Louisville is famous for its bourbon distillers, but what about the folks mixing cocktails behind the bar?
With Christmas and New Year's Day approaching, we thought now might be a good time to check in with one person who does just that each day.  Randi Densford, beverage director for Barn8 Farm Restaurant & Bourbon Bar.
Densford tells us about how each season on the farm influences the cocktails, upcoming flavor trends and gives us some insight into how to make a career out of being a beverage director. 
Barn8 Farm Restaurant & Bourbon Bar is located at Hermitage Farm in Oldham County. In addition to being a restaurant, it's an attraction that showcases a bit of Kentucky's agricultural roots. 
Densford has 11 years of restaurant and bartending experience. She's a Louisville native and a graduate of Sullivan University with a bachelor's degree in culinary arts. 
She previously worked at Decca, a former NuLu restaurant and Bardstown Bourbon Co., a distillery with its own restaurant on campus. She's been with Barn8 at Hermitage Farm since late 2019, ahead of its opening in early 2020.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can follow it on popular podcast services to never miss an episode. 

We've got a bit of news and a special guest on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
Lincoln Crum, of Lincoln Crum Realty & Auctions, joins the show to talk about his newest venture called My Local Santa. Crum talks about the business he's building around performing as St. Nick at corporate and other events.
Crum tells us how his work being Santa Claus, which he sees as a second career, has been a rewarding endeavor both financially and spiritually.
As usual we go over some recent news as well.
Reporter Michael L. Jones is on the show and tells us about Mayor Craig Greenberg's recently finalized economic development plan.  And Reporter Eleanor Tolbert tells us about an event center that's coming to Progress Park — a Louisville "glampground."
We've also got news on a new Indian-Mexican fusion restaurant that recently opened, called Tikka Tacos, and an update on a land purchase by the Parklands of Floyds Fork.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services. 

We've got a little bit of everything on this week's Access Louisville podcast — starting with a little news from the bourbon world.
We lead with Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt who tells us about a couple of large projects in the works from Angel's Envy. We also talk about the roots of a Kentucky bourbon brand called Never Say Die.
After that, we switch gears and talk about health care and the need for nurses with Mark Vogt, head of Galen College of Nursing. He tells us about how his organization is working to ease a nursing shortage as well as challenges that have arisen in the profession that have taken place since the Covid-19 pandemic. 
At the end of the show we talk about some retail news, including the sale of the Paddocks Shop and a new manager at Racing Louisville FC. 
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services. 

Looking for a few things to do around town to get you into the holiday spirit? We've got a few suggestions on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
Typically we discuss local news on the show. But since it's a holiday week, LBF Editors David A. Mann and Haley Cawthon and Reporters Michael L. Jones and Eleanor Tolbert sit down to chat about some of their favorite holiday traditions as well as new things to try out. 
A few things we chat about:

• Hayrides at Hayswood Nature Reserve in Corydon, Indiana
• Cutting down Christmas trees at Huber's Orchard and Winery
• Watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
• Fête De Noël Winter Holiday Festival in Paristown
• Ice skating in Downtown Jeffersonville

We'll be back for our usual news chat next week. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.

Changes are likely coming to Transit Authority of River City (TARC) by virtue of the fact that the agency is getting a new leader soon.
LBF reported earlier this week that Carrie Butler, who has led the organization in recent years, has submitted her resignation. So we talk about what that might mean for the future of TARC on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
This leads into a discussion of transit in Louisville overall and why it's just not popular among most residents.
After that we talk about a couple of other high profile leadership changes at Louisville organizations, including the upcoming departure of Tori Murden McClure from Spalding University and  a new CEO for Seven Counties Services.
After that we get into a little restaurant news, including new locations for Noche Mexican BBQ and Charleys Cheesesteaks.
We also chat about the soon-to-be open Derby City Gaming Downtown and its slick new 3-D video board.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.

A couple of recent restaurant stories lead this week's Access Louisville podcast.
LBF Reporter Michael L. Jones is on the show to talk about a few stories he's authored lately, including the recent closure of Manhattan Grill in Downtown Louisville,  a new Oxmoor Center location for The Eagle, a fried chicken restaurant that's also in the Highlands, and a new location in Old Louisville for Fleur de Tea.
After that LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett is on the program to talk about safety grades for Louisville hospitals coming from The Leapfrog Group. We go over which hospitals got which grades and what those could mean.
In other health care news, we also discuss the recent acquisition of SentryHealth and the story behind that Fast 50 company.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. 

Building a network can be an invaluable thing both in business and other aspects of life.
We talk about networks, upcoming events and even share a few tips on networking on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
The heart of our show this week is an interview with Chris Redd and Ricky Mason, co-founders of Network n' Chill. They tell us about how they started their organization to bring people together as well as talk about their individual entrepreneurial efforts.
After the interview, we share a few tips for networking. And we highlight an event that's coming up — Louisville Business First's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion event on Nov. 9. Redd and Mason will be joining us for that one.
After that we go over some recent news, including a big move for a Downtown Louisville employer, ComputerShare. And we talk about a law firm, Gray Ice Higdon, that's locating in St. Matthews.
And finally we go over some area restaurant news — including a new Filipino restaurant coming to Middletown, an expansion by Jack in the Box, and the closure of one Comfy Cow location. 
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.

More than 100 Louisville leaders recently went to Boston to see what economic lessons they can learn.
Now, sure, Boston is a much bigger city than Louisville but that doesn't mean there aren't examples we can't follow. We talked about that this week on the Access Louisville podcast with LBF Reporter Michael L. Jones, who was on the trip. Camilla Schroeder, president at Advance Ready Mix Concrete, who helped organize the trip with Greater Louisville Inc. is also on the program to tell us about it.
You can find recent coverage of the trip here: 

• Boston tourism improvement district illustrates of potential of new Louisville district
• What Louisville can learn from Boston's reduction in gun violence
• Boston Longwood Collective is a model for LOUMED in Downtown Louisville
• Chasing innovation might not be the best economic development strategy
• Partnership between business and educational communities key to talent attraction and retention

Seldom have we seen such big week in local business news — and we unpack it all on this week's Access Louisville podcast.
First, there was Humana Inc.'s news that a new CEO would be coming in next year. LBF Reporter Joel Stinnett shares a bit of background on the new Humana boss, Jim Rechtin, who comes from a Nashville company that saw its share of financial difficulties.
The leadership change at Humana comes at a time when we've seen a the company decrease its presence in Downtown Louisville with the onset of remote work.
After the Humana discussion, we talk about Kroger, which just broke ground on a new store in the area. Sure it's not as big as a CEO change at Humana but it's not every day when a big new store is announced.
Finally, we round out the show with some talk about United Auto Workers decision to go on strike at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. The strike could have a ripple affect on the company as a whole.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services.

Maggie Payette Harlow joins the Access Louisville podcast this week.
We talk to Harlow part of our celebration of women-owned businesses locally and nationally. Check our coverage in the linked stories.
During the show Harlow, who is the CEO of Signarama Downtown, tells us about the next phase of her careeer, trends in the industry and some of the local signs she is most proud of. Of course, we could resist the opportunity to ask her life has changed since her son, rapper Jack Harlow, rose to fame in recent years.
Later in the show, we talk about an economic development event in Eastern Kentucky, called the SOAR Summit (short for Shaping Our Appellation Region). We also go over upcoming changes at  the former Glenmary Country Club property in Louisville.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.