‘I’ll continue to cheer on Stockton’: Visit Stockton CEO starts new position at Visit Lodi

For almost two decades Wes Rhea has helped bring tourism to Stockton by promoting major concerts, sporting events, and festivals.

On Friday, Sept. 27, Rhea served for the last time as Visit Stockton 's CEO.

The 54-year-old Stocktonian is not done working though. His expertise will be put to good use just a few miles away from Stockton as he takes on the role of president and CEO of Visit Lodi . One of the reasons why Rhea wanted to stay local was because his family lives in the county, he said.

Rhea started his new position at Visit Lodi on Tuesday, Oct. 1. His goal in his new position is "to elevate the presence of visibility of Visit Lodi in the community."

"It's just a new challenge for me ... I have a lot to do up there ... I'm really looking forward to the next step for Lodi. They've got some really aggressive plans for their downtown and the future of Lodi," Rhea told The Stockton Record. "I think I'm the right person ... for Visit Lodi. I'm excited about that opportunity."

Stockton roots

Rhea grew up in North Stockton, where he currently lives to this day. His father was born in Stockton and graduated from Lodi High School, Rhea said.

Rhea attended Manteca High School, and after graduation, he studied at San Joaquin Delta College. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served for a decade. He also served as a U.S. Army recruiter.

He decided to end his military career and move back to Stockton not long after 9/11, Rhea said.

He eventually landed a position with the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce running the Business Education Alliance program and the Leadership Stockton program, he said.

Building civic pride in Stockton

In 1979, the Stockton Convention & Visitors Bureau (now Visit Stockton) was founded, Rhea said. The city of Stockton funded the organization but that eventually ended in the early 2000s.

However, their website has always been "visitstockton.org," Rhea said.

"What they refer to us as is a destination marketing organization," Rhea said. "We are basically the chief marketing and promotion organization for the city of Stockton. Our job is to get people to come to Stockton, spend their money and go home. I always like to remind people that our city services depend on taxes."

Around the same time — 2003 to 2004 — the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce was contracted to do "small visitor services for about $97,000 a year," for the city, Rhea said.

In 2005, Rhea became the chief Stockton promoter for the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. He was "a one-man operation."

The Visit Stockton team was a staff of nine, before Rhea's departure.

According to Rhea, in 2007, they formed the terms of the "business improvement district." The organization separated from the chamber in 2010 and continued as a non-profit as the Stockton Convention & Visitors Bureau.

They have been only using "Visit Stockton" for about seven years, Rhea said.

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Rhea said Visit Stockton now has an "assessment district" and they are funded by the tourism business improvement district. He added that the lodging assessment comes from the guests who stay at local hotels. He said when they brought it back they increased the assessment and doubled it by 4% for every night of a hotel stay going directly to the organization.

The organization's budget is now at $1.7 million a year, according to Rhea.

Rhea has faced many challenges in his position from the recession to a municipal bankruptcy, and community political ups and downs but the biggest challenge has been the city's image, he said.

"The best return is going to be when our residents start bringing their friends and relatives and telling their friends and relatives to visit. That's really when it starts to turn but if they're telling their friends and relatives not to visit, that's really not going to help anybody. That's not going to get us better parks and libraries and roads and more police on the street," Rhea said. "None of that's going to help us if our residents are tearing our city apart. So we're trying to combat a lot of those things. That's why we spend so much of our effort on building civic pride in the city of Stockton."

Their next assessment is up for renewal for the district starting in 2025 up until 2035.

What's next for Rhea, Visit Stockton?

Rhea does plan to move from Stockton to Lodi for his new position.

"I really believe to be the chief promoter of a city that you should probably reside in that city. It's just authentic to me, and also I just don't like to commute," Rhea said. "If I'm going to be the person who's the champion of Lodi and the cheerleader for Lodi, I should have my home in Lodi."

With his departure, the board of directors of Visit Stockton plans "to vote to hire an executive search firm," Rhea said.

Rhea said the process "will probably take 12 to 15 weeks" for an executive search. He also added that there won't be an interim CEO. However, Rebecca Scharmann, director of sports, events, & tourism development for Visit Stockton will "run the day-to-day."

Rhea said he is looking forward to working with the new CEO of Visit Stockton.

"I will continue to work with them as a lifelong resident of Stockton," Rhea said. "I'll continue to cheer on Stockton and be a champion of Visit Stockton. This organization is near and dear to my heart."

To learn more about Visit Stockton and Visit Lodi visit their pages at visitstockton.org and visitlodi.com .

Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers business and community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ AngelaydetRocha . To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow .

This article originally appeared on The Record: ‘I’ll continue to cheer on Stockton’: Visit Stockton CEO starts new position at Visit Lodi