Report Problem
Translate
Want to get an economic development professional interested in your city? In Louisville, you invite them to a bourbon tasting and then you add a water tasting. It might seem odd to think sampling water would play into economic development, but Louisville Water’s advantages for business development puts it above many peer cities. Plus, with 20 distilleries using Louisville Water’s recipe in their product, you might say Louisville Water is “bourbon’s best friend.”
Recently, Louisville Water joined two of its distillery partners for economic development events: Beam Suntory in Chicago and Rabbit Hole in Louisville. For the Chicago event, we shipped Louisville Pure Tap®, our trademarked tap water, to serve alongside Chicago’s drinking water and a mineral water while Beam Suntory provided samples of three of its brands.
In the room were site selectors who help businesses find the right city. As guests sampled the water and the bourbon they learned water’s impact to economic development: Kentucky has an abundant supply with the Ohio River, and in Louisville, the water treatment plants rank as two of the top 19 in North America for quality that excels.
There were a few laughs when guests were asked to sniff, swirl, and sample the different waters. With a water tasting, it’s not as much about which kind of water you prefer, but rather the tasting gets you thinking about something that’s foundational to a city and something most take for granted.
“I’ve never seen a water utility do this kind of marketing before,” commented one site selector. “Water along with power are often the driving forces in making decisions for business locations. It seems Kentucky has an advantage.”
Back in Louisville, a different set of professionals joined Louisville Water at Rabbit Hole distillery. These site selectors were guests of Greater Louisville Inc. and the Louisville Department of Economic Development. The group spent two days touring the region and learning of advancements in technology, healthcare, and manufacturing.
At the distillery, Pure Tap was on the table along with samples of bottled waters and Rabbit Hole’s brands. Rabbit Hole is one of 20 Kentucky distilleries that use Louisville Water’s recipe. This distillery highlights the importance of water on the tour and earlier this year created a special barrel and label to honor Louisville Water’s iconic water tower.
In this tasting, the focus was quality and rates. Louisville Water’s tiered rate structure is an advantage for the 24,000 small businesses and large industrial users that use Louisville Water. The chemistry of the water is often the right balance for food and beverage industries, like bourbon.
When summarizing their visit to Louisville, site selector John Castro commented about the tasting with “the Louisville Water is fantastic, we sampled it today. And the bourbon, is even better!”
Please contact Louisville Water to request information on scheduling a water tasting for your organization.
