The inaugural (Business, Equity, Arts, Technology, and Sciences) seeks to remove barriers to and strengthen Louisville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by connecting entrepreneurs within the city and university with research opportunities, resources and community connections. Presented by , the and , BEATS Week will kick off festivities Sept. 18th.

UofL News had the opportunity to catch up with Alexandra Howard, a business research and teaching librarian at Ekstrom Library and member of the.

UofL News: Can you tell us more about BEATS Week?

Howard: BEATS Week is a week-long event series to promote entrepreneurship among our Louisville community. Our goal is really to break down silos and remove barriers that exist, especially for underrepresented entrepreneurs such as college students and minority business owners. will provide access to research, resources and a community that will help cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset for people from every background.

There are so many different campus and community organizations and resources for entrepreneurs and we really want BEATS Week to  bring everyone together in one place. I think one of the most exciting things about BEATS Week is our diverse team that has helped develop it and put it together. We have a steering committee of different partners across campus, including the College of Business, Office of Student Involvement, Louisville Athletics, Office of Community Engagement, Office of Research and Innovation, Health Equity Innovation Hub and the Engage Lead Serve Board. This has really allowed us to make this a truly collaborative event.

UofL News: Why is BEATS Week important for the university and for college students?

Howard: BEATS Week is important to the university because the landscape of higher education is changing … so we have to be innovative and offer education and programming that is relevant and appealing. Studies have shown that high school and college students are increasingly interested in entrepreneurship. A 2022 survey showed that 60% of college students are interested in owning their own business. BEATS Week offers UofL a chance to help develop student entrepreneurs across academic disciplines. It offers college students the chance to develop their entrepreneurship knowledge and skillset, even if they aren’t studying business.

UofL is also an anchor institution that really emphasizes . BEATS Week is an opportunity for us to engage the greater Louisville community and provide programming and resources to entrepreneurs who own businesses down the street. The city of Louisville has some incredibly talented, creative and diverse entrepreneurs but the makeup of our city’s business landscape doesn’t totally reflect this. Minority business owners own less than 10% of the city’s local businesses. African Americans make up almost a quarter of Louisville’s population but own just 2.4% of local businesses. With BEATS Week, we want to make sure everyone sees themselves reflected in entrepreneurship and that everyone gets equal access to resources that will help them succeed.

UofL News: What is Jack Harlow’s involvement?

��Ƿɲ�����:��Because of Jack Harlow’s experience as a world-famous rapper, an actor, a businessman with Phocus and brand deals with KFC and New Balance, we immediately thought of him in planning BEATS Week. We pitched BEATS Week to his manager and while Jack Harlow won’t be speaking at any event this year, we were able to connect with The Jack Harlow Foundation who signed on as our primary BEATS Week sponsor. The Jack Harlow Foundation is committed to reinvesting, uplifting and supporting organizations in Louisville that will make the city a better place. The racial wealth gap is alive and well throughout our nation and in our city. Entrepreneurship is an important approach to building generational wealth and closing that gap. We are grateful for Jack Harlow seeing the importance of BEATS Week and sponsoring our events. We will be giving away raffle prizes throughout the week, so any time someone attends a BEATS Week event, they increase their chances of winning a prize. We may have something special from Jack Harlow to give away at our final BEATS Week event on Friday.  

UofL News: What useful resources does the library have to offer for BEATS Week?

��Ƿɲ�����:��The library has so many resources to support business development and aspiring entrepreneurs. As the business and entrepreneurship librarian, I primarily support research happening within the College of Business, but I also meet with entrepreneurs on campus and in the community to help them do research to support the development and growth of their business. We have access to very expensive business research databases that anyone in the community can access for free through our library. That’s actually how BEATS Week got started. I was introduced to the founder and CEO of Black Complex, Aaron Jordan, by another community partner and we began to meet in the library to do research for his business.

I really believe that the library is the hub of community and connection at the university. We work with students, faculty, and staff from every department across campus as well as high school students and members of our local community.

UofL News: Can you dive deeper into some of the planned?

��Ƿɲ�����:��There will be education events on branding, storytelling and content creation. There will be free food at every event from local minority-owned businesses such as Blak Koffee, The Black Italian and FOKO. Our opening event will be with the cultural center. We will have the tap in event, an entrepreneur resource fair where there will be an opportunity for students to get professional headshots, sit down one on one with business coaches to review resumes and LinkedIn or discuss any other business ideas.

