Lord Corp., one of the region’s largest industrial employers with four plants and more than a thousand jobs in Erie and Crawford counties, has announced the appointment of a new chief executive.

Rick McNeel, who joined the company in 2002, will retire as chairman on Dec. 31. He will remain with Lord as chairman.

The company has announced that McNeel will be replaced, effective Jan. 1, by Ed Auslander, who began his career at Lord in 1984 as part of the company’s student co-op program.

The company, based in Cary, N.C., is in the process of consolidating its two Erie plants into one facility that will employ more than 800 people at the former Bush Industries facility in Summit Township.

That deal is said to be dependent on the company receiving tax increment financing, which would allow Lord Corp. to divert a portion of its additional tax bill into a fund that would pay for improvements to the facility.