Ten years later, Twinspires has come back home to Kentucky.
Louisville-based Churchill Downs Inc. (Nasdaq: CHDN) has completed the relocation of the advance deposit wagering service from Mountain View, Calif., to the company’s corporate headquarters at 600 N. Hurstbourne Parkway in Louisville.
With the move, about 70 high-paying jobs already have been filled, and CDI has spent $2.2 million to outfit an additional 15,000 square feet in the building, which is in the University of Louisville’s ShelbyHurst Office and Research Park. The company now has 50,000 square feet in the building as its anchor tenant and is expected to create another 25 Twinspires jobs in Louisville by year’s end. The jobs pay $75,000 to $110,000.
With the relocation, Twinspires now has 208 employees in Kentucky, including 140 or so in leased office space in Lexington. Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said those jobs will remain in Lexington to keep a strong presence in the state’s two largest cities.
Not surprisingly, the bulk of the jobs are new hires, as only six to eight of Twinspires’ California employees made the move to Kentucky, according to Twinspires officials.
The Twinspires relocation was first announced during an earnings call by Carstanjen last August, and he said Tuesday that the move has been a year in the making.
But the idea got its start in 2014, when company officials started discussing the long-term future of the wagering platform. Carstanjen and other CDI officials conceptualized and founded Twinspires with five employees in Louisville in 2007. At the time, Carstanjen was the company’s executive vice president, general counsel and chief development officer.
Carstanjen said the company was moved to California shortly after its was founded to take advantage of the talent pool and IT experience in Silicon Valley, saying he did not have confidence that Kentucky had the tech talent a decade ago to meet the company’s needs. Last year, $1.1 billion in total handle, or 10 percent of total U.S. wagering on horse racing, came through Twinspires.
But a lot can change in 10 years. Carstanjen said Louisville’s economic development activity has helped created a larger and more robust tech environment in Louisville. And he believes the local tech scene is flexible enough now to help Twinspires stay competitive.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin praised the move, saying it is a trademark example of the type of jobs he wants to come to Kentucky as he works to establish the state as an advanced manufacturing and engineering hub.
Bevin also said it is fitting that an old and storied company such as Churchill Downs is investing in high-tech jobs and a sleek, modern office in Louisville’s East End.
The governor said he will look back and measure success for his administration when governors of other states are scratching their heads and wondering why their residents are moving to Kentucky for job opportunities.
Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, chief of Louisville Forward, Louisville Metro Government’s economic development arm, also praised Churchill Downs for its expansion. She said the city’s business services division is the fastest growing sector for Metro Government and has long-term potential to create jobs that will attract this type of talent from across the country.
Carstanjen said the decision was nothing but “positive energy” and that California’s cost of living and more expensive tax structure were not major factors in the relocation.
But Bevin said the money that will be earned through these jobs will have more purchasing power for its employees to buy larger houses and invest in the city’s vibrant arts and entertainment scene.
“That’s good for Louisville, and it’s good for Kentucky,” he said.
During the news conference, Bevin was asked about the possibility of expanded gaming in Kentucky, particularly casino gambling. Bevin said there is “no political will” for casino gambling by the Kentucky General Assembly, noting that it would take legislative action to legalize such a concept.
Bevin, a Republican, noted that his predecessor, Democrat Steve Beshear, made casino gambling a significant goal for his administration but was unsuccessful in a friendlier legislative environment. Today, the GOP controls both houses of the state legislature.
Carstanjen and CDI long have supported expanded gaming in Kentucky, but he told me after the news conference that the company doesn’t waste its time dwelling on what’s not available. He said a lack of casino gaming in Kentucky has not slowed the company’s ability to harvest all the possibilities available to it here.
“If you worry about what you can’t change, it will drive you crazy,” he told me.
Today, CDI has grown to include several horse-racing tracks and casinos as part of its portfolio. The company also owns totalizator company United Tote Inc. and Seattle-based video game company Big Fish Games.
