Arnold B. Baker Appointed to Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans
New Orleans businessman Arnold B. Baker on April 16 took his seat as the newest member of the board of commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. He Baker succeeds Daniel F. Packer as one of four Orleans Parish representatives on the seven-member board.
Mr. Baker is owner and founder of New Orleans-based Baker Ready Mix and Building Materials, which operates three plants in the area, a fleet of mixer trucks and employs 40 local drivers, technicians and industry professionals.
He serves on the boards of the New Orleans Board of Trade, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, National Black Chamber of Commerce, Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, Kate Middleton Elementary School, and the Bayou District Foundation.
He is a former board member of the New Orleans Business Council, GNO Inc., New Orleans Bureau of Governmental Research and the Louisiana Airport Commission.
Mr. Baker is an honors graduate and a former athlete of the Texas State University where he earned a degree in marketing and business administration. He also earned advanced marketing director certifications from the International Council of Shopping Center’s Management Institute.
Prior to founding Baker Ready Mix in 2003, he served as managing member of Centergy Development Group – a consultancy created to implement redevelopment strategies for distressed commercial real estate – from 1999 until 2003. He also served as assistant to the mayor of New Orleans for policy, planning and development from 1996 until 1999, and prior to that was a field executive for several of the nation’s largest mall development and management firms.
Port board members are unsalaried, serve five-year staggered terms, and are appointed by the governor of Louisiana to terms of five years from lists of three nominees submitted by 19 local business, civic, labor, education and maritime groups. Four members are selected from Orleans Parish, two from Jefferson Parish and one from St. Bernard Parish.
The other members are Chairman Scott H. Cooper, Vice Chairman William T. Bergeron, Secretary-Treasurer Michael W. Kearney, Robert "Rusty" Barkerding, Gregory R. Rusovich, and Laney J. Chouest.
Arnold B. Baker
Photo/Port of New Orleans