husband, Jesse Hesley, in 2011, attributes the business’ success to its holistic approach to tree care and its team of skilled, highly educated, internationally accredited professionals.

“We take care of the urban canopy in Lexington,” Sara said. “We approach our work from an environmental stewardship perspective. We are interested in preservation and keeping trees healthy by providing services that increase the safety and lifespan of our urban forest.”

That means professional training and lots of it. Town Branch has employed members trained at the highest level that an arborist can be trained. To reach that level means they know the health, physiology, and biology of trees.

“That means we work in a way that is going to preserve that tree’s health and its ability to heal from pruning, which will go a long way to ensure the future of that tree,” Sara said.

With its expert qualifications and reputa-

BLX_Jan24_20.indd 8

tion, Town Branch Tree Experts was sailing along. But, to grow the business to the next level and ensure long-term career stability for its employees, the Hesleys decided it was time to sell the business to an established international tree care company. Bartlett Tree Experts recently acquired Town Branch, and the two are joining forces to blend both companies’ professional experience and credentials.

Bartlett was founded in 1907 and is considered among the world’s leading scientific tree and shrub care companies. Bartlett has more than 100 offices in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland. The Bartlett family’s ownership of the company is in its third generation.

“Town Branch has been an incredible company with incredible people and culture,” said Vinny Rozette, a vice president and division manager for Bartlett based in the Pittsburgh area. “They align well with our vision for good, ethical arboriculture.”

Rozette says one change that will be seen is a greater emphasis on plant healthcare, which means ensuring that customers’ trees and ornamental landscapes have adequate nutrition and that insect and disease concerns are diagnosed and treated.

“They have really set the bar for scientific tree care in the industry,” Sara said. “They have a scientific laboratory division that is staffed by people who are doing amazing

PHOTO FURNISHED

Jesse Hesley, co-founder of Town Branch Tree Experts with his wife, Sara, works on a tree in Lexington.

research around anything and everything that impacts trees in the urban environment. They have contributed mightily to the industry.”

The Hesleys don’t expect a lot to change for the revised company. The couple will keep their company property on Price Road and become Bartlett’s landlord at the site.

Bartlett will absorb Town Branch’s staff of about 10 employees. A large team of Bartlett employees came to Lexington to help the Hesleys with the transition, systems, processes, and technology.

Sara likes that Bartlett places an emphasis on small local economies. “Rather than Bartlett acting like a mega-corporation with branches all over the place, they allow a lot of autonomy for the local offices to be part of the local economy.”

Why the sale to a giant like Bartlett? As

the CEO and the mom in the little momand-pop operation, Sara started thinking about what should be next for the company.

“We had our tenth anniversary as a business during COVID and didn’t get to celebrate, but I did a lot of thinking during that quiet lockdown,” she said.

Sara believed Town Branch had met its first set of 10-year goals but needed to plan for the next 10 and beyond. She wondered: How do we grow enough to keep providing good benefits for employees and longevity for their careers in Lexington?

“These guys now climbing trees are going to be sales members or managers someday, and there would be no way we could grow our company to accommodate their long-term career paths. That was our motivation in selling to Bartlett.”

Jesse worked for Bartlett for a time when the couple lived in San Francisco. “We modeled our little Lexington business on the high level of professionalism and scientific approach that is the Bartlett way,” Sara said.

“We must have made a very big impression on Bartlett for them to come in and buy us and onboard our team.”

Asked if the name change might cause Town Branch to lose some of its customers, Hesley said the companies sent customers a joint letter of explanation. She is confident that the relationships they have built over the years will remain intact and that the services will be ratcheted up a notch or two.

Sara has stepped away from the business and will focus more on the couple’s family and furthering her education. She is enrolled in a doctoral program.

“I am looking at organizational culture and how we can level up the environment that people work in so they can have a greater quality of life and be happier with work,” she said. “My experience as a business owner has inspired me to figure out how to scale these ideas for all types of businesses.” BL

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Wicked Technologies for the Win Tech ideas step into the spotlight at annual pitch competition

What could your business do with an extra $ 1,800?*

BY DAN DICKSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

lli Truttmann, founder and CEO of Wicked Technologies, has won first place in the 2023 finals of the 5 Across start-up business pitch contest. The 14th annual event was staged by Lexington’s Awesome Inc., which helps create and grow high-tech start-up businesses.

Truttmann’s presentation was made before a panel of local judges and a near-capacity audience at the Kentucky Theatre.

5 Across derives its name from its pitch contest format: Five contestants describe and promote their start-up company to a panel of judges for five minutes, using no more than five PowerPoint slides for a prize of $5,000 cash — plus another $50,000 in a “safe note,” which is a legally binding promise to allow an investor to buy a specified number of shares at an agreed-upon price in the future. The 5 Across event is akin to a local version of the TV show “Shark Tank.”

Showing the audience a picture of her late grandmother and telling the story of her illness, incapacitation, and the accompanying bedsores, Truttmann explained her company’s mission to develop a washable and sensorized Wicked-Smart Pad for the eldercare market. The pad detects excess moisture in the bed and helps keep a patient cool and dry while managing incontinence.

“One in 10 people who are bedridden will develop bedsores,” Truttmann told the audience. “Bedsores can begin to form in as little as five minutes after excess moisture appears in an ordinary pad or bedding and can cost a healthcare system up to $100,000 to treat.

Most insurance companies will not cover this cost.” Wicked Technologies is testing its patented technology on beds in various healthcare facilities around the country.

After huddling following the presentations, the judges felt Truttmann’s presentation was the best, with one saying the decision was unanimous. Contest judge Nate Morris, founder and former CEO of Lexington tech giant Rubicon Technologies, was quite impressed with Truttmann’s presentation. “You had that experience with your grandmother and now have experience with this category,” Morris said. “We know how much you have been grinding, and the grit you’ve shown, and all the ups and downs you have had. We believe you have the DNA to make this happen in a big way.”

“I am really grateful for the support I have gotten,” Truttmann said. “My work comes from a place of love and concern.

And as a granddaughter, I was able to find a solution to a problem. I encourage all of you to look into your hearts and into your everyday lives and see what will make your lives or the lives of others better.”

In an online presentation for the WickedSmart Pad, Truttmann says the population is aging and that eldercare is getting harder to manage. “This is exactly the place for technology to step in,” she says. A patented detection and mitigation system is in place to send immediate alerts of a moisture event.

