History made as a Black woman now runs Domino Sugar’s refinery in Baltimore – the first time in 99 yrs

Coricka White is the first Black woman to be promoted to a refinery manager at Domino Sugar’s Baltimore refinery in its 99-year-old history.

In her new role, she will be responsible for overseeing a $20 million installation including new silos that will have a storage capacity of 14 million. She will also be in charge of more than 500 workers at the plant which produces more than 40 products.

“That is huge for a refinery of our size that is doing more than 6 million pounds a day,” White told The Baltimore Sun. “That gives us the capability to run our operations a little bit differently than what we’ve done in the past. … We’re not only investing, but we are embracing technology so that we can continue to move the refinery forward.”

Before assuming her new role, White worked as a process engineer in 2003 and occupied several roles within Domino Sugar, including assistant manager of ASR Group’s Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana and assistant manager of the Baltimore facility.

Nicknamed the “Queen of sugar,” White has a degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia and a master’s of business administration from the Florida Institute of Technology. She has been in the business for almost 20 years.

According to Kelly DeAngelo, ASR Group’s vice president of North America operations, White is “a trusted, results-oriented leader who brings out the best in her colleagues.”

“The Baltimore refinery has a bright future and is in excellent hands with Coricka,” said DeAngelo, who previously ran the Baltimore operations.

White sees her new role as being a trailblazer for others, hoping that she could inspire and pave the way for others that look like her. She also recognizes the roles others played to create a path for her to also get to where she is today.

“I’m looking at myself as being a trailblazer and hope that I can pave the way for folks like myself to follow. I definitely stand on the shoulders of some very strong folks here, and I’d like to think of my success as the success of the Domino family. It speaks to how progressive our organization is,” said White.