Nationwide, CDI has about 4,000 employees, 676 of whom are based in Kentucky, either at the corporate office, Churchill Downs Racetrack, Twinspires or United Tote. The company’s East End headquarters has 200 or more of those employees.
When asked, Carstanjen said it us unlikely any of Big Fish Games’ roughly 600 employees will join Twinspires in Louisville. The company was founded and cultivated in Seattle, its executive team has long called Seattle home, and it is a decidedly West Coast company.
The company also has a larger mass of employees in a city where game development talent is widespread.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Carstanjen said.
Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.
In Person: Calhoun Construction's John Hinshaw tackles multimillion-dollar projects, back-country hiking and family in measured steps
May 17, 2017, 3:00pm EDT
The $238 million KFC Yum Center has become a fixture in downtown Louisville, and it also stands prominent in the mind of one of the people behind the construction of the 721,000-square-foot home to University of Louisville basketball, concerts and other events.
John Hinshaw was the was senior project manager for M. A. Mortenson Co., the general contractor for the Yum Center, when the arena was built about a decade ago.
Hinshaw says it is his favorite project, beating out other major sports arenas he helped oversee.
Despite the pressures of building a huge and intricate structure with a fixed deadline, Hinshaw wouldn’t do anything else, fueled by his sports fandom and love for creating.
“I just think building buildings is fun,” Hinshaw said in an interview.
Now, Hinshaw is the president of Louisville-based Calhoun Construction Services Inc.
He joined the company in September 2013 as the operations manager under then-president Kevin Harpring. Hinshaw became the president of the company in January 2016.
An Indianapolis native and big Indiana Pacers fan, Hinshaw jumped at the opportunity to work for Hunt Construction Group in 1997 to help build the Pacers’ then-new arena, Conseco Fieldhouse (now Bankers Life Fieldhouse). He’d graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with an emphasis in structures and a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering and management.
That appears to have set a precedent for Hinshaw’s early career and time with Hunt Construction.
He would go on to work on the building of Great American Ball Park for the Cincinnati Reds as a project engineer from fall 1999 to spring 2003.
He then went to work on the construction of the then-named Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C., for the Charlotte Bobcats as a project manager.
He was lured away from Hunt Construction to Louisville by developer Steve Poe to work for Poe Cos. LLC in January 2006.
In 2008, Hinshaw was let go.
It was the height of the Great Recession of 2008 and construction companies were hit particularly hard by the economic downturn.
But Hinshaw had hope despite losing his job.
The Yum Center project broke ground in 2006, but news of the big project had broken much earlier.
With his background in building sports facilities, Hinshaw wanted to be a part of the project when he first heard about the new arena coming to Louisville. It was an obvious opportunity.
To add to the desire to get on-board with the local project, Hinshaw had gotten married to a Louisville native while at working at Poe.
Hinshaw said he knew that he needed a job that would keep him here.
“Louisville had become my adopted hometown,” he said.
As luck would have it, Hinshaw was hired by Minneapolis-based M.A. Mortenson and joined as senior project manager for the Yum Center in 2008.
While all the major projects Hinshaw has worked on have been unique, he said there were some special factors involved with Yum Center.
He said the people he worked with on the project were very talented and that they stuck together in the years since the Yum Center opened in October 2010.
“We had a great team of people on the (Yum Center) project … and a lot of the same people are here at Calhoun,” Hinshaw said.
After the Yum Center work, Hinshaw was approached by Wilhelm Construction Co. Inc. with the prospect of opening and managing a business in Louisville.
Wilhelm had been the concrete contractor on several of the arena projects he had helped to manage. He joined and helped to start Calhoun Construction — which has an office off Poplar Level Road just south of the Watterson Expressway — in 2013.
Of his work on arenas, Hinshaw said, “There is always a tight timeline with an opening event scheduled. That always makes it a pressure situation from start to finish.”
A delay in work on a multimillion dollar project that’s received a great deal of media attention could be catastrophic.
