A Message from Chamber President Rick Aschieris:

Meet the Chamber's New President

July 2007 -- Richard Aschieris, Port Director, has been the chief executive officer of the Port of Stockton since his appointment by the Stockton Port Commission in February of 2000. Since his arrival in Stockton, Mr. Aschieris has directed the dramatic expansion of the Port and initiated several new efforts to revitalize and expand the Port’s operations.

As a result of these efforts, the Port of Stockton set tonnage and ship-call records in 2005 and 2006, with waterborne tonnages exceeding both the ports of San Francisco and San Diego to become the leading small port in California. In the past six years, the Port of Stockton revenue has also grown by an average of 15 percent a year. The Port operates without taxing the citizens of the Port District while successfully competing with many ports that tax their citizens to support their shipping activities. Today, the Port of Stockton ranks second, behind only the Port of Portland, in total tonnage of the 33 inland ports in the Western United States.

Previously, Mr. Aschieris served as Executive Director of the Port of Anacortes, Washington, where he diversified the customer base of that port by attracting new and unique businesses and reacquiring traditional businesses that had left the port. For nearly 12 years, Mr. Aschieris was also a member of the senior management team of the Port of Long Beach, California, one of the busiest container ports in the United States, where he was active in a number of government relations and international marketing efforts.

A Stockton resident, Mr. Aschieris is the newly installed 2007-2008 President of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the University of the Pacific School of Business and, the Board of Directors of the San Joaquin Partnership, a public-private sector business relocation association. An Eagle Scout, Mr. Aschieris is a past President of the Board of Directors of the Greater Yosemite Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and currently serves on its Board.

Mr. Aschieris received a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University Department of Journalism with minors in English and International Relations, and a master’s degree from the Von KlienSmid School of International Relations at the University of Southern California, with an emphasis in trade and strategic studies