Here is how it works: When a spillage occurs, the first layer of the Wicked-Smart Pad wicks the moisture away from a patient’s skin. The liquid then travels by way of a thread into a sensor that detects the

BLX_Jan24_20.indd 9

PHOTO FURNISHED

Alli Truttmann, founder and CEO of Wicked Technologies, won the 5 Across pitch competition with a technology-based bed pad that senses excess moisture.

moisture. A caregiver can remotely receive detailed information such as bed location, patient name, and bedding condition, all over WiFi. Multiple pads can be monitored at once, and historical data can be retrieved.

An anti-microbial third layer in the pad absorbs the moisture, keeping the bedridden person dry.

The second-place winner in the tech start-up competition was Dr. Stevens Bonhomme and his company, Feedcoyote, which helps freelancers connect, network, collaborate, and manage projects globally.

The three runners-up included Jennifer Mason and her all-in-one platform called Titlewise, which streamlines traditional real estate title research; Waleed Bahouth of Kyndly, which strives to make health insurance access and sign-ups easier for everyone; and Aram Street, who pitched his start-up called CleanSpace, which uses intuitive software applications for members of the cleaning industry, which is often plagued with high turnover and low morale.

Winning the contest is significant for a small start-up but what all entrepreneurs learn along the way, and what they teach others is more lasting. “Some of the best value that you can get as an entrepreneur on a stage like this is the connections, mentorship, and the investor opportunities after the event,” said Brian Raney, founder, and CEO of Awesome Inc. “All of the contestants will make connections that could lead to future investment of perhaps millions of dollars.”

Raney has a favorite success story about these 5 Across finals, and it goes back to the very first finals event in 2010. Tony Schmidt had created a company called APOonline which helps national fraternities consolidate their active and alumni membership information, collect dues and donations, and manage internal communication on a single platform.

Schmidt left Lexington for Seattle where he went to work for Microsoft. “A supersmart, brilliant kid. UK Magna Cum Laude,” said Raney. “He kept APOonline growing over the years and just a couple of years ago re-located to Lexington because his company had grown enough for him to quit his job at Microsoft. It is now his full-time gig. That company is what he pitched at 5 Across 13 years ago and he still likes being part of the entrepreneurial system here.” BL

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Entrepreneur Sees Success as a Team Effort SalesRiver’s Koby Hastings honored as a Kentucky Emerging Entrepreneur, credits contributions from a dedicated team

BY LIZ CAREY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

K

oby Hastings, the founder and CEO of SalesRiver, does not consider being named one of Kentucky’s Emerging Entrepreneurs this year an individual achievement.

Hastings was one of four individuals at three companies named Emerging Entrepreneurs at the Kentucky Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame ceremony in late November. The award recognizes leading entrepreneurs across the commonwealth who have made an impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, said Brian Raney, a founder of the business incubator Awesome Inc. and one of the Hall of Fame’s leaders.

But that recognition wouldn’t be possible without the help of his team, Hastings said.

“I was honored to be a recipient, but I didn’t really feel like the award was mine,” Hastings said. “Our company wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for the people who were a part of the journey over the past five years.”

Hastings, a 30-year-old Kentucky native, started SalesRiver as the online platform Leadrilla Inc. in 2018. The website connected independent local insurance agents with consumers shopping for insurance products.

Over the first four years, he said, the platform quickly grew from just a handful of insurance agents to more than 3,000 agents. He said that’s when large insurance carriers and larger insurance agencies started to take notice.

“They wanted to use the software that we had built to power Leadrilla because nothing like it existed in the market,” he said. “We

decided to basically take the software that powers Leadrilla, extract it, and sell it to large insurance carriers and agencies.”

That software became SalesRiver, a business channel within Leadrilla. Launched last February, SalesRiver is now used by approximately 20,000 insurance agents nationally, he said.

Leadrilla places ads about general insurance products, and then delivers the leads generated from those ads to the insurance agents. The software does multiple checks on the lead to ensure that the information contained in it is accurate and that the lead has not previously been generated by the system.

Additionally, the platform reaches out to the customer via text message and email to let them know the agent will be contacting them, while reaching out to the agent to let them know they have a live lead.

The company is the latest in a number of business ventures Hastings has developed since he was a teenager.

Growing up in Louisville, Hastings said he was a kid into all sorts of sports. But when he turned 15, he took a web-development class, and everything changed.

“Every single day, I got home from school and would go to my room, get on my computer, and build websites,” he said. “When I turned 16, I wanted a truck, so I figured, why don’t I go make money building websites?

I started my first business when I was 16 in Louisville, door-knocking businesses on Bardstown Road and building websites for a few hundred dollars.”

When he went to college at Eastern Kentucky University, he passed off his clients to other developers he knew so he could focus on studying computer science. After graduation, he joined a start-up company focusing on the Bitcoin/Blockchain space as its lead engineer. After two-and-a-half years there, he started his own blockchain development firm, building software for large banks and corporations in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

The profits he made from that venture funded starting up Leadrilla, he said.

“We had some clients we were doing some work for at the time whose contracts were about to

phase out,” he said. “Instead of going out and finding new customers to build software for, we decided to take the capital we had and go all-in on the vision of Leadrilla.”

Since then, the company, located in the Square in downtown Lexington, has grown to more than 20 employees. Hastings credits his team with the platform’s success and a reason it stood out to the Kentucky Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame selection committee.

The company’s employee headcount, its growth, and the impact it has had on the insurance industry are some of the reasons Hastings was named one of the state’s emerging entrepreneurs, Raney said.

Koby Hastings, founder and CEO of SalesRiver, is a Louisville native who started in web development as a teen.

PHOTO FURNISHED

“It’s an award that is meant to recognize up-and-coming entrepreneurs throughout our state and ideally identify entrepreneurs who will someday, hopefully, be in consideration for the Hall of Fame inductee award,” Raney said. “[Hastings] did check a lot of the boxes for the criteria that we were assessing.

This company has been growing very quickly and has done a great job of managing the growth and raising the capital to get to where they are today.”

For Hastings, the next steps are to continue building out the SalesRiver platform and enhancing its customers’ experience.