“You set up a project, design a schedule that will allow you to hit the construction milestone and have intermittent milestones to help you know if you are going to make your end goal on time and on budget,” he said.
For fun, Hinshaw takes a hiking trip with his friends from college once a year, every year.
This is no day trip with a picnic. These excursions are often six- to eight-day adventures in the back country that cover anywhere from 40 to 60 miles of wilderness.
This year, Hinshaw and his friends are planning a hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
He said that approaching a quest of this magnitude takes the same kind of disciplined planning and goal setting that a multimillion dollar project does.
“You break it down into smaller pieces that you can get your head around and manage it,” Hinshaw said. “A lot of times (while hiking), you have to get from A to B because there is water at B, and no water in between.
“It’s always a huge sense of accomplishment when you’re done. That first beer (after the trip) is very satisfying.”
Even as a parent, Hinshaw takes a similar approach and recognizes that every day presents its own challenges, but that identifying and reaching key milestones helps life make sense and helps establish the pace of where things stand. John and his wife Susan have three children under the age of 10.
“It’s a part of life everyone should experience,” Hinshaw said of being a parent. “It’s your chance to create, to be part of the next generations and hopefully influence people to be good people and be contributing members of the next generation.”
He took some time to answer a few more of our questions:
What is your favorite place for lunch?
Frank’s Meat & Produce on Preston Highway
What advice would you give young or new business leaders?
Pick a field and try to learn every aspect of the field.
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Stay positive
What is your go-to outdoor spot?
Parklands of Floyds Fork
Is there any one project that you would consider yourself most proud of?
The KFC Yum Center
Biggest pet peeve?
Hearing someone say, “That is not my job.”
What do you listen to while in the car?
Talk radio or the Lithium station on satellite radio.
How do you decompress at the end of the work day?
Walk in my house, and my three kids attack me with all of their energy.
John Hinshaw
President, Calhoun Construction Services Inc.
Age: 42
Hometown: Indianapolis
Resides: East Middletown
Career history: President, Calhoun Construction Services Inc., 2016-present and operations manager, 2013-16; senior project manager, M. A. Mortenson Co., 2008-13; Poe Cos. LLC, 2008-08; Hunt Construction Group, 1997-2006.
Education: Bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering with an emphasis in structures and a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering and management from Purdue University, graduated 1997
Family: Susan Hinshaw, wife of 10 years; an 8-year-old boy, a 7-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy.
Hobbies: Back-country hiking
Renovations, William Walker highlight Spring Meet opening at Churchill Downs
After a busy winter at Churchill Downs, track President Kevin Flanery took a few minutes Friday morning to watch some of the horses expected to start in next Saturday’s 143rd Kentucky Derby put in their workouts.
When the 38-day Spring Meet gets underway at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, the track throws open the doors on its latest renovation work, a $16 million project to modernize the second floor of the Clubhouse. The area, which includes a completely upgraded facility with many creature comforts, typically can hold about 13,000 patrons.
But racing fans are likely to spot many other improvements throughout the plant, such as more ATMs and additional trashcans to toss those losing mutuel tickets. In the Clubhouse renovation alone, where foot traffic patterns were streamlined, the restroom capacity was more than doubled, along with the installation of more than 220 flat-screen TVs and upgraded food and beverage service.
“We are focusing on the guest experience,” Flanery said. “It is really amazing what our team does each year.”
With the usual large crowd expected on opening night, Saturday gives Churchill Downs a chance for a shakedown run to work out the kinks ahead of Derby Week, which begins Tuesday, leading up to next Friday’s 143rd Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, followed by the Derby on Saturday, when the nation’s attention focuses on the historic Central Avenue plant.
Part of the opening night festivities will include the second annual teaming with Louisville’s Fund for the Arts to showcase some 150 local artists with 20 live arts performances around the track. A portion of the proceeds Saturday will benefit the Fund for the Arts.
But Churchill Downs is built for horse racing, and fans will have an 11-race program to watch.
