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SMILEY PETE PUBLISHING

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

CraveWorthy

CD Central Passes the Mic to a Familiar Name: As fans celebrate memories at CD Central, the beloved record store makes way for the return of Cut Corner Records PAGE 10

Tradition with a Modern Touch: Celebrating 25 years, L.V. Harkness blends tradition with fresh styles for today’s shoppers. PAGE 11

BizLex Q&A with Jonathan S. Miller: U.S. Hemp Roundtable counsel and Frost Brown Todd partner on Kentucky hemp and e orts to protect products PAGE 18

JENNIFER JEWITT OF L.V. HARKNESS

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Lender

U.S. Bank National Association

2020 Nicholasville Road Lexington, KY 40503 (859) 232-8181 usbank.com

Community Trust Bank, Inc.

100 E. Vine St. Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 389-5350 ctbi.com

The Huntington National Bank 710 E. Main St., Ste. 110 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 514-6022 huntington.com

Northeast Bank

250 W. 55th St., Ste 1502 New York, NY 10019 (203) 520-3330 northeastbank.com

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company 12900 Factory Land Louisville, KY 40245 (502) 222-8424 syb.com

Republic Bank & Trust Company 333 W. Vine St., Ste. 102 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 300-3333 republicbank.com

United Midwest Savings Bank, National Association 955 County Line Road West Westerville, OH 43082 (844) 531-9722 umwsb.com

Readycap Lending, LLC

200 Connell Dr., Ste. 4000 Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 (800) 453-3548 readycapital.com

The Bank of Princeton 183 Bayard Lane Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 874-7033 thebankofprinceton.com

Newtek Small Business Finance, Inc. 1440 Broadway New York, NY 11042 (212) 356-9500 newtek.com

Perry Allen (Regional President)

Billie Dollins (Central Kentucky Regional President), Andrew Jarvis (VP Commercial Loan Officer) Perry Dunn (SBA Specialist)

Richard Wayne (President & CEO)

James A. Hillebrand (CEO)

Todd Ziegler (Market President)

Edward N. Cohn (President & CEO)

David A. Cohen (Managing Director, Chief Production Officer, and Co-head of Bridge Lending)

Edward J. Dietzler (President & CEO)

Peter Downs (President)

Live Oak Banking Company 1741 Tiburon Dr. Wilmington, NC 28403 (910) 790-5867 liveoakbank.com

JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 1111 Polaris Parkway Columbus, OH 43240 (614) 248-4827 jpmorganchase.com

BayFirst National Bank

700 Central Ave. St. Petersburg, FL 33701 (727) 440-6848 bayfirstfinancial.com

Lendistry

767 S. Alemeda St. Los Angeles, CA 90021 (855) 476-5870 lendistry.com

PNC Bank, National Association 1301 Bardstown Road Louisville, KY 40204 (502) 581-7560 pnc.com

Fifth Third Bank 38 Fountain Square Plaza Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 579-5203 53.com

Celtic Bank 268 S. State St., Ste. 300 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (801) 363-6500 celticbank.com

Heritage Bank, Inc. 456 Commonwealth Ave. Erlanger, KY 41018 (859) 342-0920 ourheritage.bank

Old National Bank 1 Main St. Evansville, IN 47708 (800) 731-2265 oldnational.com

South Central Bank, Inc. 208 South Broadway Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-7466 southcentralbank.com

Who’sWho

New Hires & Board Selections

New Vista recently appointed Dana Royse as its next president and chief executive officer.

Amanda Turcotte has joined Commerce Lexington as director of executive administrative services.

Central Bank announced the promotions of Jon Reifsnyder to digital banking operations officer, and Donna Turner to senior vice president, loan processing manager.

Commissioner of Agriculture

Jonathan Shell has appointed Linda Rumpke, Frank Penn, and Steve Olt to the board of the Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation. Heather Graham and Fritz Giesecke were appointed the Kentucky Agricultural Development board.

Sherry Holley and Megan HolleySlaughter have been appointed the new co-chairs for Go Red for Women.

Saint Joseph Medical Group has welcomed Shengnan Zheng, MD, as the newest addition to its cardiology team.

Saint Joseph Health Medical Group – Surgery also welcomed Rebecca Douglass, DO, and Jorge Lodeiro, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, to its Lexington team.

The Saint Joseph Health – Cancer Care Center announced the addition of Deanna Wigginton, APRN, as a lung cancer navigator.

Shannon “A.J.” Singleton, member and general counsel, Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC, has been appointed to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

Commerce Lexington announced that Betsy Dexter, senior vice president, talent and education strategy, has been selected to participate in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Business Leads Fellowship Program.

Fifth Third announced that MaryAlicha Weldon has been promoted to lead commercial banking in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, while continuing her role as city president for greater Lexington.

Fayette County Public Schools has named Jacqueline Gordon Duvall as the its director of athletics.

Republic Bank & Trust Company introduced two new members to its corporate leadership team. Promoted from within, Christy Ames now serves as executive vice president, chief legal officer and general counsel, and Scott Nardi takes on the role of senior vice president, chief risk and compliance officer.

