Louisville Beit Sefer Yachad (LBSY – the Louisville Hebrew School) has the distinction of being the oldest continually operating school of its kind in the country. This year is its 110th anniversary, and it is celebrating it with The Kentucky Business Forum on Sunday, March 9, at 5:15 p.m. at the 21c Museum Hotel.
The event will feature three distinguished LBSY alumni. Craig Greenberg, president of 21c Museum Hotels, will discuss the downtown Louisville hotel and food scene; Dennis Berman, the Wall Street Journal’s business editor will share an inside look at the esteemed national newspaper; and Jerry Abramson will serve as the event moderator.
The event will also include the music of The Lost Tribe Klezmer Band and dessert.
For those who would like to meet Berman and Greenberg, there will be a wine reception prior to the forum.
“This is the first-ever event like this that LBSY has done,” said LBSY President Craig Lustig, “and I think people will really enjoy hearing from Dennis and Craig – two local boys who have done well.” He added that the program is modeled after the Kentucky Authors Forum.
“The Hebrew School has not done an event of this caliber since its 100th Anniversary,” added Elana Levitz, event co-chair. “It is our greatest hope that this becomes an annual event where the community can come together and learn more from LBSY graduates.”
Dennis Berman
As business editor of The Wall Street Journal, Berman oversees the staff and coverage of business around the globe. He also writes a column, “The Game,” which covers the future of business.
Berman was previously served as the deputy bureau chief for Money & Investing, helping oversee the Journal’s financial coverage during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and rebuilding its presence on WSJ.com. Prior to that he was the Journal’s Global Deals editor, after serving as its mergers and acquisitions reporter for four years.
Berman broke the news on a series of large deals, including Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch, AT&T’s purchase of BellSouth, Sprint’s purchase of Nextel, and Federated Department Stores’ purchase of May Department Stores.
In 2007, he launched Deal Journal on WSJ.com, now one of the site’s most popular destinations.
Berman began his career at Business Week Online and joined the Journal in 2001 as a telecom reporter and technology columnist. He covered the historic collapse and subsequent accounting scandals at companies including Lucent, Global Crossing and WorldCom.
Berman shares the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism, and the 2009 Loeb Award – business journalism’s highest honor – for his coverage of the global financial crisis. He has been honored in “Best Newspaper Writing” published by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, is a media fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is a Kentucky Colonel.
Craig Greenberg
Part of 21c Museum Hotels since its founding, Greenberg oversees the daily operations of the company including the management of all 21c properties and the development of 21c in new markets.
A strategic thinker and tireless advocate, Greenberg has spent most of his career creating and executing development strategies that turn important and challenging urban real estate projects into realities. His involvement with 21c started with the flagship Louisville property, where he structured and sourced the financing, which included federal, state and local public incentives, as well as traditional construction financing and equity.
Under Greenberg’s leadership, 21c Museum Hotels has grown from a single property in downtown Louisville and stand-alone restaurant (Garage Bar in downtown Louisville’s East Market District) to encompass three hotels and four restaurants with two more properties in the works. 21c Museum Hotels now employs over 500 people.
21c Museum Hotels has garnered critical acclaim. All three properties were voted among the Top 100 Hotels in the World in the 2013 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, with 21c Cincinnati being ranked the number one hotel in the U.S. The company has also been recognized for growth. 21c was named to the Inc. 5000, Inc. magazine’s annual ranking of America’s fastest growing companies.
Prior to joining 21c Museum Hotels, Greenberg was an attorney with Frost Brown Todd.
Greenberg is on the University Of Louisville Board Of Overseers. He is also on the Board of Directors of Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ: RBCAA). A 1995 graduate of the University of Michigan, Greenberg earned Bachelor of Arts degree and served as President of the Student Government before attending Harvard Law School and graduating cum laude in 1998.
“The event is something that should appeal to all, and it’s wonderful to see and hear from successful LBSY graduates,” said Business Forum Committee member Rhonda Reskin. “I am such a believer in Jewish education beginning when our children are young. “I truly hope that even if you cannot attend this event the Louisville community will support LBSY.”
Tickets for the entire evening, including the wine reception are $50 per person. Tickets to the event, excluding the wine reception, are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. To purchase tickets, contact Renee at LBSY, lbsyrenee@twc.com or through the Jewish Community Center, 459-0660.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available. For details, contact David Gould at davidg@gouldsdiscountmedical.com or 664-2703.
Leigh Bird, Rob Gates and Elana Levitz are co-chairs of The Kentucky Business Forum. Craig Lustig LBSY president, Rabbi David Feder is LBSY principal and Elana Levitz is the individualized education planner.