Lou Kennedy is President, CEO and Owner of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation – a certified woman-owned business. She has held a variety of marketing and operational roles at Nephron and created the Nephron national sales force. Under Kennedy’s leadership, Nephron has experienced unprecedented growth. The company is now nearly 2,000 employees strong and produces more than 1 billion doses of life-saving medications each year. Kennedy has been widely recognized for her achievements in business and leadership. As a worldwide pandemic reached South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster appointed Kennedy to #acceleratesc – the state’s coordinated COVID-19 advisory and recovery team. The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce celebrated Kennedy as its 2020 Business Leader of the Year. She has won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Regional Award and an Outstanding Leadership Award from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), at the NAM Institute STEP Ahead Women’s event. Nephron won an honorable mention award for Global Facility of the Year in 2017 from the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). The award hailed Nephron for innovation and automation. Kennedy, now a member of the Judging Team for the global Facility of the Year Awards, joined the ISPE Board of Directors in 2019. In addition to serving on the ISPE Board, Kennedy is Chairman of S.C. BIO, a statewide association promoting the life sciences industry. She also serves on the National Association of Manufacturers Board of Directors. Kennedy is a member of the Columbia Urban League board and a recipient of the Urban League’s award for impact on education. Kennedy is Governor McMaster’s appointee to the South Carolina Research Authority executive committee. She is past Chairman of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. Kennedy received South Carolina’s highest civilian honor – the Order of the Palmetto – from Governor Nikki Haley in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding service. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations from the University of South Carolina.