Gregg Coleman wanted to be the first in his family to have a degree in engineering. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1985, making his parents and two brothers proud.
Coleman was born in Covington, KY and attended Lloyd High School. His father worked for General Electric and he taught Coleman and his two brothers how to repair things, fostering an interest in independent analysis and problem solving. While an undergraduate student at UK, Coleman was a member of Eta Kappa Nu, played intramural sports and dated Joan, who was also studying engineering and would later become his wife.
After graduating from UK in 1985, Coleman was recruited by Ralston Purina as a project engineer and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. He was their first electrical engineer dedicated to a plant. He was hired in part because the plant had no programmable logic controllers and an extensive automation plan, and within four years, Coleman supported over 100 PLCs and microprocessors.Coleman moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1990, where he rose through the ranks of Automation Technologies, Inc. He started as a project engineer and was named vice president of engineering after only one year. While he was the vice president of engineering, Automation Technologies, Inc grew 300%.
Coleman’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to form InLine Automation Group in May of 1996 with one of his best friends from UK, Kevin Reid. The company designs large-capacity production lines in the food and beverage industry. In 2018, Coleman and Reid sold the company to Gray, Inc. It now operates as InLine Engineers LLC, A Gray Company in three states. Coleman still serves as the president today.Coleman and Reid also launched CRG Technologies in 2001, which provided packaging automation solutions to companies with custom applications to reduce their costs. As vice president, Coleman grew CRG Technologies to build prototypes of high-speed applications. After 20 years, they sold the company, which now operates as CRG Automation in Louisville.
Coleman and his wife are very active in the community and are passionate about helping everyone access an education. Coleman supports scholarships in the UK College of Engineering and Children of Fallen Patriots, he is a supporter of the Kentucky Science Center and he serves on the UK Advisory Board College of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Gregg and Joan Coleman live in Louisville, Kentucky. They have three children, a son-in-law and one grandchild.
