Litehouse Inc., a 100 percent employee-owned company and the No. 1 refrigerated salad dressing brand in the U.S., announced that its board of directors has promoted Kelly Prior to the position of president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Prior previously held the role of president at Litehouse. In his newly expanded role, Prior will have the responsibility of setting the company’s strategic direction and vision.

“The past year has been a dynamic and exciting time for Litehouse,” said Curt Hecker, Litehouse board member. “Along with becoming the No. 1 RSD brand in the United States, we also acquired two new brands, Sky Valley and Organicville. This acquisition took us from a manufacturer in the produce and deli departments to a manufacturer across multiple categories throughout the grocery store. With this expanded scope, it’s imperative we put an individual in the CEO role who has vision and a reputation of moving the business forward. Kelly’s track record of strategic thinking, strong business acumen and outstanding relationship skills made him the right choice for the role.”

Prior joined Litehouse in 2002 and became CFO by 2005. In 2010 Prior was appointed executive vice president of the company, took on the role of interim president in 2018 and officially moved into the president role in February of 2019. Over the past year as president, Prior has made it a priority to focus his time and energy on developing a long-term business strategy for Litehouse.

“The success of Litehouse is in large part due to the hard work and perseverance of our employee owners,” said Prior. “It’s crucial we have a forward-thinking strategy to ensure we continue to build a sustainable business that provides our employee owners with opportunities for years to come. I am honored to work with my fellow employee owners to ensure that we maintain our position as the No. 1 RSD brand while also expanding our footprint into other categories of the store.”