“We have a handful of Fortune 100 companies that either use us actively or are in the process of going live,” Hastings said. “Our core mission is to provide a platform that allows these large enterprise agencies and carriers to manage their entire sales and marketing teams there. We want to automate a lot of that process, but also give them insights and visibility into things that historically they’ve never been able to see that allows them to make data-driven decisions that will foster growth.”

And doing that will mean relying on the team that has developed the product so far, he said.

“Right after the event, we brought the trophy straight to the office and sat it in our little café area,” he said. “I would love to win the ultimate Hall of Fame Award, but in order for us to win, we need people guiding our company to help us get to where we want it to be.

If we focus on that, awards like the Hall of Fame will come naturally.” BL

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Local Lending Outlook While Central Kentucky is insulated from the brunt of national lending trends, soft demand, rising interest rates, and limited inventory continue to impact the market PHOTO FURNISHED

BY LIZ CAREY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

B

y the end of 2023, commercial and multifamily mortgage borrowing and lending were expected to fall by nearly 50 percent nationally. In Central Kentucky, however, that doesn’t seem to be the case, local mortgage brokers said.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage borrowing and lending are expected to reach only $442 billion nationally in 2023, a 46 percent drop from 2022’s total borrowing and lending of $816 billion.

“The logjam in the commercial real estate markets that began last summer has remained firmly in place,” Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Head of Commercial Real Estate Research, said in a statement. “Questions about supply and demand dynamics for some properties, the rise and volatility in interest rates, and the low number of transactions and coinciding lack of price discovery have all contributed to a marked decline in demand for new mortgages. Unfortunately, those and other factors will likely continue to exert downward pressure on borrowing and lending volumes in the coming quarters.”

Jason Heflin, branch manager of Ruoff Mortgage in Lexington, said local investors are adapting to a rapidly changing market, but commercial and multifamily mortgages locally haven’t seen a similar decline.

With prices and interest rates climbing, the costs of commercial investing have been climbing, he said. And while commercial real estate is down because of the increase in empty office buildings, investors are still buying multifamily units, he said.

“Commercial real estate, as in business buildings and office space, is slowing because of the amount of empty space available right now,” he said. “That can be

attributed to COVID and how many people are working remotely… a lot of banks are starting to pull back and be a little more conservative when it comes to commercial mortgages right now.”

For multifamily buildings, he said, there doesn’t seem to be any slowdown in the area.

“To my knowledge, the number of rental units has been increasing in Central Kentucky,” he said, noting a number of multifamily apartment complexes going in around the city. “There are not enough homes for the people who want to live in Fayette County right now. This area is always a desired place to come to and live.”

The past three years, he said, has seen an influx in investors coming in from outside the state looking to buy affordable homes in an area with a lower cost of living.

According to MBA, multifamily lending is expected to drop 41 percent to $285 billion this year, down from $480 billion. MBA expects commercial real estate to increase to $559 billion, a nearly 19 percent increase. Of that, officials said, multifamily lending will reach about $339 billion.

“Commercial mortgage originations have historically followed property prices, and the uncertainty about the future path of interest rates has been a contributing factor to the current slowdown,” Woodwell said. “If interest rates and cap rates were to fall, that should help boost values and promote borrowing. If they remain higher for longer, as is increasingly likely, that will suppress activity.

This uncertainty is a contributing factor in today’s slowdown.”

Heflin said that he didn’t see that happening in Central Kentucky.

“I would be shocked if we had those kinds of numbers,” he said. “Unless we had an economic crash, I doubt we’ll ever see a 46 percent decrease.”

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On the residential side in our area, mortgages have slowed as the number of homes for sale has dropped. According to Federal Reserve Economic Data, as of September 2023, there were 4,260 homes listed for sale, compared to 5,936 homes for sale in June 2022.

MBA is predicting that interest rates on mortgages will continue to fall, hitting 6 percent by the end of 2024 and reach the mid-5 percent range going into 2025.

Lesley Fluke, regional president in Central Kentucky for Field & Main, said lending is down on the residential side in Central Kentucky.

“Residential mortgage lending is slow and significantly impacted by the lack of inventory in Central Kentucky,” Fluke said.

“There is demand in most markets but no inventory. The third quarter was Field & Main Bank’s busiest quarter in mortgage production this year. The mortgage pipeline and pre-approvals continue to be strong, but buyers are beginning to wait in hopes that interest rates will decline which may cause an uptick in listings.”

For those interested in multifamily properties, Fluke said, the higher cost of borrowing isn’t stopping all multifamily mortgages.

“The higher interest rate environment is stressing net operating income due to the higher cost of borrowing, and rental rates have hit ceilings in some markets,” she said.

“However, Field & Main Bank is actively financing multifamily acquisitions and refinances throughout Kentucky, Southern Indiana, and Cincinnati.”

Heflin said recent changes in Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac down payment requirements on multifamily units may spur investment into duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes. Previously, those multifamily homes required between 15 and 20 percent

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down. Now, he said, if the buyer lives in one of the units, the down payment can be as low as 5 percent.

While that may not be appealing to some buyers, he said, it may appeal to others.

“For millennials, they may use that as a starter home and set aside the income from the other units,” he said.

Nationally, Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac’s apartment lending volume has been falling.

In the third quarter, multifamily lending fell 27 percent over the same time in 2022, the MBA said, with apartment lending falling 50 percent. As a result of market conditions, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced in November that it would be limiting financing caps for the governmentsponsored entities to $70 billion each for Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac, for a total of $140 billion.

The agency said it will continue to monitor the multifamily mortgage market and increase the caps when needed but will not reduce the announced limits if the 2024 market is smaller than expected. The caps will not apply to loans supporting workforce housing.

“The 2024 multifamily loan caps… will promote the enterprises’ continued strong commitment to addressing the need for affordable rental housing,” FHFA Director Sandra L. Thompson said in a release announcing the loan limits. “The workforce housing exemption should encourage conventional borrowers to commit to preserving rents at affordable levels for extended periods of time.”

Fluke said she expects mortgage demand to continue to grow, however.

