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The Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce recently welcomed three new businesses to its ranks: Urban Village, Christian Brothers Automotive and Cedarhurst Senior Living.

Each offers something different for area residents.

Ever wanted to learn martial arts? Then Urban Village located at 201 South 1st Street in Nicholasville has you covered.

“We are a non-profit activity center geared for kids and families. We have different programs there. I teach martial arts, so we have jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, stuff like that. We also have an indoor playground with American ninja warrior kind of things, the kids love that. A while back, we would go around asking everybody, ‘What could the area need?’ and ‘What would people like for us to start up as a nonprofit?’ and we heard a lot of ‘Well, there’s just not enough for kids and families to do,’” said the non-profit’s operator, Jeff Shaver.

The non-profit started when a similar organization in Lexington closed.

“There was a business in Lexington called the Urban Ninja Project and they were doing great things for the community but then COVID hit them and they closed down, so we actually got all their equipment and we just decided we’ll move it to Nicholasville,” Shaver said. “We want to eventually expand our programs and include things like after-school programs, and kind of be a hub for the community and have different events but for now, we’re gaining popularity and we’re still small but we hope that the community likes us.”

Christian Brothers Automotives is located at 616 East Brannon Road in Nicholasville and offers everything from oil changes to engine replacements.

“We are a premium automotive repair shop,” said owner Brad Rizer. “We offer a three-year 36,000-mile warranty, whatever happens last. We have ASE master-certified techs. We offer a courtesy shuttle where we can take people home after they drop their car off and we can always pick them up. We just try to be the nice difference in automotive repairs, so we offer a digital vehicle inspection, that way anytime we recommend something, we can show people why we recommend it. We service all makes and models and we have dealership-level scan tools, that way we can do anything a dealership can do.”

Cedarhurst Senior Living is located at 1600 Nicholasville Bypass. The Missouri-based company has Kentucky locations in Lexington and Owensboro, and the Nicholasville location opened its doors in November.

“We currently have 84 apartments. We do have an area in our community that is designated for memory care, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and that’s 27 apartments…All apartments are private; seniors come in and lease those apartments out month-by-month,” said Cedarhurst’s Executive Director, Lisa Keller.

Keller, who is in her last week at Cederhurst and will be replaced by Nicole Davis, said that the facility has nurses and caregivers on staff that help “with administering medication or providing assistance with bathing or dressing.”

One of the more notable aspects of the facility is its dining program.

“We have a menu called ‘Crafted,’ and it was designed just for Cedarhurst it is a phenomenal menu with everything from breakfast to sandwiches to fresh spinach salads. It’s a really good menu, so the dining aspect of our community we are extremely proud of. There’s still a lot of choices and autonomy but we have a feature of the day and it feels a lot like a restaurant when you go in. You have a seat and we take your order and we serve it to you and do the dishes so you don’t have to worry about it,” Keller said.

Each business had different reasons for joining the Chamber.

“I went through the Jessamine County Leadership Program and I had met everybody at the Chamber and just thought it was a wonderful thing to be a part of and we enjoyed the community of the Chamber. We don’t want to be isolated in some corner off of Chestnut Street. We want to be part of the Nicholasville scene and joining the Chamber was just a big no-brainer for us. We love it. It’s so helpful and it’s been wonderful,” Shaver said.

Rizer said Christian Brothers Automotive joined in order to form community connections.

“We just wanted to make sure we’re part of the community, being a part of the Chamber, connecting with local businesses, and supporting the community,” he said “It’s been great, we’ve had a great response and we’re just trying to let people know we’re here. We’ve been able to take care of a lot of guests and just provide a different experience in automotive repairs to people.”

Keller said that the Chamber has been great for networking.

“I think that in every town, especially your smaller towns like Nicholasville, it’s necessary to have a connection with your Chamber because the Chamber provides great support to new business owners and your veteran businesses that have been here for a long time,” she said.