NewAge Industries, Inc. (NAI), parent company of AdvantaPure, NewAge Performance Products and Verigenics, announced today 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 company in 1954. He will remain active as a member of the Board of Directors. Mary Marcus, who assumed the permanent role of President and CEO in December 2024, now leads the organization.
Baker was honored on May 8, 2026 during a celebration attended by over 300 guests, including family, peers, and current and former team members, at Spring Mill Manor in Ivyland, PA. The event featured the annual ESOP share price announcement.
Under Baker's leadership, NAI implemented significant sustainability initiatives, including powering its corporate headquarters and a manufacturing facility in Bucks County through solar energy generated by thousands of onsite solar panels. These efforts contributed to an EcoVadis Platinum sustainability rating. Baker also championed the company's expansion into the high-purity market with the formation of the AdvantaPure product line, which supports critical applications such as vaccine development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. At the same time, the company continued to serve industrial markets through the NewAge Performance Products brand.
In 2024, NAI expanded its global footprint with the opening of a manufacturing facility in Coevorden, Netherlands, following the establishment of a sales office in Hong Kong in 2023, complementing existing operations in Germany and Brazil.
A strong advocate of employee ownership, Baker began transitioning NAI to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2006, resulting in 100 percent employee ownership today. He co-founded and serves as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership. Baker also supported philanthropic and community initiatives, including WHYY in Philadelphia and ACT II Playhouse in Ambler, PA, and founded the Center of Excellence for Employee Ownership at Montgomery County Community College Foundation.
NewAge Industries, which has been in business since 1954, designs, manufactures, and distributes fluid transfer systems solutions for high-purity pharmaceutical, biopharma, and industrial markets. The company is an ISO-9001 certified, 100% employee-owned corporation with a Platinum EcoVadis Sustainability Rating and Certified B Corporation status. Its operations are headquartered in Southampton, PA, with additional locations in Warrington, PA, and Coevorden, Netherlands. More information is available at https://www.newageindustries.com.
