Mayor Craig Greenberg appoints new Louisville deputy mayor of economic development

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg has appointed a deputy mayor tasked with moving the city's economy forward.

Pat Mulloy, a longtime local attorney and business leader, was named Louisville's new deputy mayor over economic development at a ceremony Monday morning at Metro Hall.

Mulloy, an attorney and current chair of University of Louisville Health who has run four health companies in his career, said he’s excited about the state of the city and eager to get to work. He served as secretary of finance under then-Gov. Brereton C. Jones from 1992 to 1994 and has decades of experience running local senior living companies.

“Louisville’s got a lot of great stuff going on,” he said. ”… I’m honored and humbled to be here.”

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Mulloy will work with the city's economic development department along with the Greater Louisville Inc. chamber of commerce to "help Louisville businesses grow and thrive, and to attract, develop and retain world-class talent, Greenberg said. The mayor described Mulloy as "a great person who loves Louisville," touting his experience in the private sector as well as his time working in government.

"Pat and this team know how to make things happen," Greenberg said. "They will create new opportunities and capitalize on existing opportunities to create a strategy for growth and continue to move Louisville in a new direction."

Mulloy said he wants the city's economic team to be "nimble" and "creative" as it works to address issues facing the region. New names in city leadership under a new mayoral administration present an opportunity to "take a fresh look in a very short order about a strategic and tactical plan for economic development for the city."

The city's perception has taken a hit in recent years due to several issues, he said, including violence and a police department in the spotlight following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into civil rights violations. But Louisville is "a rich city of people who care deeply about the quality of this place," he said, in a good position to stand out as a key market in the South and Midwest.

"I'm an optimist about where we are, and I'm excited to help shape, reshape, rebuild, (and) come up with new creative ideas about how to create economic opportunity across this city," Mulloy said. "... We've got a real competitive advantage, I think, the businesses in this region, if we get our story out through the noise and through the clutter."

Mulloy joins several other deputy mayors on Greenberg's staff – Barbara Sexton Smith, Nicole George (Public Health & Services), David James (Emergency Services) and Dana Mayton (Operations & Budget). He supported Greenberg's efforts leading up to the 2022 mayoral election, contributing $2,000 to his campaign soon after he announced plans to run for office, and was a member of his transition team on his public safety committee.

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Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Metro names Pat Mulloy deputy mayor of economic development