The feature event is the $100,000 third running of the William Walker Purse for 3-year-olds, which attracted a field of seven, headed by the Todd Pletcher-trained Syndergaard. The New York-bred colt – racing in the colors of Eric Fein, Christopher McKenna, Harris Fein, Guri Singh and Jerry Walia – drew the rail and will be ridden by his regular jockey, John Velazquez.
Syndergaard, the horse and not the Mets’ pitcher (Noah Syndergaard), is making his first start this year after finishing fifth in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November at Santa Anita. As a 2-year-old, he was nosed out in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont by Practical Joke, after winning his first two starts at Saratoga. He is the 4-5 morning line favorite.
Drawing toward the outside in post position 6 is Conquest Wildcat, a 5-1 shot trained by Randy Morse with Corey Lanerie appointed to ride. The Florida-bred, who won his maiden at Churchill Downs last May, finished second the last time out two weeks ago in the Bachelor at Oaklawn Park.
Not to be overlooked is locally based En Hanse, also at 5-1, who’ll have Julien Leparoux aboard. The colt, owned by Kendall Hansen and Bode Miller and trained by Mike Maker, won here last fall and scored some strong results at Turfway Park before finishing ninth in the Grade III Spiral Stakes on March 25.
After opening night, Churchill takes two days off, before three days of day racing with a 12:45 p.m. post time.
Renovations are making the Kentucky Derby even more posh
KENTUCKY DERBY | Gov. Bevin A Fan of Churchill Downs Renovations
05/06/2017 02:59 PM
Churchill Downs recently completed its renovation of some parts of its legendary Clubhouse.
And Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin is a fan.
“It’s stunning. It’s beautiful,” said Gov. Matt Bevin. “It’s a first-class institution. It’s a first-class company. And the way in which they have continued every year to make this event even better and better for the guests that come is spectacular.”
There are so many new aspects to the Clubhouse, including new bars and lounges, but one thing stands out to Gov. Bevin.
“Just the way they’ve widened some of the hallways where people can move through,” said Gov. Bevin. “It’s just made it a lot more open and airy and accessible.”
Renovated Churchill Downs clubhouse draws bustling crowd, high praise on Oaks Day
May 5, 2017, 1:52pm EDT
Louisville-based Churchill Downs Inc. dropped $16 million this year to upgrade the second-floor clubhouse at its namesake Louisville racetrack.
The project wrapped up just a few weeks before Derby week, and it served as a warm shelter for hundreds of people escaping the rain, wind and sudden cold snap of weather that hit the Kentucky Oaks this morning.
As I previously reported, Churchill Downs has modernized about 95,000 square feet in the clubhouse to improve circulation and service. During larger events, the clubhouse typically hosts thousands of guests.
The project includes updated televisions, several bars named after past Derby winners and more points of sale and larger walkways to reduce wait times and long lines.
I took a walk around the clubhouse before noon today and found the wagering booths, bars and concession stands had heavy traffic, but the wider hallways and the numerous pay options kept the lines lean and manageable.
I also spoke to several people — grizzled Oaks and Derby veterans and first-timers alike — who were pleased with the service and quality of the products they received and were enamored with the new artwork on the walls, including a splashy mural that shows Derby jockeys, trainers and owners and immediately catches your eye.
Kenny and Lenae Kavanaugh of Jeffersonville are frequent visitors to the Kentucky Oaks and said they felt much more comfortable in the clubhouse with the wider layout and ease of service that has cut the lines.
Kenny Kavanaugh said people were almost on top of one another in the old clubhouse layout, which cheapened the experience, forced them to wait longer to buy food or drinks or place bets and made it harder to get from the clubhouse to their seats for the next race.
“Kudos to Churchill Downs for this investment,” and listening to their customers, Kenny Kavanaugh said.
Dawn Paden and George Heilman have been coming to the Derby for decades. The couple met seven years ago at the 2010 Kentucky Derby and are involved in Thoroughbred training back home in Mountain Home, Ark.
They stop into the clubhouse when they come to town, and Heilman said the renovation is a definite improvement on the old layout and should make life easier for those who use its services.
