Ken Baker has officially completed his transition from President and CEO of NewAge Industries, Inc. (NAI), parent company of AdvantaPure, NewAge Performance Products and Verigenics, after serving in the role since 1984. Baker succeeded his father and company founder, Ray Baker, who established the company in 1954. He will remain on the Board of Directors. Mary Marcus assumed the permanent role of President and CEO in December 2024, as previously announced.
Baker was honored on May 8, 2026, at a celebration with over 300 guests, including family, peers, and current and former team members, at Spring Mill Manor in Ivyland, Pennsylvania. The event featured the annual ESOP share price announcement.
Under Baker's leadership, NewAge Industries became a 100% employee-owned company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that began transitioning in 2006. Baker consistently championed employee ownership, believing that employees with a direct ownership stake are more invested in long-term success. He also co-founded and serves as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership and founded the Center of Excellence for Employee Ownership at Montgomery County Community College Foundation.
Baker was instrumental in advancing the company's sustainability initiatives. NewAge Industries powers its corporate headquarters and an additional Bucks County manufacturing facility with solar energy from thousands of onsite solar panels. These efforts contributed to achieving an EcoVadis Platinum sustainability rating, the highest possible.
During his tenure, Baker expanded the company into high-purity markets with the formation of AdvantaPure, a product line serving critical applications such as vaccine development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The company also serves industrial markets through the NewAge Performance Products line. In 2024, NewAge Industries opened a manufacturing facility in Coevorden, Netherlands, following a sales office in Hong Kong in 2023, adding to existing operations in Germany and Brazil.
Beyond business, Baker supports organizations including WHYY in Philadelphia and ACT II Playhouse in Ambler, Pennsylvania. NewAge Industries, founded in 1954, is an ISO-9001 certified, 100% employee-owned corporation with a Platinum EcoVadis Sustainability Rating and Certified B Corporation status. The company designs, manufactures, and distributes fluid transfer systems for high-purity pharmaceutical, biopharma, and industrial markets.
