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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis and Louisville are the sole finalists to host the National FFA convention from 2013 to 2019, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Eliminated from the competition are fellow front runners Minneapolis and Kansas City. Ten other cities had applied.
The Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau issued a statement about Louisville and Indianapolis yesterday. The National FFA, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, wouldn’t comment on the statement but is expected to make its own announcement on Monday, the newspaper said.
Indianapolis has hosted the gathering, which is characterized by swarms of students donned in blue and gold jackets, since 2006.
Louisville had it from 1998 to 2005, and hopes new hotels built since the convention left town will persuade FFA officials to bring it back.
An executive of the Indianapolis-based not-for-profit told IBJ after its most recent convention ended in October that it had attracted 53,618 members, advisers, industry representatives and government officials. The figure was down slightly from2006, possibly due to the higher costs – and higher quality – of hotels compared to Louisville’s hotels.
Still, Doug Loudenslager, chief operating officer for both the organization and its foundation, told IBJ that Indianapolis has much to offer.
“There has been nothing in the Indianapolis experience that would cause us to think Indianapolis would not be a good bid for future convention needs,” Loudenslager said in October. “It has been a very, very positive experience to this point.”
A decision by the Indianapolis-based not-for-profit is expected in November, the Courier-Journal said.
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