Community favorite gets Clarkston port executive director job
May 25—The man soon to be the Port of Clarkston's executive director has close ties to the area.
Chris Rasmussen, 43, the director of operations of the Port of Port Angeles in Washington state was offered the job Thursday after a unanimous vote of Clarkston's port commissioners.
Earlier this week, he accepted the position that has an annual salary of $115,000 per year plus benefits that include health insurance and retirement, said Mark Brigham, chairman of Clarkston's Port Commission.
Rasmussen will begin at the Port of Clarkston on June 20 and work with the present executive director, Wanda Keefer, during a transition period until she retires this fall.
The port has developed the telecommunications infrastructure in Asotin County and is the easternmost stop for multiday cruises along the Snake and Columbia rivers that brought 17,000 tourists to the area in 2021. The volume of passengers booking those excursions is expected to climb rapidly in coming years.
The port also leases land and buildings to businesses and organizations.
The oldest of five children, Rasmussen has been following those activities for 12 years after his mother and stepfather moved to the area. His youngest brother is a graduate of Clarkston High School. His second-to-youngest brother completed a degree at Lewis-Clark State College and is employed by Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.
"I've always felt the Port of Clarkston has a ton of potential," Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen was picked over the other two finalists for the job — George Cress, city planner of Pendleton, Ore., and Marc Thornsbury, who was most recently the executive director of the Port of Klickitat in Washington — for a number of reasons, Brigham said.
The Port of Port Angeles official was the overwhelming favorite of community members who provided feedback after an event where Rasmussen, Cress and Thornsbury gave presentations and answered questions, Brigham said.
Rasmussen has ideas about how to generate more revenue from Turning Pointe, a Port of Clarkston development just west of Evans Road in Clarkston that only has two tenants, Brigham said.
At the Port of Port Angeles, where Rasmussen has worked for seven years, he oversees 20 full and part-time employees.
They staff two marinas with a total of 700 slips, a log yard that handles logs going to domestic destinations, a marine terminal that ships logs heading to China and wood chips going to British Columbia, Canada, and a general aviation airport.
Before joining the Port of Port Angeles, Rasmussen was a project manager at a civil construction company.
"(Rasumussen) brings a wealth of port experience, including management, job retention, and job creation," Brigham said in a news release.
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
