The Kroger Co. has named a new president to lead its Louisville division. Jake Cannon, vice president of operations for the Cincinnati/Dayton division, has been promoted to president of the Louisville division, effective Nov.

1, according to a news release. He succeeds Ann Reed, who was recently named president of the Cincinnati/Dayton division. Reed was promoted to Cincinnati market president in October.

She replaced Scott Hays, who retired from the company after four years. Reed was named one of Louisville Business First's Most Admired CEOs in 2021 and was on LBF's 2022 Power 50 list. Cannon has more than 20 years retail experience, beginning his Kroger career as a produce clerk in the Smith's division in 1999.

The release said he went on to hold a variety of roles for the division, including assistant store manager, store manager, lead HR coordinator, key retailing special assignment, Customer 1st Promise manager, district manager and division meat merchandiser. In 2017, Cannon was named director of operations for the Cincinnati/Dayton division, where he helped develop process improvement solutions merchandising techniques for District 6, which comprised 10 high-volume stores, that would later be used company-wide and allow associates to better serve customers and drive business results, the release continued. He was promoted to vice president of Freshness & Standards for Retail Operations at the company's general office in 2018 before being named to his current role in 2019.

Jake has a bachelor's degree in business from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. In 2010, he completed the Food Industry Management Program at USC's Marshall School of Business. The Louisville division of Kroger includes about 115 Kroger stores in Kentucky, Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois with over 19,000 employees.