Projects

Louisville Regional Airlift Development (LRAD) SDF – LAX Flight Project

Suffering from a lack of nonstop flights to key business destinations, a group of Louisville business leaders established Louisville Regional Airlift Development, Inc. (LRAD) to address the issue. L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained to work with LRAD and facilitate new air service to Louisville’s most underserved non-nonstop market: Los Angeles.

Working with business, state and local government leaders, Luke Schmidt successfully led community efforts to develop the new flight, including: extensive market research, raising over $3 million from private and public sources to be used as a minimum revenue guarantee to support the new route, and recruiting the service by working with route expansion executives at the four largest airlines in the U.S. American Airlines launched the new flight in April 2019.

LRAD Brochure

Maxwell Technologies

Maxwell Technologies (San Diego, CA) is one of the largest manufacturers of ultracapacitors in the world. Ultracapacitors are used to distribute energy from batteries to and through short burst/high energy applications in a wide variety of uses, including automotive, aviation, mass transit, etc. As the use of ultracapacitors increased in Europe, and in order to comply with EU regulations, Maxwell Technologies was faced with the need to develop an end of useful life pathway for spent ultracapacitors and their product components (which included some hazardous materials).

The company retained L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC. Working with company officials, Luke Schmidt conducted research into the product life cycle, identified companies located throughout Europe which could process the products, conducted site visits and narrowed down the list of processors – one in Sweden and the other in France. Following lab-scale testing in both locations, the French company was confirmed as Maxwell Technologies’ European end-use market. Luke Schmidt concluded the project by facilitating a contract between both parties.

Hardin County, KY Visioning Project

Hardin County, KY is one of Kentucky’s largest counties and is the principal county in the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area. Fort Knox, one of the country’s largest U.S. Army posts, is the county’s primary economic driver. Following the last round of Base Realignment and Closure (commonly referred to as BRAC), Fort Knox expanded significantly with the arrival of several new commands. Hardin County Government, recognizing the positive impact that base expansion would bring, elected to conduct a comprehensive visioning process for the future in partnership with the Lincoln Trail Area Development District and the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment. L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained to conduct the project.

Luke Schmidt led the visioning process which included a strategic assessment of the community, an analysis of benchmark communities, an extensive survey of over 100 community leaders which resulted in the development of 24 strategic goals for the community to consider for implementation over the next 15 years. A new entity, Hardin County United, was created for the purpose of prioritizing the goals and developing implementation strategies.

Following its inception, HCU served as an agent for change and the catalyst for the following projects: the merger of four previously existing chambers of commerce into one new unified chamber – the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce – now one of the five largest chambers in Kentucky; a change (through voter referendum campaigns) in the community’s alcoholic beverage laws in the three largest cities; the first-ever mapping campaign of all educational offerings in the community; and the development of a new Early College & Career Center, which is now located adjacent to the Elizabethtown Community & Technical College campus.

Hardin County (KY) United Government Project

The overarching theme from the Hardin County, KY Visioning Project conducted by L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was one of community unification, along with the elimination of duplicative services where they existed. One of the primary strategic goals developed to address this was a unified (metro) government feasibility study.

Building on the visioning project and on behalf of Hardin County United, Luke Schmidt conducted a detailed analysis of the existing government structure in the county and six incorporated cities, interviewed panels of impacted groups (e.g., law enforcement, fire protection, etc.), conducted site visits to communities which had previously unified their local governments, facilitated presentations by former metro mayors of Lexington and Louisville, and provided analysis of existing Kentucky statutes permitting unified government.

The study indicated that by unifying, the community would become Kentucky’s third largest city, 94 existing jurisdictions/departments/boards/commissions could be streamlined into eight key departments thereby creating a more efficient form of government. In addition, Luke Schmidt and Hardin County United led efforts with Hardin County’s legislative delegation to pass House Bill 189, which based on the feasibility study’s findings further strengthened Kentucky’s unified government statutes.

