In an ongoing effort to engage local businesses in the New Orleans Gateway, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) will host a Procurement Contractor’s Resource Event on Tuesday, Oct. 25 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at NOPB’s Joe Spot Training Center, 4822 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70115.

Today, Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) President and CEO, and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) CEO, delivered the 2022 State of the Port address highlighting successes across the Port’s four lines of business and the completion of several vital maritime infrastructure projects. This was the first State of the Port gathering since 2019 before the pandemic.

Today, Sharonda Williams was sworn in as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) at the May 19, 2022, board meeting. Appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards, Williams succeeds Darryl D. Berger as one of four Orleans Parish representatives on the seven-member regional board and will serve a five-year term.

The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission (NOPB), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA), has named Tomeka Watson Bryant as its General Manager effective June 1, 2022. With this promotion, Watson Bryant, who has received industry-wide recognition, becomes the first African American woman to lead a short line railroad in the United States.

Governor John Bel Edwards issued a posthumous pardon of Homer Plessy, undoing his conviction 130 years ago for boarding a "whites only" rail car in New Orleans bound for Covington.

Making its way to the Supreme Court, the Plessy case set the “separate but equal” precedent for decades in America until it was reversed by Brown v Board of Education in 1954.

The New Orleans Public Belt was proud to play a role in the pardoning ceremony, alongside elected officials and descendants of both Plessy and Judge Howard Ferguson, who issued the original conviction.

The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans selected new officers with the election of Charles H. Ponstein as Chairman, Jack C. Jensen, Jr. as Vice Chairman and Joseph F. Toomy as Secretary-Treasurer during the monthly Board meeting Dec. 16.

The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) resumed service to the New Orleans Gateway on Thursday, September 2, just four days after Hurricane Ida made landfall as a category 4 storm.

The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad continues to make strides as a thriving rail service with recent milestones and expansion efforts resulting in significant improvements in output, safety and capacity.

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) recognizes its fifth annual Maritime Month May 1-31 and National Maritime Day on May 22 to pay tribute to the region’s rich maritime history and to honor the hardworking men and women of the local maritime workforce.

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) Procurement team is hosting a virtual Procurement Roundtable on March 31 at 2 p.m. in recognition of March’s designation as National Procurement Month and to create awareness of and access to opportunities for businesses to work with the Port. The free online session is designed to educate potential and update current vendors about how to best engage with the Port and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) as well as share information about upcoming projects and bid opportunities.

The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans selected new officers with the election of William H. Langenstein, III as Chairman, Charles H. Ponstein as Vice Chairman and Jack C. Jensen, Jr. as Secretary-Treasurer during the March 25 monthly Board meeting.

Railway Age Magazine recently named Tomeka Watson Bryant, Marketing and Sales Manager for the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission (NOPB), to its prestigious Fast Trackers "20 Under 40" list.