The awards ceremony recognizes high achieving graduates based on their merit and contributions to the community. Each year, one alumna or alumnus of the year is selected along with 13 Alumni Fellows from each of the schools, colleges, libraries, and student affairs. 

Alumna of the Year

• Jenny L. Sawyer ’78, executive director of admissions at the University of Louisville.

Alumni Fellows

• Brandeis School of Law
  Edwin S. Hopson, Sr. ’67, ’69, partner at Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs.
• College of Arts and Sciences
  George Nichols, III ’85, president and chief executive officer of the American College of Financial Services.
• College of Business
  Raymond E. Loyd ’68, founder of Derby Industries and Derby Fabricating.
• College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development
  Linda F. Hargan ’71, ’73, ’93, founder, president, and chief executive officer emeritus of CTL.
• J. B. Speed School of Engineering
  Gerald G. Hubbs ’64, ’76, retired vice president and director of engineering at the Brown-Forman Corporation. 
• Kent School of Social Work
  Ruby Gordon ’66, ’72, former social worker with JCPS and Hillebrand House.
• School of Dentistry
  Karen L. Pierce-West ’77, ’82, dean and professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine.
• School of Medicine
  Shawn C. Jones ’82, ’86, ’93, founder of Purchase ENT, an ENT-otolaryngologist specialty group in Paducah, Kentucky. 
• School of Music
  John M. Hoover ’63, ’69, former director of bands at the University of Louisville.
• School of Nursing
  Flora Ponder ’87, former head nurse at the Louisville and Jefferson County Health Department and director of nurses at the Park-Duvalle Community Health Center. 
• School of Public Health and Information Sciences
  Lewatis D. McNeal ’16, assistant dean of administration of inclusive excellence and special projects at Northern Kentucky University.
• Student Affairs
  Todd A. Schmiedeler ’97, Trilogy Health Service’s senior vice president of Foundation & Workforce Development and founder and president of Thumbprint Consulting.
• University Libraries
  Morris M. Weiss Jr. ’58, cardiologist with Medical Center Cardiologists and clinical professor of medicine in cardiology at the University of Louisville.

This year’s awardees will be honored at the 2019 Alumni Awards ceremony October 24.

A former Louisville Metro Councilman and caretaker of Louisville lore and history, Owen was cited for his “service to history, to UofL and to Louisville; his work as an archivist, making UofL’s records and archival collections available to researchers; and his walking tours—both the physical tours and their recordings. He made the city his classroom.” He was also praised as a “scholar who popularized history and … elevated history’s importance for many people.”

Owen is known for his walking tours, which capture the color and history of a particular corner of the city as part of a series on local public television, titled . Recently, he also offered weekly tours of UofL’s Belknap campus, detailing the background and stories of various buildings and areas.  His research in this area led to the recent publication of a book in collaboration with Archives colleague Sherri Pawson, .

Owen is also well-known as a politician locally, having served as a Louisville Metro Council member from 2003 until his retirement in 2016, and prior to that, on the old Board of Alderman from 1990 to 1998. He has been an archivist with UofL for 42 years.

The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor awarded by the Kentucky Historical Society. DSA winners have “provided great services to Kentucky and the field of history in their professional or personal lives.”

Intern Award

Additionally, Hannah O’Daniel, a master’s student at the University of Louisville, received the first Kentucky Public History Intern Award for her exemplary work ethic and diligent attention to the research process. 

O’Daniel had internships at the Filson Historical Society, where she processed archival material to make it available to researchers, and at the Kentucky Historical Society.

At KHS she was involved with several projects:

• She worked with the Kentucky Oral History Commission and helped write the KHS manual for using a system that makes oral histories more widely accessible and searchable.
• She was among the first graduate research assistants who worked with the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Edition (CWGK). CWGK is making thousands of documents available to researchers for the first time. As a GRA, Hannah transcribed documents and researched people mentioned within them to help build the comprehensive database behind CWGK.
• At the CWGK summer symposium this year, Hannah acted as a “reporter,” tweeting it so people who could not attend could learn from the experts gathered there.

The ceremony was held at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort.