NEW ORLEANS — Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans and CEO of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, has announced she is leaving her post in June to take a job at a private company in Jacksonville, Fla.
Ronald Wendel Jr., Port NOLA executive vice president and chief financial officer, will assume acting leadership of the port and railroad.
The move ends Christian’s seven-year stint at the helm of a public agency that reports roughly $100 million in annual revenue annually through its four lines of business: cargo, rail, industrial real estate and cruises. The port credits her with increasing operating revenues by 70%, and NOPB said it grew its operating income by 300% during her tenure.
“We cannot overstate the exemplary leadership that Brandy Christian has provided throughout her tenure,” said Walter Leger Jr., chairman of the Port NOLA Board of Commissioners and the NOPB Commission, in a statement.
Leger said Christian successfully guided the port through multiple challenges.
“Chief among her successes is the leadership team that she has assembled and nurtured to carry Port NOLA and NOPB forward,” he said. “Through her vision and leadership, she has positioned Port NOLA to regain its place as the premier destination within the global supply chain as we embark on a transformational economic development project in the Louisiana International Terminal. We wish Brandy all the best as she begins this new and exciting challenge.”
Christian’s tenure at the port, which began in 2015 after she worked for 14 years at the Port of San Diego, has been nothing if not eventful.
In early 2018, a year after her transition from chief operating officer to CEO, the port completed its acquisition of the New Orleans Public Belt, which connects it to six Class I railroads. Two years later, the COVID 19 pandemic shut down the city’s cruise industry for more than a year and disrupted the global supply chain. Fortunately, by 2023, the city’s number of cruise passengers had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
But the biggest development during Christian’s time in New Orleans is the planned construction of a $1.8 billion container terminal in St. Bernard Parish. The project, which has many supporters and some detractors, is about 30 months into a three-year Army Corps of Engineers permitting process.
Christian and many other port leaders believe the proposed terminal in Violet, La., will allow New Orleans to catch up with its competitors in Mobile and Houston. In public appearances, Christian often talked about the importance of attracting manufacturing and warehousing to the region — and creating the transportation infrastructure necessary to support these new investments.
In 2023, Port NOLA said it ranked as the nation’s 10th largest port in general tonnage, 17th largest container port and sixth largest ocean-going cruise port, but for years it has been losing business to regional competitors that are better suited to accommodate the industry’s increasingly larger vessels.
If the new terminal moves forward, crews may begin construction as soon as 2025 and a first phase of the terminal could open as soon as 2028. Christian has said that LIT will be able to accommodate oceangoing vessels nearly twice as large as those the port currently serves from its facility on Tchoupitoulas Street.
Opposition to the project comes mostly from St. Bernard residents concerned about environmental impact and increased truck traffic in the community. A proposed new road connecting the terminal to the interstate highway system may alleviate the concerns.
If it comes to fruition, LIT will be the largest economic development project in Louisiana history. But Christian won’t be at Port NOLA to celebrate.
“I will be departing with immense gratitude for the dedicated team and supportive community who have made Port NOLA a beacon of innovation and efficiency,” Christian said. “Together, we have navigated challenges and embraced opportunities thoughtfully and strategically, propelling our port and region to new heights. As I step down, I am confident in Port NOLA and NOPB’s continued success under new leadership and look forward to witnessing their ongoing contributions to global trade and prosperity.”
Wendel, who also joined Port NOLA in 2015, is credited for his efforts to improve the port’s bond rating while financing more than $260 million in public and private placement bonds to fund the Capital Investment Program, including the $140 million expansion of the Napoleon Avenue container terminal.
Leger said that Wendel has also been a “key figure” in securing $800 million in commitments from potential LIT terminal operators Ports America and TIL.
If he stays in his new leadership role, Wendel also will have to represent the port’s interests as state lawmakers consider the creation of a new state board, the Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission, to oversee the 32 existing boards that manage the state’s various port operations.
For years, elected officials and industry experts have criticized the lack of coordination among the state’s ports, particularly the five deep water ports along the lower Mississippi: the Port of Plaquemines; Port NOLA; the St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District; the Port of South Louisiana; and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge.