With rain and wind hitting the track hard today, Heilman expected many would look to the clubhouse for warmth and accommodations.
“It’s going to be a real test,” he said. As the day chugged along, the clubhouse filled with more people and lines did get longer.
From a broader standpoint, Heilman did express some reservations with the direction CDI has taken with its capital improvements, saying he feels the company is focusing more on luxury areas inside the track and, in the process, making the experience harder to afford for those with modest incomes.
Charles and Jennifer Ansaroff, a Boca Raton, Fla., couple, were taking in the experience inside the clubhouse’s new Aristides Lounge, named after the winner of the first Kentucky Derby.
The lounge is in a corner of the clubhouse that previously was used for storage and temporary event space during the Derby and other special events. Now, it has table seating for about 300 guests, 27 flat-screen televisions and a full-service bar. During my visit earlier today, a large crowd had filed into the lounge, where a large food spread was arranged and a band was playing.
The lounge also includes graphics honoring Aristides and his jockey, Oliver Lewis, as well as mosaic wallpaper created from vintage wagering tickets.
Charles Ansaroff in particular paid attention to what he called an old-school feel in a “prestigious” event setting.
“This place is amazing,” Ansaroff said.
Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack, has said the clubhouse redesign is a re-imagining of Churchill Downs’ vaunted history, paying respects to the past while modernizing for the future.
Scott and Lisa Cochran, a couple from Atlanta who recently moved to Fort Knox, Ky., on an Army assignment, were snapping pictures of one another in front of one of the clubhouse murals after upgrading their tickets from the infield.
“We want the entire (Derby) experience,” Scott Cochran said.
Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.
Here's who was hanging out at the Turf Club at Churchill Downs on Derby Day
The Turf Club is one of the most exclusive spots at Churchill Downs Racetrack outside of the Mansion, and it is never short on celebrities and other high-profile guests on Derby day.
Photographer Ron Bath and I took a tour of the Turf Club in the early afternoon Saturday and were immediately inundated with famous faces, such as country music stars Kix Brooks and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry.
We also ran into multiple sports stars, including recently retired Major League Baseball slugger David Ortiz, who has become a Boston icon for his storied tenure with the Boston Red Sox, and NFL great Jerry Rice, who dazzled audiences with his quick feet and smooth hands while playing for the San Francisco 49ers.
Ortiz is featured in our gallery. Unfortunately, Rice was moving quickly (no surprise for a hall-of-fame wide receiver) and made it to the off-limits Turf terrace before we could grab him for a photo.
Other faces we ran into included Stephen Amell of the television show “Arrow” and movie star Jesse Eisenberg, known for movies such as “The Social Network” and “Zombieland.”
Dolvett Quince, a personal trainer on “The Biggest Loser” and grand marshal of the Pegasus Parade, was gracious enough to chat with us and even recorded a video greeting for my wife, who is a big fan.
To see our full line-up of Turf Club names we ran into, check out our gallery above.
Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.
NULU Church
Zions Church, First German Methodist Church in Louisville, Founded 1843.
According to a report from the Kentucky Archaeological Society, the building is much older than the inscription suggests. “The first story of the church was built in 1842 and in 1846 a single story parsonage was added at the rear,” the report reads. “A second story was added in 1859.” That means the oldest part of the building is now 170 years old.
Calhoun Construction Services served as the General Contractor on the structural upgrades to the 1850’s church in the hear of NULU. Calhoun installed new concrete foundations adjacent the existing brick foundations. A new structural steel skeleton was erected and tied to the original brick wall structure. The roof original wood trussess were reinforced.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]Square Footage: 5,000 sqft
Year Completed: 2014
Project Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Contract Type: General Contractor
Timeline Photos:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” fullwidth=”on” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”off” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” gallery_ids=”5545,5546,5547,5548,5549,5550,5551,5552,5553,5554,5555,5556,5557,5558,5559,5560″ orientation=”landscape” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]Churchill Downs Unveiling Upgrades For Derby
Sneak peek inside $16M upgrade at Churchill Downs Clubhouse
The long-stagnant, second-level Clubhouse area at Churchill Downs has undergone a $16 million transformation that has turned a large and somewhat shabby space into vibrant, welcoming quarters.
