When, “Richard you have a phone call on 114,” is paged over the intercom here at Statements, most of us think it is for Richard from Status, but actually it is the newest addition to our family, Richard Sariraksa. Richard has joined Statements as our Vice President of Finance. He comes to us from a long line of financial positions with other companies throughout his career.

Richard decided to join the tile industry after he got wind of us through a recruiting manager at Creative Financial Staffing in Seattle in December 2007. Richard has been an accountant since 1989 and worked for 12 years as a controller for Stockpot Soups which is a division of Campbell Soup Company. He also worked with Rainer Color, Video Only, and Legacy as their CFO before he joined Statements.

Richard was born in Thailand and moved to Cambodia when he was four because his father worked for the US Embassy in Bangkok. The family then moved to Thailand after the communist regime collapsed. When he was 17 he moved to Illinois where he was sponsored by one of his father’s friends. Not knowing English and being from a different culture was very hard for Richard especially with his family being half way across the world. He said when he used to walk to the train station from his house people would throw eggs and spit at him, but he overcame the adversity.

Richard spends his free time with his family and working in his yard. He also enjoys investing in real estate and equity markets and paying close attention to the stock market to invest in what seems most profitable. Richard also wants us to know he likes to joke a lot with his friends and family. So as we get to know him better maybe he can squeeze some laughs out of us.

At Statements, Richard is focusing on financial and operational efficiency to improve our bottom line along with realignment of our staff to achieve the best results as a company. I am not completely sure what that means but it seems like a great idea and we are lucky to have Richard on our team.