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Jon deAsis Steps into CEO Role at Benchmade

October 9, 2020

Jon deAsis, son of Benchmade founder Les deAsis, has officially assumed the position of CEO at the company.

The announcement comes at the end of a trying year for the Oregon City-based Benchmade. There are the many problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in February company founder Les deAsis suddenly passed away. The knife world at large mourned the loss of an industry legend, and Benchmade faced additional questions as well as sorrow. deAsis stood at the helm of his company for 30 years, and was still the CEO at the time of his death; that position was immediately filled by his wife, Roberta deAsis. But now Roberta deAsis says that she is ready to pass that responsibility ot her son. “This is a big moment for our family as Jon takes on the mantle of president and CEO”, she explains in an official statement. “Jon had been filling many of the CEO duties prior to the sudden passing of Les and it was our longstanding goal to always be good stewards for Benchmade.”

Jon deAsis has been the company’s president since November of 2018; he is taking on the role of CEO in addition to those duties. 2020 has thrown out some major hurdles, but Jon deAsis states that his initial priorities are simple. “My immediate focus is to ensure that Benchmade continues to produce the finest cutlery in the world while increasing efforts to drive our technological edge,” he says. “I now have the opportunity to guide this mission, while continuing to uphold my father’s memory and contributions to the knife industry in our core values.”

Roberta deAsis will transition into a new role herself as Chairwoman of the Board. She is no stranger to senior management at Benchmade, having previously worked as the Chief Analytics Officer before her husband’s passing necessitated the transition into the CEO role. “I am proud to see Jon continuing to uphold the hallmark reputation that his father started,” she says.

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