A few final touches remain, such as hanging some artwork, but the revamped sector at the top of the escalators just off Gate 17 will be open to all track-goers starting for simulcast wagering Wednesday, April 5, and then for the track’s spring racing season that leaves the gate April 29, said Ryan Jordan, Churchill Downs Racetrack’s general manager.
“We have a lot more amenities,” Jordan said during an unveiling of the facilities Tuesday morning. “We have doubled the number of restrooms, increased the number of wagering locations and added significantly more concession stations.”
“We have reconfigured the food court area with wider aisles for better circulation and flow. So we should have shorter lines, and people should get their food much, much quicker.”
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Much of the work is cosmetic – and has greatly spiffed up the premises. Wood-like vinyl flooring has been put down in much of the space and tile flooring installed in other areas. Walls have been redone in a combination of mostly neutral colors – including earth tones, greens and white.
The architect on the renovation was R2 Architects of New Jersey, and the chief contractor was Calhoun Construction of Louisville. The track paid for the project out of its own revenues, with no government aid, Jordan said, and work began last November.
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The modernization has encompassed most of the 95,000-square-foot Clubhouse area and was designed to improve the track experience for the roughly 13,000 guests that typically enter the space on Oaks or Derby Day, track officials said.
Other updates include:
- The Aristides Lounge – formerly an unfinished space that was occasionally used for select events (including the Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw), “is now a permanent fixture, outfitted with table seating for nearly 300 guests, 27 flat-screen TVs and a full-service bar.”
- The Loft at Aristides Lounge – above the Aristides Lounge and accessed by a new staircase and elevator, designed to offer intimate dining with table seating for more than 300 guests, 38 flat-screen TVs and full-service bar.
- Champions Bar and Gold Room – an area exclusive to VIP bettors and horsemen, features seating for more than 240 guests and almost 100 TVs. The Champions Bar features 38 bar seats, 114 table seats and 46 TVs. “The Gold Room is a Las Vegas sports book-style area with 49 flat-screen TVs, 48 carrel seats, 28 table seats and 13 countertop seats, each outfitted with new Bet Pro betting machines,” the track said.
- The Champions Bar and Gold Room Balcony – offers a view of the Paddock area and has covered table seating for approximately 130 people.
In addition, the track has upgraded food and beverage items in an improved concession area that now has nine themed stations and 25 points of sale. Jordan said the food preparation area has also undergone upgrades, with new equipment added to speed up service.
Several new bars have been developed – appropriately named after Derby winners: the Spend a Buck Bar, the I’ll Have Another Bar, the Behave Yourself Bar and the Regret Bar.
A nice break for track visitors: there will be no immediate increase in concession prices, Jordan said.
The project has included more than 60 staffed pari-mutuel wagering windows, 40 self-serve betting machines – and a more than doubling of both the men’s and women’s restrooms fixtures.
Meanwhile, with upgrades seemingly unending, the track broke ground in January on a $37 million suites tower near Turn 4. The foundation for the tower is in, with work temporarily halted but due to resume after this year’s Derby. The tower suites should be ready for Derby 2018, Jordan said.
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Churchill announced plans for the $37 million project last November. The so-called Starting Gates suites project will encompass approximately 60,000 square feet of new commercial space on the north end of Churchill Downs Racetrack’s 147-acre facility along Central Avenue.
The steel structure, which will feature three floors of individual suites, along with dining and event space, is adjacent to the Jockey Club suites, which opened in 2003. It will host 1,140 ticket guests and boasts 36 new individual suites that can accommodate groups of various sizes, track officials said previously.
Track officials have committed approximately $125 million to major capital improvements over the last eight years.
Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or at sshafer@courier-journal.com.