Louisville-Lexington Partnership Board Named

The economic partnership between Louisville and Lexington will be led by a 21-member board of business executives, university presidents and economic development officials.Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray named the board of the Bluegrass Economic Advancement Movement, or BEAM, this afternoon.BEAM is meant to foster a regional economic around manufacturing. The board includes executives from GE, Ford, UPS, Toyota and other companies with local interests. The leaders of the Louisville, Lexington and Southern Indiana chambers of commerce also sit on the board, as do the presidents of U of L and UK.The head of the Lexington Urban League is on the board, along with former KET journalist and host Al Smith. There are no labor representatives on the board.The two mayors are also members. They led the first board meeting, which was convened after the board members were named. Former Louisville Arena Authority Chair Jim Host is leading BEAM.Here is the board: ·         Jim Campbell, President & CEO, GE Appliances & Lighting ·         Dr. Eli Capilouto, President, University of Kentucky ·         Scott C. Casey, Vice President, UPS Air Group Legal and Public Affairs ·         W. James Host, Chairman ·         Wilbert W. (Wil) James, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. ·         Jim Lancaster, CEO and Owner, Lantech.com LLC ·         Stephen C. Lewis, Director Strategic Planning, Ford Motor Company ·         Porter G. Peeples, Sr., President & CEO, Urban League of Lexington-Fayette County ·         Robert L. Quick, CCE, President & CEO, Commerce Lexington Inc. (ex officio member) ·         Dr. James R. Ramsey, President, University of Louisville (ex officio member) ·         Joe Reagan, President & CEO, Greater Louisville Inc. ·         Mary Pat Regan, President, AT&T Kentucky ·         Paul Rooke, Chairman & CEO, Lexmark International, Inc. ·         Vivek K. Sarin, President & CEO, Shelby Industries, LLC ·         Mark A. Sarvary, Chief Executive Officer and President, Tempur-Pedic International ·         Rena L. Sharpe, Vice President of North American Operations, Westport Axle Corp. ·         Al Smith, Journalist, Retired Host of KET’s Comment on Kentucky ·         Keith Stewart, Director of Operations/Site Manager of the Raytheon Missile Systems ·         Jody Wassmer, President and CEO, One Southern Indiana (ex officio member)