Kentucky American Water has named John Magner as its new director of engineering.

Shield Environmental Associates Inc. has welcomed Emma Vick to its Lexington office.

Lexington Clinic announced that urologist Andrew Todd will join its team of board-certified physicians at Commonwealth Urology/Urologic Associates.

Lauren Cargill, DO, has joined the Baptist Health Medical Group Behavioral Health team in Richmond.

FOX 56 News has named Colby Wilson as its new sports director.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has appointed Matthew Grimshaw MBA, president of Saint Joseph Health, to the Kentucky State University board of regents.

LexArts has welcomed the following new members to its board of directors: Rania Belmadani, Global Lex; Demetria Blair, CHI Saint Joseph Health; Elizabeth A. Combs, Whitaker Bank Corporation; Chester Grundy, UK College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky; Paul D. Johnston, Blue & Co.; and MacKenzie Mayes Walter, CNA Financial Corporation.

Sgt. Bige Towery has joined the Lexington Police Department's Public Information Office.

R. J. Corman Railroad Group announced the permanent appointment of Justin Broyles as president and CEO.

Kudos

U.S. News & World Report has named Saint Joseph Hospital among the best regional hospitals in the report's 2025-26 Best Hospitals edition. Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph London also named as high-performing hospitals.

The Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, on behalf of the Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph Jessamine, has received a $70,000 grant from WHAS Crusade for Children to enhance pediatric care at two of its local facilities – the Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph Jessamine.

The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation has announced a $600,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation in support of its new Preservation Center at Hopemont. The gift is the largest operational donation in the organization’s seventy-year history.

DV8 Kitchen & Bakery was named Commerce Lexington’s 2025 Small Business of the Year at the Salute to Small Business Awards.

Steve Lin, MD, FACC, RPVI, FASE, an interventional cardiologist and heart failure specialist with Saint Joseph Medical Group – Cardiology, has been honored with an Innovation Award as part of the CommonSpirit Health Physician Enterprise Vision Awards.

Central Bank Center, managed by

Oak View Group, has been awarded with the 2025 Prime Site Facilities and Destination Award by Northstar Meetings Group, publisher of Meetings & Conventions and Successful Meetings.

Republic Bancorp, Inc. has been named a winner of the 2024 Raymond James Community Bankers Cup. The annual award honors the top 10 percent of community banks across the country.

Frontier Nursing University has received the 2025 Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award from Insight Into Academia magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.

The Leadership Central Kentucky program has named its newest class of regional leaders for the 2025-26 program: Anthony Allen, Commerce Lexington; Devin Belleville, Stock Yards Bank & Trust; (Kenneth) Bryan Berry, Hunt Advantage Group LLC; Brett Bibb, Commerce Lexington; Dani Bradley, Rising Sun Developing Construction Management; Brian Chellgren, Dentons Bingham Greenebaum LLP; Stephen Craycraft, Spectrum Photography; Eric Del Valle, Advanced Business Solutions; Melody Flowers, University of Kentucky; Susan Foster LaCoe, Fostering Leaders LLC; Samantha Gonda, NiSource Inc. (Columbia Gas of Kentucky); Brandon Grant, Eastside Community Church; Jeanette Hart, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department; Kara Heissenbuttel Keeneland Association; Morgan Humphries, Valvoline; Christie Jackson, Hanna Resource Group; Mel Kimmel, Writing.io; Jackson Kirn, R.J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC; Katherine Leigh, George-

town Community Hospital; Megan Martin, VisitLEX; Lori Matthews, Baptist Health Foundation Lexington; Amanda Ping, Commonwealth Credit Union; Jyre Richardson, From Here to There; Shauna Smith, Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce; Elizabeth Soto, City Wide; Jarvis Terrell, Kentucky Department of Education; Austin Thore, Kentucky American Water; Dawn Walker, Kentucky Horse Park; and Heidi Wilcox, Bluegrass Care Navigators.

Business Ventures Corporation have announced the 2025 Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame inductees. The 2025 Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Class included: Larry Benz, Founder, Confluent Health; William P. Butler, chairman of the board, Corporex; Alice K. Houston, founder, HJI Supply Chain Solutions; and Rick Kueber founder and CEO, Glow Brands. Randall Stevens, CEO, AVAIL, was named Mentor of the Year. Brook T. Smith, president, RSLP Ventures was named Investor of the Year. David Haskins, president and CEO, Davis H. Elliot Company, was named Executive of the Year. Julia Regan, founder and CEO, RxLightning, and Jake Rouse co-Founder and CEO, Braxton Brewing Company, were honored as Emerging Entrepreneurs.

Klausing Group, a leading provider of sustainable landscape management services, announced its certification as a Certified B Corporation.