“Field & Main Bank continues to experience strong loan demand in each of its markets,” she said. “We anticipate loan growth to continue in 2024 but at a slower pace.” BL

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Accounting Firms Ranked by number of certified public accountants on staff December 2023 % of Clients

% of Business Firm Name Address Phone Website

Number of Licensed CPAs in Lexington/ in Firm

1

Dean Dorton 250 W. Main St., Ste 1400 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 255-2341 deandorton.com

2

Please email questions regarding our BizLists to bizlists@smileypete.com

Top Local Official/ Title

Year founded locally/ Headquarters/ Number of Local Offices

Tax

Accounting/ Financial Reporting

Auditing

Consulting

Other

Individual

Business

Other

73/ 137

42%

10%

18%

30%

0%

13%

72%

15%

David Bundy (President & CEO)

1979/ Lexington, KY/ 3

Blue & Co. LLC 250 W. Main St., Ste. 2900 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 253-1100 blueandco.com

23/ 188

28%

11%

27%

30%

4%

17%

80%

3%

Jennifer Miloszewski (Director)

1970/ Carmel, IN/ 10

3

RFH PLLC 300 W. Vine St., Ste. 2800 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 231-1800 rfhcpas.com

21/ 21

38%

5%

55%

1%

1%

22%

69%

9%

Amelie Larson (Managing Partner)

2004/ Lexington, KY/ 1

4

Crowe LLP 541 Darby Creek Road, Ste. 140 Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 263-7344 crowe.com

18/ 1,478

40%

0%

37%

23%

0%

25%

70%

5%

Jennifer Burke (Partner)

1951/ Chicago/ 1

5

Radwan, Brown & Company, PSC P.O. Box 1485 Lexington, KY 40588 (859) 233-4146 radwanbrown.com

13/ 13

60%

15%

0%

20%

5%

30%

65%

5%

Troy Mulligan, Randy Hatfield, Leah Christopher, Stephen Horn (Partners)

1987/ Lexington, KY/ 1

6

Cloyd & Associates PSC 2410 Greatstone Point Lexington, KY 40504 (859) 223-3318 cloydcpa.com

9*/ 9

60%

20%

15%

5%

0%

50%

50%

0%

J. Michael Cloyd, Madgel Miller (Partners)

2015/ London, KY/ 3

7

Hisle and Company 277 E. High St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 259-3403 hisle-cpa.com

8*/ 8

45%

15%

15%

13%

10%

30%

60%

10%

Kent Hisle (Managing Partner)

1975/ Lexington, KY/ 1

8

FWK and Associates PLLC 401 Lewis Hargett Circle, Ste. 110 Lexington, KY 40503 (859) 219-0098 fwpllc.com

7/ 7

68%

22%

0%

10%

0%

50%

40%

10%

Jesse Kelly, CPA (Managing Partner)

2000/ Lexington, KY/ 1

9

Besten & Dieruf PLLC 190 Market St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 254-4427 banddcpa.com

6*/ 6

55%

10%

25%

5%

5%

25%

70%

10%

Chris Besten and Andrew Dieruf (Partners)

2011/ Lexington, KY/ 1

9

Miller, Mayer, Sullivan & Stevens LLP 2365 Harrodsburg Road, Ste. A-100 Lexington, KY 40504 (859) 223-3095 mmssllp.com

6*/ 15

30%

25%

30%

5%

10%

20%

70%

10%

Jan Marshall, Alyssa Winfrey (Co-Managing Partners)

1973/ Lexington, KY/ 1

9

SKW CPAs & Advisors PLLC 183 Walton Ave. Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 721-1820 skwcpas.com

6*/ 6

50%

25%

10%

15%

0%

30%

70%

0%

Donna J. Smith (Managing Partner) Kelley Kirk, Jimmy Webster, Tyler Burge (Partners)

2015/ Lexington, KY/ 1

12

Kring, Ray, Farley, Riddle PSC 444 E. Main St., Ste. 203 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 231-0541 krfrcpa.com

5*/ 5

75%

15%

0%

5%

5%

55%

35%

10%

E. Hunt Ray, III, Tammy D. Farley, Christoper W. Riddle (Shareholders)

1973/ Lexington, KY/ 1

13

MCF Advisors 333 W. Vine St. Ste. 1740 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 967-0999 mcfadvisors.com

4/ 4

55%

40%

0%

5%

0%

55%

45%

0%

Dave Harris, Jr. (CEO)

2000/ Lexington, KY/ 3

Rank

TIE

TIE

TIE

Source: Information was obtained through the Business Lexington questionnaire and firm websites. Other firms may exist, but were unable to provide information by deadline.

Footnote: * *Previous figures. Did not provide updated information by deadline.

Get business news when it breaks.

Sign up for Business Lexington’s Weekly Wire at www.bizlex.com.

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JANUARY 2024

WWW.BUSINESSLEXINGTON.COM

13

Nonprofit Fundraising Ranked by total funds raised in the 2023 GoodGiving Challenge December 2023 Organization Name Address, Phone Website

Total Raised/ Number of Donations

Category

Top Official

Rank

1

God’s Pantry Food Bank 1685 Jaggie Fox Way Lexington, KY 40511 (859) 255-6592 godspantry.org

$88,345/ 258

Human Services

Michael Halligan (CEO)

2

Community Response Coalition of Kentucky 153 Patchen Drive, Ste. 39 Lexington, KY 40517 (800) 647-9217 crc4me.org

$73,115/ 72

Human Services

Dominique Olbert (President, Board of Directors)

3

Leeds Center for the Arts 37 N. Main St. Winchester, KY 40391 (859) 744-6437 leedscenter.org

$48,753/ 215

Arts & Culture

Bo List (Director of Development); Mary Kate Knight (Director of Operations)

4

STRIDE Program 150 Maryland Ave. Winchester, KY 40391 (859) 595-5292 strideky.org

$47,878/ 159

Human Services

Darren Scott Diguette (Executive Director)

5

Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras 161 N. Mill St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 254-0796 ckyo.org

$45,132/ 475

Arts & Culture

Amelia Groetsch (Executive Director)

6

Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 124 N. Ashland Ave. Lexington, KY 40502 (859) 268-0672 jewishlexington.org

$43,533/ 37

Community

Mindy Haas (Executive Director)

Blessing Hands 106 Timber Lane Morehead, KY 40351 (606 207-4785 blessinghands.org

$42,203/ 87

8

Kentucky Refugee Ministries 501 W. Sixth St., Ste. 250 Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 226-5661 kyrm.org

$35,240/ 203

Human Services

Mary Cobb (Lexington Director)

9

Lexington Leadership Foundation 422 Codell Drive Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 277-3087 lexlf.org

$35,184/ 72

Community

Christian Postel (CEO)

Rank

7

Education

Betty Cutts (President and Founder)

