Louisville Economic Development leaders to headline June 5 ACG Kentucky breakfast

Louisville Economic Development Alliance CEO Trevor Pawl and Greater Louisville Inc. CEO Sarah Davasher-Wisdom will address the Kentucky chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth at its June 5 breakfast at Big Spring Country Club. Their joint appearance will be of extreme interest to those following the trajectory of Louisville’s future economic development and growth.

Pawl leads a newly created organization, the Louisville Economic Development Alliance (LEDA), a nonprofit charged with leading business expansion, retention and attraction efforts, and a number of related initiatives to support those objectives. LEDA emerged from Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg's Growing Louisville Together strategic review of business attraction and economic growth efforts.

His co-presenter is Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, president and CEO of Greater Louisville Inc.(GLI), the Metro Chamber of Commerce. Since 2020, Davasher-Wisdom has been leading the non-governmental organization representing a 15-county region in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Its mission is to shape the region's economic future through job creation, growth and community investment through a variety of initiatives.

Registration information for this event will be available soon through https://www.acg.org/kentucky/events

According to LEDA, Pawl comes to Louisville from Michigan, where he served in Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s cabinet as the state’s Chief Mobility Officer. In that role, Pawl established 89 public-private partnerships and secured more than $478 million for new projects focused on accessibility, sustainability, and economic vitality across Michigan.
Pawl is connected to achievements such as the nation’s first road that wirelessly charges electric vehicles, and a dedicated lane for autonomous vehicles on Interstate 94. Pawl and his team also established the Michigan Central Innovation District which has attracted more than 100 startups to the state since 2022. Pawl was appointed by the Mayor in February.
As Senior Vice President of Business Innovation at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, he led state programs focused on supply chain development, export assistance, and entrepreneurship, and provided supply chain matching across 20 industries that resulted in $3.4 billion in revenue for Michigan suppliers.

Davasher-Wisdom has been with GLI since 2014,when she was appointed as vice president of government affairs. She has been recognized by Louisville Business First as one of its Most Admired CEOs, and named to its Power 50 and  40 Under 40 lists, among several other honors.

She has held previous roles in government and public policy, including Manager of Government Affairs for Tennessee Valley Authority, Strategic Communications Officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and a congressional Community Development Coordinator.

Todd Earwood presentation is May 15

The managing director of Half Court Ventures, Todd Earwood, was originally scheduled to speak on June 5. He accepted ACG's invitation to move his presentation to May 15 (https://www.acg.org/kentucky/events/2025-06-acgky-half-court-ventures) to fill the speaker opening that emerged when one of the presenters had an unavoidable scheduling conflict. ACG is working to establish a new presentation date for the Houchens Industries' M&A strategy presentation.

Members and sponsors attend ACG Kentucky events at no charge as a benefit of annual membership and sponsorship. Members may bring a non-member as an accompanying guest for an additional fee ($30).  Admission for other guests (including non-member M&A professionals) is $60 and includes networking, buffet lunch and the featured presentation. Annual membership covers those fees.

For information or questions, contact ACG Kentucky Chapter Executive Terry McWIlliams at 502.509.6768 or email acgkentucky@acg.org.