WTCNO announces 2016 Board of Directors

NEW ORLEANS, LA, USA – The World Trade Center of New Orleans has appointed five new members to the Board of Directors for 2016; Wynn Radford, IV, Associate Director of Communications and External Affairs, BP America; John Voorhorst, Director, Global Business and Economic Development Services, Entergy Services, Inc.; Chris Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking Group, Regions Bank for South Louisiana; Jeff Corbin, Operations Manager/General Manager, Laitram Machinery; and Don Pierson, Secretary, Louisiana Economic Development, CEO Dominik Knoll announced.

Wynn Radford, IV has served as the Associate Director of Communications and External Affairs for BP America since September 2014, where he oversees government, external and community affairs for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Mr. Radford has been with BP since 2010 and previously held the positions of Public Information Officer and Public Liaison for the Gulf Coast Incident Management Team. Prior to his tenure at BP, Mr. Radford served as the Senior Press Advance Representative for President George W. Bush.

John Voorhorst is Director of Global Business and Economic Development Services at Entergy Services, Inc. and leads the expansion of Entergy’s services in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Prior to his role at Entergy, Mr. Voorhorst previously directed the State of Louisiana’s International Commerce Group, in the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI), trade promotion initiatives and the cultivation of trade-related manufacturing projects. He founded and managed the Voorhorst Consulting Group, LLC; previously served as Vice President at DENSO North America, Inc.; was Managing Director of International Operations for Total Logistics Control, Inc.; and formerly Director of Asian Operations at the Michigan Department of Commerce.

Chris Sullivan is Senior Vice President in the Commercial Banking group at Regions Bank for South Louisiana. Prior to joining Regions, Mr. Sullivan worked for Whitney Bank and US Bank. Mr. Sullivan was born and raised in New Orleans and currently resides there with his wife Laura and two young daughters, Mae and Sarah. He serves on the board of the Good Shepherd School and chairs the school’s endowment committee. Additionally Mr. Sullivan serves on the investment committee for the Stuart Hall School.

Jeff Corbin has served at Laitram since June 2013 as Operations Manager, overseeing production, production support, and engineering functions. He is also the General Manager for Industrial Microwave Systems (IMS). Prior to his role at Laitram, Mr. Corbin served in various high-level leadership and engineering capacities at Lockheed Martin, CPL Systems, Inc., and Qinetiq-North America.

Don Pierson (ex officio) was recently appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards to serve as Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development (LED). Mr. Pierson served as assistant secretary and senior director of business development for LED since January 2005. With executive-level leadership, his duties include the implementation of domestic and international economic development programs and job retention and creation efforts for the State of Louisiana. He is Gov. John Bel Edwards’ primary representative to governmental officials, local communities and site selector consultants on all economic issues.

The full list of 2016 Board Members include:

• WTC Chairman: Hon. Edward T. Hayes, Partner, Leake and Andersson LLP and Honorary Consul of Ukraine
• WTC Vice Chairman: Robert G. Evans Jr., President, Con-Tech International
• WTC Secretary: Jerry Hingle, President & CEO, International Trade Associates
• WTC Treasurer: Tom Spiers, Chief Administrative Officer, Gulf South Eye Associates
• Dominik Knoll, CEO, World Trade Center of New Orleans
• David Fennelly, Director, Associated Terminals and Turn Services, LLC
• Gary LaGrange, President & CEO, Port of New Orleans
• Michael Olivier, CEO, Committee of 100 Louisiana
• Jeff Corbin, Operations Manager/General Manager, Laitram Machinery 
• Shelby Westfeldt Mills, Vice-President, Westfeldt Brothers Coffee
• Lizette Terral, President, New Orleans Region, JP Morgan Chase
• Chris Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking Group, Regions Bank for South Louisiana
• Stephen Hanemann, Partner, Kean Miller, LLP
• Tom Cole, President, Republic National Distributing Company
• Paul Aucoin, Executive Director, Port of South Louisiana
• Jason French, Director of Government and Public Affairs, Cheniere Energy
• John Voorhorst, Director of Global Business and Economic Development Services, Entergy Services, Inc.
• Wynn Radford, IV, Associate Director of Communications and External Affairs, BP America
• David Kearney (ex-officio), President, The Kearney Companies
• Don Pierson (ex-officio), Secretary, Louisiana Economic Development
• Corrado Giacona II (ex-officio), President and CEO, Giacona Container Company, Inc. 

Board members also serving on a World Trade Center of New Orleans committee are Government Affairs Committee Chair, Hon. Edward T. Hayes; Agriculture Committee Chair Jerry Hingle; Finance Committee Chair Tom Spiers; International Business Committee Chair Michael Olivier; and Advisory Board Chair Corrado Giacona II.

Other committee Chairs and Vice Chairs include Transportation Chair Billy App, President, J.W. Allen & Co. and Vice Chair Rusty Barkerding, Jr., President, Admiral Security Services, Inc.; Energy Chair Eric Smith, Associate Director, Tulane University Energy Institute; Agriculture Vice Chair Commissioner Mike Strain, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, State of Louisiana; Government Affairs Co-Chair Ben Billings, Principal, Sentinel Strategies; and International Business Vice Chair Larry Collins, Executive Director, Office of International Commerce, Louisiana Economic Development.

About the World Trade Center of New Orleans

The World Trade Center of New Orleans (WTCNO) is the strongest international business organization in the Gulf Coast region, consisting of 1,000+ companies as well as high profile individual members. This membership base represents a diverse group of industry leaders, companies, professional organizations, and government institutions that include manufacturers, energy, agriculture, maritime, digital media, foreign consulates, and other interests. In 2014, member organizations were able to significantly contribute to the state’s record-breaking exports, the total value of which exceeded $65.1 billion. This strong international organization creates a variety of opportunities for its stakeholders with the objective to add wealth to its community as well as create jobs through international trade and related services while fostering business and economic development by engaging in allied activities.

For more information, please visit www.wtcno.org.