Please email questions regarding our BizLists to bizlists@smileypete.com

Organization Name Address, Phone Website

Total Raised/ Number of Donations

10

Providence Montessori School 1209 Texaco Rd. Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 255-7330 providencemontessoriky.org

11

Category

Top Official

$33,924/ 259

Education

Joan Young (Head of School)

Glean Kentucky 628 N. Broadway Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 444-4769 gleanky.org

$30,780/ 174

Human Services

Ben Southworth (Executive Director)

12

Step By Step, Inc. 3320 Tates Creek Rd., Ste. 200 Lexington, KY 40502 (859 258-7837 sbslex.org

$30,622/ 163

Human Services

Tanya Torp (Executive Director)

13

Clark County Community Services 30 Taylor Ave. Winchester, KY 40391 (859) 744-5034 clarkcountycommunityservices.org

$27,759/ 92

Human Services

Laci Scarboro (Executive Director)

14

Lexington Rescue Mission 535 W. Second St. Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 381-9600 lexingtonrescue.org

$27,386/ 164

Human Services

Laura Carr (Executive Director)

15

Lighthouse Ministries 190 Spruce St. Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 259-3434 lighthouselex.org

$26,191/ 52

Human Services

Tay Henderson (Executive Director)

16

Rowland Arts Center 57 S. Main St., Ste. 2 Winchester, KY 40391 (859) 595-0268 rowlandartscenter.org

$25,428/ 39

Arts & Culture

Joseph Miller (Executive Director)

17

CivicLex 141 E. Main St., Ste. 450 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 536-1334 civiclex.org

$25,330/ 117

Community

Richard Young (Executive Director)

Source: Information obtained from goodgiving.org, individual organization websites, and the Kentucky Secretary of State. Footnote: Ranking includes nonprofits participating in the 2023 GoodGiving Challenge that raised $25,000 or more.

COMING IN FEBRUARY THE FEBRUARY 2024 ISSUE OF BUSINESS LEXINGTON WILL FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES WHILE FEATURING THE FOLLOWING BIZLISTS: • COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES • ARCHITECTURE FIRMS • REAL ESTATE LAW FIRMS AD MATERIALS DEADLINE: JAN. 26 ISSUE DROP DATE: FEB. 5 FOR ADVERTISING INFO CALL (859) 266-6537 OR EMAIL ADVERTISE@SMILEYPETE.COM.

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Wealth Management Firms Ranked by number of advisors in Lexington area December 2023 Firm Name Address, Phone Website

Number of Local Advisors/ Other Staff

Top Official

Headquarters

Rank

1

Baird Private Wealth Management City Center 100 W. Main St., Ste. 500 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 255-9681 rwbaird.com

41/ 20

Stephen Grossman (Managing Director)

Milwaukee, WI

2

Community Trust and Investment Co. 100 E. Vine St., Ste. 501 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 389-5300 ctbi.com/investing

30*/ 27*

3

MERRILL 300 W. Vine St., 10th Floor Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 231-5000 ml.com

26/ 23

Mollie Brennan (Resident Director)

New York, NY

4

Keystone Financial Group 527 Wellington Way, Ste. 225 Lexington, KY 40503 (859) 317-8316 keystoneky.com

22/ 6

Mike Kretz, AAMS; Toby R. Jenkins, MS, CFP; Tim S. Jenkins, CFP

5

Meridian Wealth Management, LLC 250 W. Main St., Ste. 3150 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 543-4516 meridianwealthllc.com

18*/ 9*

Greg Couch, AIF (Founder/CEO)

6

MCF 333 W. Vine St., Ste. 1740 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 967-0880 mcfadvisors.com

16*/ 15*

David L. Harris, Jr. (CEO)

Lexington, KY

6

Wells Fargo Advisors 333 E. Main St., Ste. 120 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 243-5013 wellsfargoadvisors.com

16*/ 7*

Justin Schappe (Managing Director/ WFA Market Leader)

St. Louis, MO

8

WealthSouth 106 W. Vine St., Ste. 600 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 523-2600 wealthsouth.com

14*/ 5*

Thomas Hager (President); Bill Howell (Senior VP/ Lexington Market Director)

Danville, KY

9

American Trust Company 2353 Alexandria Drive, Ste. 100 Lexington, KY 40504 (859) 411-8781 americantrust.com

10*/ 275*

Kevin Avent, CFP, AIF (Managing Director)

Lexington, KY

10

UBS Global Wealth Management 307 S. Ashland Ave. Lexington, KY 40502 (859) 335-8107 local.ubs.com/lexington-ky

8/ 6

WesBanco Trust & Investment Services 400 E. Vine St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 244-7204 wesbanco.com

8*/ 8

10

Meritrust Wealth Management 333W. Vine St., Ste. 3000 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 514-7800 meritrustwm.com

10

Rank

TIE

TIE

TIE

10 TIE

TIE

TIE

14 TIE

14 TIE

Number of Local Advisors/ Other Staff

14

Bank of the Bluegrass 215 Southland Drive Lexington, KY 40503 (859) 280-3853 bankoftheblugrass.com/ wealthmanagement

14

Top Official

Headquarters

5/ 4

Bill Allen (CEO); Tom Greinke (President) Jerry Johnson (Senior VP/Director of Wealth Management)

Lexington, KY

Joule Financial 1216 S. Broadway Lexington, KY 40504 (859) 881-0777 joulefinancial.com

5/ 2

Quint Tatro (Managing Director/ CIO); Daniel Czulno (Managing Director/ COO)

Paris, KY

18

Central Bank & Trust 300 W. Vine St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 253-6423 centralbank.com/ personal-wealth-management

4*/ 20*

Barry Hickey (EVP), Kathy Wilson Gibson (Senior VP), Tim Fyffe (Senior VP), Shelia Parks (VP)

Lexington, KY

Lexington, KY

18

Dupree Financial Group 237 E. Main St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 233-0400 dupreefinancial.com

4*/ 5*

Tom Dupree (Founder)

Lexington, KY

Lexington, KY

18

E.S. Barr & Company 1999 Richmond Road, Ste. 18 Lexington, KY 40502 (859) 266-1300 esbarr.com

4*/ 2*

Edward S. Barr (President)

Lexington, KY

18

Wallace Hart Capital Management 1792 Alysheba Way, Ste. 390 Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 300-3030 wallacehart.com

