Benji Vega has been named chief creative officer at Creative Energy, an agency which operates offices in Johnson City, Tenn., and Asheville, NC. Vega comes over from The Richards Group in Dallas where he spent nearly 10 years, most recently as group creative head for the agency’s affiliate, PYRO. His credits include campaigns for restaurant and hospitality clients, financial, automotive, tourism, retailer and lifestyle brands.

Tony Treadway, president of Creative Energy, said that Vega will “oversee all of our creative executions and support an aggressive new business effort within our core vertical markets. He will also oversee our integrated approach (traditional through digital/social) to existing accounts, including Hispanic marketing efforts.”

As a managing partner, Vega founded a national Hispanic agency, iNSPIRE!, for Leo Burnett and served as creative director for Ornelas & Associates, a Dallas-based Hispanic firm for brands as diverse as Nissan and Budweiser.