LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A nationwide company got its start in Louisville.
As a 17-year-old, Blair McBride thought his security job would be a short-time opportunity. Now, he's the president at Block by Block.
It started in 1995 when McBride put together a team to help the Louisville Downtown Partnership begin a safety ambassador program. It eventually expanded into other duties like power washing sidewalks and picking up litter.
"And that's where perceptions live and die in cities, is what happens at the sidewalk level," McBride said.
Even though the company employs around 3,000 people nationwide in around 100 cities, its name won't be found unless the office is visited on Fourth Street in downtown Louisville.
"We actually will customize every uniform to the city we work in and that's the reason people will say I've seen Louisville Downtown Partnership, I've never heard of Block by Block," McBride said.
The next ambassador program in Louisville starts in the Highlands in early October.
“It’s really effective in curbing unwanted street behavior and helping people feel safe and welcome in the community,” says Rebecca Fleischaker of Louisville Forward.
Fleischaker says businesses in the area will eventually decide if they want to pay a district tax to continue the program after federal funding from the American Rescue Plan ends.
Business districts from San Francisco to Boston willingly pay the bill to keep up to 200 Block by Block ambassadors on the street.
Louisville Downtown Partnership Director Bill Schreck says after decades in city government, this is the only program where he’s never heard one bad thing about one of his employees.
"They just make downtown look more inviting," Schreck said. "They bring a positive aspect. They keep it clean. They keep it friendly."
Block by Block employees help tourists with directions and avoid parking tickets, along with making sure they feel welcome.
The ambassadors will notify law enforcement if they see something wrong. They're told to never engage in conflict, but with rising homeless populations, social unrest and fewer people downtown, it has been hard to avoid.
"We've seen a 400% increase in the number of assaults on ambassadors and most of those are absolutely unprovoked," McBride said.
McBride says the ambassadors try to help those living on the streets, sometimes spending dozens of conversations with them discussing services available for homeless people.
Block by Block's biggest advantage for a city trying to provide the same services comes down to one thing: flexibility.
"We're nimble," McBride said. "We don’t need to have seven meetings to be able to go do something different. If today’s flavor is we've got to do more power washing or there was a big event last night and downtown streets are a mess, we don’t need to have three meetings to remedy that. We just adjust the army."
The company continues to expand from downtown areas.
More than 200 employees now help commuters navigate Boston's transit system.
Block by Block, which employs 15 people at its headquarters in Louisville, also started providing ambassadors at the University of Minnesota and will soon be at Ohio State to help students feel safe around the perimeter of their campus.
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