4/ 2

Jeremy Wallace (Founder/CIO); Andrew Hart (Founder/Chief Planning Officer)

Lexington, KY/

18

VFG Wealth Management and Benefit Solutions 131 Prosperous Place Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 312-1216 vfginvest.com

4/ 2

Adam Legate (Principal); Kevin Kitchen (Partner); Jason Young (Partner)

Lexington, KY

23

Alpha Financial Partners 710 E. Main St., Ste. 110 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 785-2660 alphaky.com

3/ 2

Marc Cobane, Aaron Ammerman (Co-Founders/Partners); Greg Turcotte (Co-Founder/CCO);

Lexington, KY

Dean Dorton Wealth Management 250 W. Main St., Ste. 1110 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 425-7780 deandortonwealth.com

3/ 1

David Parks, CBA/AVB (Senior Wealth Advisor)

Lexington, KY

23

Kelly Capital Group 80 Codell Drive, Ste. 240 Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 273-0200 kellycapitalgroup.com

3/ 1

Patrick J. Kelly, CFP (Founder); Austin Black, CFP; Denver Haddix, Jr.

Lexington/ Georgetown, KY

23

Russell Capital Management 476 E. High St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 254-5225 russcap.com

3/ 3

Jack Russell (CEO)

Lexington, KY

23

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Wealth Management & Trust 200 S. Fifth St., Ste. 100N Louisville, KY 40202 (502) 625-1005 syb.com/wealth-management

3*/ 3*

Ja Hillebrand (Chairman/CEO) Phil Poindexter (President); Kathy C. Thompson (Director of Wealth Management & Trust)

Louisville, KY

23

University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union 1730 Alysheba Way Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 264-4200 ukfcu.org

3/ 2

Joel Aran (VP of Retail Branches & Financial Advising)

Lexington KY

29

Cumberland Valley National Bank 1721 Nicholasville Road Lexington, KY 40503 (859) 268-1189 cvinvestments.net

2/ 4

Whitney Greer (Senior Investment Executive/Program Manager)

Lexington, KY

29

Monticello Wealth Management Monticello Banking Company 997 Governors Lane, Ste. 125 Lexington, KY 40513 (859) 268-2411 mbcbank.com/personalbanking/wealth-management

2/ 1

Bill Hall (Financial Advisor); Kezia Ramsey (Financial Advisor)

Monticello, KY

NR

PNC Private Bank 301 E. Main St., Ste. 300 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 281-5372 pnc.com

NA/ NA

Michael Leland (Managing Director)

Pittsburg, PA

Lexington, KY

TIE

TIE

TIE

TIE

TIE

TIE

TIE

23 TIE

Jason Pryor (Market Director)

Weehawken, NJ

TIE

Barry W. Norfleet, JD, MBA (Senior VP/Senior Trust Officer); Thomas E. Hatton (VP/Senior Investments Officer)

Wheeling, WV

8*/ 6*

Megan Williams (COO)

Louisville, KY

Family Wealth Group, LLC 2704 Old Rosebud Road #180 Lexington, KY 40509 (859) 309-0349 thefamilywealthgroup.com

8/ 15

Donald E. Bentley (Financial Advisor/ Owner); Jeff Sheppard (Financial Advisor/ Owner); Brian K. Staples (COO/CFO)

Lexington, KY

Asio Capital, LLC 220 Lexington Green, Ste. 420 Lexington, KY 40503 (859) 785-4131 asiocapital.com

5*/ 1*

R. Tracy Osborne (Founder/CEO); John C. Cheshire (Founder/CIO); Ryan M. Gray (Founder/Senior Wealth Strategist); Erin Hershey Serrate (Founder/Senior Wealth Strategist)

NA

John V. Boardman, III, CFP, CPWA (Founder/ CEO); Andrew J. Reynolds, CFP (COO); Bryan Burton, CFP (Partner/Director of Portfolio Strategy); Cameron Hamilton, CFP (Partner/Director of Financial Planning)

NA

Ballast, Inc. 360 E. Vine St., Ste. 400 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 226-0625 ballastplan.com

Firm Name Address, Phone Website

TIE

Andy D. Waters, CTFA (President/CEO)

5*/ 7

Please email questions regarding our BizLists to bizlists@smileypete.com

TIE

TIE

TIE

TIE

TIE

Source: Source: Information was obtained through the Business Lexington questionnaire and firm websites. Footnote: *Previous figures. Did not provide updated information by deadline. Key: NA = Not available

BLX_Jan24_20.indd 14

12/19/23 12:23 PM

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12/19/23 8/28/23 12:23 6:03 PM

16

JANUARY 2024

WWW.BUSINESSLEXINGTON.COM

BizLexQ&A

Jeff Wiseman & Pete Wright The founders of Barrel House Distilling Co. on bringing craft distillation to Lexington and building a new distillery International Spirits Competition. [Governor Beshear] came to Pikeville in September and announced the official kick-off of the Moonshine Trail. It’s primarily six distilleries and three other stops. If we can get people up into the mountains, I think they’re going to want to come back. The other folks on the trail have done an amazing job. They have a national marketing budget for next year that blows me away. You’re going to start seeing advertisements in 2024.

We’ve got a strong connection to that part of the country. My family is from Cecil County, though I’ve never lived there.

Wright: I lived in Floyd and Johnson Counties.

Wiseman: We want to do what’s best for Eastern Kentucky and try to help there.

BY CAMPBELL WOOD

I

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

n 2008, Jeff Wiseman and Pete Wright, the owners of Barrel House Distilling Company, brought bourbon distillation back to Lexington after over a half-century of its absence from the city. Now they’re doing the same thing for Cynthiana in Harrison County, which, like Lexington, has a bourbon legacy and no distillery for more than 50 years.

“The distilling history runs deep, and the people there embraced us to a point we never would have dreamed of,” Wiseman said.

In 2006, over a game of poker, Wiseman, Wright, and a few friends discussed the idea of starting a bourbon distillery in Lexington. The two owners saw it through.

They acquired a 1,500-square-foot building at the then-deserted and dilapidated James E. Pepper Distillery complex on Manchester Street and began operations. “We were here six years by ourselves,” Wiseman said of the now-thriving Distillery District. Barrel House has since garnered several awards for its spirits at national competitions, most recently with its Barrel House Select bourbon winning a double gold from the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

A turning point came in the summer of 2017, when Forbes magazine listed Barrel House’s RockCastle bourbon whiskey as one of the eight best bourbons produced in Kentucky. Barrel House was the only craft distillery on the list. “That’s when we started seeing people driving their cars from Chicago, Wisconsin, Florida — or flying private planes down here with their buddies to pick up a bottle,” Wright said. Barrel House releases small batches of RockCastle bourbon twice a year.

