Kent Oyler
Kent Oyler joined Greater Louisville Inc. as its President & CEO in June 2014. He leads GLI, the Metro Chamber of Commerce, in retaining and growing existing businesses, supporting the entrepreneurial and start-up community, attracting and preparing a skilled workforce, and driving advocacy efforts aimed at creating a more business-friendly environment. Prior to GLI, Oyler served as CEO of OPM Services, Inc., a financial-services and investment firm.
After earning business and MBA degrees from the University of Louisville, Kent Oyler worked for a predecessor to PNC Bank and later joined a large private manufacturing company where he rose to become its CFO. In 1992 he founded OPM Services and began a career as a serial entrepreneur, launching 19 new ventures in a variety of industries including equipment finance, railroads, manufacturing, accounting, and consumer research. In 1997 he co-founded broadband internet provider High Speed Access Corp. The company went public in a 1999 offering that still ranks as Kentucky’s largest IPO. In 2016, Oyler was inducted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career Kent has also been very active in the philanthropic and civic worlds. He has served on boards for Leadership Louisville, Junior Achievement, Kentucky Science Center, Metro YMCA, University of Louisville, Venture Connectors, YPO, Metro United Way, Kentuckiana Works, Downtown Development Corp., Tocqueville Society, the Metro Police Foundation, and many more organizations. Prior to joining GLI, Kent served on GLI’s Board of Directors for a total of eight years and chaired GLI’s EnterpriseCorp twice. From 2000-2008 he served as Mayor Jerry Abramson’s Liaison for Entrepreneurship. Kent has been recognized as Cashflow magazine’s Treasurer of the Year, E&Y Master Entrepreneur, and Business First Small Business Leader of The Year.
He resides in Louisville with his wife Kathy and has three grown daughters.