NewAge Industries, Inc. (NAI), the parent company of AdvantaPure, NewAge Performance Products and Verigenics, announced that Ken Baker has officially completed his transition from President and CEO, a role he held since 1984. Baker succeeded his father and company founder, Ray Baker, who established the business in 1954. He will remain on the Board of Directors. Mary Marcus had already taken over as permanent President and CEO in December 2024, as previously announced.
Baker was honored on May 8, 2026, at a celebration attended by over 300 guests at Spring Mill Manor in Ivyland, Pennsylvania. The event included the annual ESOP share price announcement. During his tenure, Baker was instrumental in advancing the company's commitment to sustainability and employee ownership. Under his leadership, NAI implemented significant environmental initiatives, including powering its corporate headquarters and a manufacturing facility in Bucks County with solar energy from thousands of onsite solar panels. These efforts helped the company achieve an EcoVadis Platinum sustainability rating.
Baker also oversaw the expansion into the high-purity market with the formation of the AdvantaPure product line, developed to support increasing demand for tubing and hose solutions used in critical processing applications, such as vaccine development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The company continued to serve a broad range of industrial markets through the NewAge Performance Products industrial line.
In 2024, NAI expanded its global footprint by opening a manufacturing facility in Coevorden, Netherlands, following the establishment of a sales office in Hong Kong in 2023. These additions complemented existing operations in Germany and Brazil. Baker was a strong advocate of employee ownership and began transitioning NAI to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) structure in 2006. Today, employees own 100 percent of the organization. He also co-founded and chairs the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership.
Beyond business, Baker is active in philanthropic and community initiatives, supporting organizations such as WHYY in Philadelphia and ACT II Playhouse in Ambler, Pennsylvania. He founded the Center of Excellence for Employee Ownership at the Montgomery County Community College Foundation. NewAge Industries, now an ISO-9001 certified, 100% employee-owned corporation with a Platinum EcoVadis Sustainability Rating and Certified B Corporation status, continues to design, manufacture, and distribute fluid transfer system solutions for high purity pharmaceutical, biopharma, and industrial markets.