Barrel House’s first product was its Pure Blue Vodka, a spirit that requires no aging.

That was followed by Devil John Moonshine, another unaged product. In 2012, they introduced their first aged product, Oak Rum. The first bourbon release came in 2015 with RockCastle, named for the county where they collect the spring water used to make Barrel House’s spirits. Their grains (white corn, yellow corn, wheat, barley, and rye) are all grown in Kentucky, except for the occasional needed supplement of barley grown elsewhere. Barrel House is a Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour member and only distributes its spirits in the state.

Barrel House’s Cynthiana distillery will also join the Bourbon Trail Craft Tour. The new distillery will be next door to South Fork Malt House, the only malt house in Kentucky. Maiden City Brewery is just two doors down. A groundbreaking event was held in November at the six-acre site. The $1.8 million distillery complex will include rickhouses and an event space with a kitchen.

With a greater production capacity, it will take over the making of Barrel House Select bourbon, the company’s best-seller.

The Lexington location will focus on producing RockCastle bourbon and continue

BLX_Jan24_20.indd 16

Devil John Moonshine was named for one of your ancestors, Pete. What’s that story? Wright: Devil John was a Wyatt Earp kind of character in Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, born around 1840. He lived into the 1920s. He served as a lawman and also took his turn at distilling over the years, like many people in the hills of Appalachia. He was well known throughout Eastern Kentucky and western Virginia. We have a recipe from my family that we suspect would be similar to what Devil John made. And so, we wanted to honor Devil John with that moonshine.

PHOTO FURNISHED

Barrel House co-founders Jeff Wiseman, left, and Pete Wright at the November groundbreaking for its new distillery in Cynthiana. The first phase of the $1.8 million project is expected to be operational in late 2024.

to produce vodka and moonshines. The adjacent Elkhorn Tavern will also remain open.

Lead distiller and operations manager Andrew Tyma has developed a new product, King Solomon Rye Whiskey, and expects to release the first batch in January. Tyma has also been making an apple brandy using apple cider from Wise Bird Cider Co., another business located in the Distillery District. Wiseman said the distillery had nearly 25,000 visitors in 2022. Within five years of operation, the founders project that the Cynthiana location will attract 12,000 visitors annually and generate $2.7 million in local economic impact. We spoke with Wright and Wiseman about their plans.

What compelled you to build a new

distillery in Cynthiana? Wright: Essentially, the demand in the bourbon industry.

We’ve been in the business for over 15 years and have seen the business steadily grow.

While we have been very happy at our current location, demand has outstripped our capacity to produce. Looking to the future, we realized we need a larger facility to continue to meet future demand. Cynthiana has a rich distilling heritage, and they want to grow their tourism. The support from the community made us very interested in that location.

What can you tell us about Kentucky’s Moonshine Trail? Wiseman: I’d first like to mention that our moonshine, Devil John Moonshine, won an award at the Denver

There seems to be a lot of mutual support among bourbon distillers. Wright: The cooperation with both large and small distilleries has been wonderful. Everyone realizes that what is beneficial for one is beneficial to all. We were first brought into the Kentucky Distillers’ Association in 2012.

Chris Morris of Woodford Reserve, Jimmy Russell [Wild Turkey]; all the major distillers came down to our little distillery to welcome us, and from that point forward we’ve felt very supported by the industry. And, of course, in the craft movement, all of us little guys are always looking to try to aid one another.

Wiseman: Lexington also just became a gateway city for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to distilleries located in Fayette County.

Bardstown is the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” and Lexington now has the tagline, “Bourbon Land.” It’s beginning to be promoted heavily. If you look at the history of bourbon in Kentucky, it comes back to Central Kentucky.

Wright: It’s a far-reaching industry when you look at the farms and the barrels and the whole gamut that it takes to make bourbon.

Our barrels are from Kelvin Cooperage, made in Louisville. They’re using a lot of Kentucky oak, and that impacts loggers, foresters, transporters, and sawmills.

Wiseman: I just did some grain calculations and based on bushels that we’re going to be using starting next year, we’re essentially looking at a 100-acre farm. We’ll totally sustain one Kentucky family farm. BL

12/19/23 12:23 PM

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February Chevy Chaser and Southsider Magazines Ad deadline: Jan. 17 • Issue drops: Feb. 1 The February issues of Chevy Chaser and Southsider will focus on health and wellness.

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Beofst

Smiley Pete’s Best of Lex Introducing the first-ever Smiley Pete’s Best of Lex — a celebration of your favorites, from the finest cocktails to the newest hotspots.

Vote now through Jan. 15 for the first round of voting at bestoflex.smileypete.com.

Book of Lists 2024

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Feb. 2024 A year’s worth of Business Lexington’s most statistically informative feature in one glossy-cover publication.

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February 19-25, 2024 • Enjoy a week full of unique creations from the city’s best pizzerias.

Visit lexingtonpizzaweek.net to sign up your restaurant. For sponsorship details email advertise@smileypete.com.

Business Lexington February Issue

Crave Taco Week

Ad deadline: Jan. 26 • Issue drops: Feb. 5 Focus: Trends and perspectives in real estate.

BizLists: Architecture Firms, Real Estate Law Firms, Commercial Real Estate Management Companies. Email advertise@bizlex.com for more info.

March 11-17, 2024 • Join us as we celebrate Lexington’s taco culture with this weeklong culinary event. To sign up your restaurant visit cravetacoweek.com. For sponsorship details email advertise@smileypete.com.

12/19/23 2:22 PM

18

JANUARY 2024

WWW.BUSINESSLEXINGTON.COM

Who’sWho

EMPLOYMENT NEWS AND AWARDS IN OUR COMMUNITY

ALEXANDER-DELPECH

BELCHEFF

GISH

JOHNSON

HAVENS

LIRA

STILZ

WEHRLE

AYAN

MCCOY

SZWILSKI

HAMMER

SMITH

CLARK

GARTNER

HYDER

BOLAND

MOSSMAN

NOEL

SPRAGUE

LITTLE

WEBB

REEVES

WALKER

FERGUSON

MICHEL

New Hires & Promotions Frontier Nursing University has named current Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) Paula Alexander-Delpech, Ph.D., PMHNPBC, APRN, as the university’s first Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Student Success. Tanya Belcheff, DNP, CNM has been named new CDIO for the university.