The Trademark Lawyer Magazine has named Stites & Harbison, PLLC to the 2025 Top 10 Trademark Firms and IP Practices in North America –South list. This is the firm’s third year being honored. BL

REIFSNYDER TURNER TURCOTTE ROYSE

MAGNER VICK

NARDI AMES

LODEIRO WIGGINTON

DOUGLASS ZHENG

WILSON GRIMSHAW

CARGILL TODD

WELDON

DUVALL DEXTER

BROYLES TOWERY

SINGLETON

BUTLER HOUSTON BENZ KUEBER LIN

BizLexQ&A

Jonathan S. Miller

U.S.

Hemp Roundtable counsel and Frost Brown Todd partner on Kentucky hemp and efforts to protect products

BY TOM WILMES BUSINESS LEXINGTON

Jonathan S. Miller has been a central figure in Kentucky’s hemp industry for more than a decade. A Lexington native and Harvard-educated attorney, Miller served two terms as Kentucky State Treasurer and later as Secretary for the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet. Today, he is Partner-in-Charge of the Washington, D.C., office of Frost Brown Todd and General Counsel to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, the industry’s national advocacy organization.

Miller was instrumental in the legalization of hemp in Kentucky and at the federal level, and he continues to lead efforts to protect and expand the market for hemp products nationwide. In 2023, Kentucky's hemp industry generated approximately $43.5 million in gross product sales, underscoring its significant role in the state's agricultural economy.

Business Lexington spoke with Miller about the state of the hemp industry in Kentucky, how it’s grown, and the challenges that lie ahead.

How did you first get involved in hemp? When I left politics, I started a website called the Recovering Politician. I started to write a lot, and one of the articles I wrote argued for legalizing marijuana. Jamie Comer, then Kentucky’s Agriculture Commissioner, saw it and reached out — he wanted to legalize hemp in Kentucky and asked me to help. At the time, I didn’t know the difference between hemp and marijuana. I quickly got educated, and began working with Congressman Comer and ultimately Senator Mitch McConnell. Now, much of my career is built around my hemp law practice and our U.S. Hemp Roundtable collective.

What’s the difference between state and federal laws on hemp and marijuana? Hemp was legalized in Kentucky in 2013. In 2014, Senator McConnell led an effort through the Farm Bill to legalize hemp pilot programs nationwide. Then the 2018 Farm Bill made hemp permanently legal.

The difference between hemp and marijuana comes down to THC content — hemp must have less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, even though medical marijuana is now legal in Kentucky. Because many banks are federally chartered, there are issues about banking when it comes

to medical marijuana. There are efforts in Congress to try to fix that, but so far, they've been unsuccessful.

Kentucky recently passed Senate Bill 202. What does it do? That bill, which is now law, regulates hemp-derived beverages. It requires products to be sold only to adults, follow good manufacturing practices, and limit THC content to five milligrams or less per serving. It also serves as a model for national regulations.

At the federal level, some in Congress have tried to ban hemp products outright. Senator Rand Paul has helped block those efforts. As an industry, we favor strong, clear regulations over prohibition.

What are some other issues that Kentucky-based hemp businesses navigating right now? Compliance is a big one — making sure products are labeled accurately, manufactured safely, and sold only to adults. There are a number of safeguards in place to ensure all of those aspects.

Testing is another. If a hemp crop tests above 0.3% THC, even slightly, it must be destroyed. The Department of Agriculture works closely with farmers to make sure that kind of activity doesn't have to happen. Senator Paul has also introduced legislation to raise that threshold to 1% in the field, which would give farmers more flexibility and reduce losses.

What’s on your legislative watch list for the next Congressional session? There are efforts in Congress to ban hemp products that contain any amount of THC.

That would wipe out 95% or more of all hemp products, because even nonintoxicating CBD products have a small amount of THC in them. We’ve successfully fought off these measures so far, including working with Senator Paul on a key effort in the Senate just last month, but we expect the debate to return during the 2025 or 2026 Farm Bill discussions.

Has this uncertainty affected investment in the industry? It's a challenge to attract capital in a market that is under fire, especially when the federal government has

yet to issue clear regulations for hemp products. We’ve been pushing the FDA to act for years, but progress has been slow. Even so, demand remains strong. The U.S. hemp marketplace is worth about $28 billion, and the beverage category in particular has grown enormously over the past two years. Hemp is a bipartisan issue — it unites people across party lines and ideologies. It offers opportunities for small businesses, supports farmers, and fuels an innovative, fast-growing industry. That’s why we’re committed to keeping it legal and helping it thrive. BL

Jonathan S. Miller, General Counsel to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, has played a key role in shaping Kentucky’s hemp industry and protecting its growth nationwide.

PHOTO FURNISHED

BIG NEWS: THE GOODGIVING CHALLENGE IS NOW BLUEGRASS GIVES!

One region. One day. All in for our community.

It’s still the local giving campaign you know and love, just with a fresh new name that gets right to the heart of the Bluegrass: we give.

Bluegrass Gives is a one-day celebration of generosity, happening on Giving Tuesday, December 2. Together, we’ll support the nonprofits that make Central and Appalachia Kentucky stronger, kinder and more connected.

Nonprofit registration closes September 30. Learn more at bgcf.org/bggives.