Board of Commissioners
The port is managed by a five-member board of commissioners with membership nominations coming from the City of Vinton and the Police Jury of Calcasieu Parish.
Jerry Merchant
Board President and Port Director
A life-long resident of Vinton, Merchant currently serves as the director of the Town of Vinton Civil Defense Office. A graduate of Vinton High School in 1965, he attended McNeese State University in Lake Charles. After owning and operating Vinton Electric Service until 1981, he was employed as an electrician by PPG Industries in Sulphur, La., and retired from the company in 2009 as emergency response supervisor. He has been a member of the Vinton Fire Department since 1967 and has served as the department’s chief since 1990. He also is a member of the Calcasieu Parish LEPC and has served as a member of the Calcasieu 911 program for 20 years. He is has been a certified EMT for 34 years, and was the director of the Vinton Ambulance Service for 11 years. Merchant also has served two terms as a city alderman from 1973–1981.
Charles Broussard
Board Member
A native of Orange, Texas, Broussard graduated from Vinton High School in 1966. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, Broussard, a Vietnam War veteran, returned to Southwest Louisiana where he worked for 31 years in the petrochemical industry before his retirement. He also served his community as a Vinton City Council member for four years and a Ward 7 Constable for nine years. He has been an active member of the Knights of Columbus (Council 6103) since 1974.
Steve Jennings
Board Member
A life-long resident of Vinton and a graduate of Vinton High School, Jennings has worked in the regional petrochemical industry years as a projects coordinator, construction liaison, instrumentation and controls technician, process operator and welder.
Alex Morrow
Board Vice President
A native of Orange, Texas, Morrow graduated from Vinton High School in 1971. He has worked in the automotive service field for more than 40 years in Texas and Louisiana. He currently is the Service Lane Manager for Billy Navarre dealership in Lake Charles. He currently holds the professional rank of Master Service Advisor for both Cadillac and Hyundai, the highest level attainable in the automotive service industry. He and his wife of 40 years, Theresa, reside in Vinton and have five children.
Haley Bellard
Board Member
A lifelong resident of Vinton and a graduate of Vinton High school, Bellard has owned and operated T&H Car Care, a family-owned automotive repair business, since 2008. The Bellard family started the business in 1977. He also has held positions as a firefighter for the city of Sulphur, La., and as a firefighting contractor through WSI Industries in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2007-2008). He continues to serve as a volunteer firefighter for of the Ward 7 Fire Department at the rank of captain. Bellard currently serves as secretary of the Ward 7 Waterworks District 10 Board of Commissioners in Calcasieu Parish.