Arnie de la Porte (posthumous)
After his nautical career he became very active in international business first in Shell and later as Sales Director for a B. Elliot and Co., a large European machine tool company, followed by General Manager of McCulloch of Europe and In 1981, he became Vice President International of Ridge Tool and located to Elyria, Ohio. Here he Co-founded Hexon inc. where he specialized in export and turn-arounds
In 1996 Her Majesty the Queen of The Netherlands appointed Arnie as Her Honorary Consul for the State of Ohio.
Here is a partial list of his accomplishments:
Past Co-Chairman of the Cleveland Tall Ship Festival
Past Grand Commodore of the Ohio Commodores
Honorary chair of the Rotary club of Cleveland
Honorary president of the Cleveland Rotary Club
Past Chairman of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
Past Chairman of the board of the Elyria Country Club
Board member northern Ohio district export council (Nominated By US Secretary of Commerce)
Founding Board member of the French American Chamber
Founding Board member of the British American Chamber of Commerce
Founding Board member of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce
Founding Board member of the Benelux Business Association
Founding Board member of the German Roundtable
Past president of the Cleveland World Trade Association
Past board member of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association
Past board member State of Ohio economic development Council
Founding board member business advisory board Maine Maritime Academy, in Castine, ME
Founding Board member Cleveland World Trade Association Foundation
Founding board member North East Ohio Trade Network
He was awarded the “Ordre National du Mérite” by the country of France
His motto was: “Trading nations seldom go to war.”
Arnie de la Porte will be inducted by Lithuanian Consul Ingrida Bublys