Arnold B. Baker Appointed to Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans

Arnold B. Baker In April 2015, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal appointed New Orleans businessman Arnold B. Baker to the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. Baker will serve a five-year term, succeeding Daniel F. Packer, one of four Orleans Parish representatives on the seven-member regional Board that governs Port operations in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes.   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. Prior to founding Baker Ready Mix in 2003, Baker served as president 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 Mayor Marc Morial of New Orleans' Policy, Planning and Development and Director of Small & Emerging Business Development from 1996 until 1999. Before his public sector commitment, Baker regularly received industry awards working for Simon Development Group and General Growth Properties, two of the world's largest shopping mall developers. Baker currently serves on the boards of the New Orleans Board of Trade, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Southern Black Chamber of Commerce, Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, Kate Middleton Elementary School, New Orleans Start Up Fund, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Dillard University School of Business, and the Bayou District Foundation. He has served on many boards and commissions including GNO Inc. , the New Orleans Bureau of Governmental Research and the New Orleans Business Council, as well as being Vice Chairman of the New Orleans Business Council and CoFounder of the several Black Chambers throughout the state of Louisiana.  He is a former chairman of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Baker grew up in a military family moving frequently between the United State and Europe, primarily attending military schools on military bases. Attending Texas State University on a football scholarship and achieving All American status as a junior, he graduated with degrees in marketing and business administration. Baker also earned a certified marketing director certification from the International Council of Shopping Center Management Institute at Michigan State University; a Marketing Director 1 certification from the University of Miami and a WOC Advance Concrete Certification. He chose New Orleans as his "hometown," where he has resided since 1992. He is married to Tracee Dundas, the producer of "New Orleans Fashion Week" and co host of "Fashion Fridays on Fox". The Port of New Orleans is a deep-draft multipurpose port at the center of the world's busiest port system - Louisiana's Lower Mississippi River. Connected to major inland markets and Canada via 14,500 miles of waterways, six class-1 railroads and the interstate highway system, the Port is the ideal gateway for steel, project cargo, containers, coffee, natural rubber, chemicals, forest products, manufactured goods and cruising. (The New Orleans Agenda)