Hardin County United Brochure

QD Vision

QD Vision, based in Lexington, MA (since acquired by Samsung) is a leading manufacturer of quantum dot technology. Quantum dots are used in new smart televisions. Quantum dots are invisible to the naked eye but are found in the panel components of flat screen televisions. Quantum dots provide brilliant color projection technology to televisions.

As QD Vision began rolling out its new technology product to its customers, with the initial launch slated for the European market, the company realized that to remain in compliance with European Union regulations it would need to develop an end of useful life recycling strategy for its product/components (which included hazardous materials). QD Vision retained L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC for this purpose. Following the product orientation, Luke Schmidt identified numerous companies across Europe with potential capability for processing the products. Site visits were conducted. A company in Switzerland was confirmed as the processor for the company’s products. Luke Schmidt completed the project by facilitating a contract between the parties and drafting and filing the required regulatory documents with the EU in Brussels.

Food with Wine Coalition

The Food with Wine Coalition (FWWC) was established by the Kentucky Grocers Association (now
known as the Kentucky Grocers Association & the Kentucky Association of Convenience Stores) as a non-profit corporation for the purpose of educating Kentucky’s thought leaders about the benefits of revising existing state law to allow the sale of wine in grocery stores in “wet” counties. Thirty-four states, including six of seven of Kentucky’s border states allow such sales.

L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained to work with FWWC’s members to move this initiative
forward. Luke Schmidt provided the following services to the FWWC: developed and implemented the initiative, managed the coalition, scheduled meetings, developed meeting agendas, led the development of various collateral materials, including a website, conducted extensive outreach to media throughout Kentucky and key border state markets by drafting press releases and conducting interviews, conducted outreach to Members of the General Assembly and the Governor’s office, and facilitated an in-store/online petition drive which collected 84,000 signatures.

The environment to pass such legislation in the General Assembly was challenging and the FWWC ultimately filed suit in U.S. District Court in Louisville, which ruled that the state’s existing law was illegal and that grocery stores should be allowed. The ruling was appealed by the liquor store industry and the ruling was overturned by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. However, as the result of the FWWC initiative, the food retail industry was better positioned to move the initiative forward in the future.

FWWC Brochure

Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation

The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) (now known as Call2Recycle) is a large Atlanta, GA-based trade association which represents the manufacturers of portable rechargeable batteries. The batteries are used in a wide variety of applications, including laptop computers, cordless power tools, cordless telephones, etc. RBRC’s primary mission is to facilitate the collection and recycling of portable rechargeable batteries throughout the U.S. and Canada.

RBRC decided that it wanted to conduct an in-depth strategic assessment in order to ascertain how its members, senior staff and principal customers view the organization – in terms of its strengths and weaknesses, including an examination of its mission and vision statements. Finally, based upon the findings of the assessment, RBRC also wanted to establish new strategic goals for the purpose of guiding the organization going forward for a period of at least five years.

RBRC retained L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC to carry out this project, which included the following components: development of an organizational profile, key stakeholder interviews, development of an organization strategic assessment, facilitation of a leadership retreat on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and the development of the final report. The organization’s Mission Statement and Vision Statement were examined as to their current applicability and both were revised. The attendees also developed 19 short-term goals and 17 long-term goals.

International Bottled Water Association

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is a not for profit organization which represents the manufacturers of bottled water in the United States. IBWA is an active organization which addresses such issues as hydration, water sourcing, environmental best practices, recycling, etc. With the rapid growth of bottled water in the marketplace, concern had been growing about what to do with empty plastic water bottles. IBWA decided that its members needed a guide that they could use in establishing local plastic bottle recycling programs in their respective communities.

IBWA retained Luke Schmidt and L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC to develop the Resource Recycling Guide for IBWA Members. Luke Schmidt conducted the research needed in order to develop and draft the Guide. Working with IBWA’s internal communications staff, Luke Schmidt drafted the Guide. The Guide is a comprehensive look at plastic bottle recycling and focuses on the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Various recycling strategies are presented along with an extensive list of resources. The Guide was posted to the IBWA website for use by its members.