Louisville nonprofit's construction accelerator program already impacting west end revitalization

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 3-year-old industry accelerator program is already having an impact on the revitalization of west Louisville by making small business dreams a reality.

Kyron Anderson is a contractor who now has a network of help and resources available thanks to OneWest's Construction Industry Accelerator Program.

"We actually see how, that we have an opportunity for the west end to catch up with the rest of the city," said Anderson.

The accelerator program gives minority-owned construction companies resources for projects in areas that tend to have lower incomes.

"The main thing for us has been a lack of information and opportunity," Anderson said. "With this bridge, it's giving us that because now, (we) now get to be hand-in-hand and side-by-side with people we didn't know exist."

Since it started in 2021, OneWest's "The Plan Room" has been providing training, programs, and support for small businesses looking for a physical brick-and-mortar space.

Two years later, The Plan Room — located on West Broadway — received a $500,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to double the number of participants in the program.

"Many of our contractors, we say, are good hammer to nail. But oftentimes, they struggle with pen to paper on the administrative side," Donovan Taylor, director of The Plan Room, said. "And so that has been a great resource on really assisting those businesses."

A former restaurant on South 18th Street is the latest construction project for the incubator. It will be a restaurant accelerator working with the nearby Chef's Space. If all goes as planned, it will open by the end of the summer.

Several old, rundown buildings are also under renovation. Many will have retail spaces on the ground level and affordable housing above.

"Now, we don't have those structures that have just been sitting around stagnant for so long. So yes, there is a huge sense of pride," said Anderson.

Rent will be subsidized for local businesses thanks to HUD money, state and city funds, and personal donations.

"Our main goal is really trying to assist our small businesses and our diverse, Black-owned businesses to really operate at a better level and really give them (the) opportunity to land more contracts and do more business," said Taylor.

For more information about the The Plan Room, click here.

For more information about OneWest, click here.

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