Richard named CEO of Greater Louisville Inc.

Craig Richard, the Chief Economic Development Officer for the Greater Houston Partnership, has been named as the new CEO of Greater Louisville Inc.

Greater Louisville Inc. is the chief metropolitan chamber of commerce and business development organization in Louisville, Ky.

"I offer my sincerest congratulations to Craig on this announcement," President and CEO of GHP Bob Harvey said in a press release. "While we certainly hate to see Craig leave Houston, we can't help but be pleased to see him have this opportunity to lead the Louisville chamber. Craig is clearly among the nation's top talents for creating jobs and driving economic development."

During his time with GHP, Richard helped to oversee the successful Opportunity Houston campaign, which is designed to assist in the creation of 600,000 regional jobs and attract $60 billion in capital investments. Foreign trade is expected to increase by $120 billion under the program by 2015.

Also during his tenure, Richard's division successfully announced more than 120 corporate expansions and relocations to the Houston area, creating or retaining 102,000 jobs and $5.1 billion in capital investments.

"It had to take one tremendous opportunity to pry me away from Houston," Richard said in a press release. "Louisville is known as the city of possibilities, which, in my view is demonstrated by the fact that a kid from the east side of Houston can one day lead one of the most acclaimed chambers in the country. I will always be thankful to GHP's Board of Directors, the staff and the many economic developers in the region who make the Houston area so successful. We have done some great things together and I am sure that the Opportunity Houston campaign will continue to succeed under the leadership of Drayton McLane and many other dedicated volunteers and staff."

He will continue in his position at GHS until the end of the year.

A search to find his successor is currently underway.