The Haymaker Company has announced the addition of Michael Wilder, CCIM, CPM®, to its real estate team.

Stites & Harbison, PLLC, welcomed the returns of attorneys Ken Gish and Elizabeth Ann Johnson and the following new attorneys to its Lexington office: Harlee Havens, Brandon Lira, John Paul Stilz and Conner Wehrle.

CHI Saint Joseph Medical Group – Cardiology in Lexington recently welcomed Mohamed Ayan, MD, to its practice.

Commercial general contractor and construction management company Elaine Allen has promoted Darius McCoy to senior project manager.

The AME Group has welcomed Victor Szwilski as strategic advisor for business IT and cybersecurity services.

GRW, one of the region’s longestserving engineering, architectural, and geospatial design firms, has appointed Chris Hammer, professional engineer, as its new president and chief operating officer.

Community Trust Bancorp, Inc., announced that Mark Smith has

been promoted to the position of executive vice president, chief credit officer Jeremy Clark has been promoted to the position of senior vice president, loan review manager. James J. Gartner will be retiring from Community Trust Bank as executive vice president, chief credit officer.

Recent University of Kentucky graduate Faiza Hyder has joined Joseph & Joseph Architects as an intern.

Kentucky American Water has announced that Charlie Boland has been named senior manager of business development for the company.

WTVQ/ABC36 announced the appointment of Chris Mossman as its new general manager, succeeding a retiring Chris Aldridge.

Central Bank has announced the following new hires: Brad Noel as vice president, commercial lending officer IV; Tim Sprague as vice president, cash management officer II; and Ben L. Little as retail banking officer II. Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. has appointed Lillian (Kay) Webb, P.h.D, to its board of directors.

The Bluegrass Workforce Innovation Board has appointed Tiffanie Reeves as its new director of workforce services under the Bluegrass Area Development District.

Lexmark has been named a leader in the 2023 Sustainability Vendor Landscape report by global print and market insight research firm Quocirca. Lexmark was also a leader in the Quocirca 2022 Sustainability Vendor Landscape.

University of Kentucky professor and author Frank X Walker has been named the grand prize winner of the 2023 Black Authors Matter Children’s Book Awards.

Kentucky Community and Technical College System is extending its thanks to Larry Ferguson, Ph.D., for serving as KCTCS acting president from Feb. to Dec. 2023. Dr. Ferguson was asked to serve as acting president after the departure of Dr. Paul Czarapata in February.

Alltech has been awarded a silver medal from EcoVadis — putting it in the top 25% of sustainable companies globally. Alltech has also earned the EcoVadis platinum medal for its production site in Springfield, Kentucky, which puts it in the top 1% of the over 200,000 businesses assessed by EcoVadis. Alltech Coppens, which produces industrial feeds for the aquaculture sector, earned gold-medal status, putting it in the top 7% of sustainable companies globally.

Kudos

The Kentucky Association of Manufacturers honored Hebron-based Skilcraft as its Small Manufacturer of the Year at the organization’s 2023 Awards Dinner on Nov. 2 in Bowling Green.

For the third year in a row, Stock Yards Bank & Trust has been named one of the Best Banks to

The AME Group has ranked among the Top 250 Managing Security Services Providers for 2023, according

WHO’S WHO FOR YOU? BLX_Jan24_20.indd 18

Work For by American Banker and Best Companies Group.

to MSSP Alert, a CyberRisk Alliance resource.

Holly Hill & Co.’s Chef Ouita Michel was recently honored by Women Leading Kentucky with the Martha Layne Collins Award and an Honorary Membership in the University of Kentucky’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Kentucky Extension Association of Family Consumer Services.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale strengthened its commitment to students in Kentucky recently with an agreement to bring the expertise of a doctoral research university to qualified community college students throughout the commonwealth by providing the option to earn their bachelor’s degrees remotely and at a lower cost in 12 academic programs.

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail (KBT) has received the 2023 Traverse Award for Excellence in Kentucky Tourism from the Kentucky Travel Industry Association for its digital marketing campaign, “Book Now, Bourbon Later.” The campaign helped put the KBT in front of 378,000 people for more than 1 million views.

Dickinson Wright announced that it received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-24 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking

survey, and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality.

TIME Magazine and Statista have recognized Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on its inaugural list of “America’s Top Law Firms.” The list recognizes the 150 most recommended law firms in the United States.

Bank of America has named The Nest of Lexington as the 2023 Neighborhood Builders® awardee for its work advancing economic mobility and building up underserved neighborhoods in Lexington.

The nonprofit will receive $200,000 in flexible funding and leadership training as part of the award.

CHI Saint Joseph Health has been recognized as one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems™ according to an independent quality analysis based on a scorecard provided

by PINC AI™, the technology and services brand of Premier, Inc., and reported by Fortune magazine.

Rupp Arena is the number 33 ranked arena in the U.S. and 57 worldwide based on tickets sold to non-sporting events for 2023, according to Pollstar Magazine. Rupp finished ahead of arenas in major markets including San Francisco, Cincinnati, Louisville, Denver and more, moving up 14 spots nationally since last year’s rankings. BL

Submit your company’s recent hirings, promotions, and awards for listing in the Who’s Who section of Business Lexington.

Email a press release and photo to info@bizlex.com.

12/19/23 12:23 PM

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‘Tis the season, and we’re buzzing with excitement!

Introducing the first-ever Smiley Pete’s Best of Lex — a celebration of your favorites, from the finest cocktails to the newest hotspots. Your voice matters, whether it’s about hidden gems, the latest dining sensation, or the experts you trust for pet training or healthcare.

Dive into a diverse range of categories, covering culinary delights, lifestyle gems, and everything in between. Let’s celebrate the businesses and professionals that make Lexington shine.

Your opinions shape Smiley Pete’s Best of Lex, so join in and let’s make this inaugural edition in April unforgettable!

Cast your vote now through Jan. 15 in the first round of voting.

Visit bestoflex.smileypete.com or scan this QR code to begin:

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12/19/23 1:19 PM

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