Library Associates Board

Curt Richards

Prior to joining GCH International where he is the Chief Executive Officer of this $30MM Louisville based process equipment manufacturer, Curt Richards was a management consultant for various organizations including the Kentucky Small Business Development Center and bCatalyst Advisors, LLC, a middle-market M&A and advisory services firm, both in Louisville, KY. He was also a partner in Capstone, LLC, a business development consulting service specializing in cost segregation studies. Mr. Richards was the Chair of the School of Business and Assistant Professor at Spalding University, a private liberal arts university located in Louisville, Kentucky from 2005-2006. Prior to taking this position he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Louisville (Fall 2004) studying Entrepreneurship. He was an Instructor of Business Administration in the Rubel School of Business at Bellarmine University, (Fall 2002-Summer 2004). Prior to joining Bellarmine as a full-time member of its faculty, Mr. Richards was involved in three separate entrepreneurial ventures. He was CEO and the sole owner of UniTrac Systems, Inc. from 1989 until 1998, the year he sold the company to a multinational conglomerate. UniTrac is a manufacturer of custom fabricated controls and hardware used in the electrified transportation industry; that is subways, light-rail systems and underground mining rail operations in North America. Mr. Richards worked in the industry for over 20 years in various capacities, including design, marketing, and management and has held officer positions in related national organizations. In 2000, he acquired a 50% ownership in a custom kitchen and bath cabinet manufacturing company. His primary role in this operation was strategic management of the manufacturing facility; a $4.5 million dollar operation with 50 employees. This business was sold in 2002. Mr. Richards helped finance and launch WorkShop, LLC in 1994, a team building business in which he is inactive.

He holds an MBA from Bellarmine University (1990) and a B.S. in Industrial Technology, with a Business Administration minor from Western Kentucky University (1974) and has completed some Ph.D. work in Entrepreneurship at the University of Louisville. His teaching experiences include: FastTrac, a Kauffman Foundation program for entrepreneurship training taught at the local Chamber of Commerce, now GLI, for three years; Small Business Management at the University of Louisville (Summer 1994); management and entrepreneurship as adjunct professor (1994-2000, 2007- present) and as full-time instructor (2002-2004) both at Bellarmine. His academic writings center around business case studies and include his 2005 Best Case of the Year Award, Society of Case Research for “The Last Straw”.  In addition to his work as consultant to many small and medium sized organizations, Mr. Richards has spoken regularly to small business owners at workshops and conferences and is involved in entrepreneurial activities in the community.

A native of Kentucky, Mr. Richards resides in Anchorage, KY.  He has two children, Matthew (21) and Megan (19).

Note: Current positions in bold.