Promoted directors named to head Survey, Maintenance divisions

Focused on transforming itself into the Port of the Future™, the Port of Long Beach recently promoted members of its leadership team to head divisions in the Harbor Department’s Engineering Services Bureau, naming Taleah Quemada as Director of the Survey Division and Jake Schuchmann as Director of the Maintenance Division.

The Engineering Services Bureau is key to developing the Port to meet the goal of doubling cargo volume by 2050. The bureau functions as the caretaker of the Port’s infrastructure across six specialized divisions that collaborate to design, build and maintain its facilities. The Port of Long Beach is spread over 3,520 acres of land and 4,600 acres of water, with 22 shipping terminals, 12 piers and 80 berths serving international commerce.

Within the bureau, the Survey Division provides the land and hydrographic surveying that supports planning, design and construction across the Port complex. Meanwhile, the Maintenance Division keeps the Port’s infrastructure, facilities and fleet operating smoothly.

Quemada has more than 20 years of public and private sector surveying experience and has spent 13 years with the city of Long Beach and the Port of Long Beach. A California-licensed professional land surveyor, she holds a bachelor’s degree in geography with a minor in geology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is pursuing a master’s degree in transportation management at San Jose State University.

She first joined the Port as a Survey Division intern before serving at Long Beach Energy Resources. She returned to the Port in 2024 as Assistant Director of the Survey Division, overseeing survey operations and preparing the division’s annual budget of more than $3 million. Quemada’s appointment was effective Sept. 19.

Schuchmann has served as the Port’s Assistant Director and Acting Director of Maintenance since joining the Port in 2023. In that role he has directed development and administration of the division’s $50 million annual budget and led the division’s transition to a zero-emissions fleet and operations.

Schuchmann brings more than 15 years of management experience in facilities, construction, maintenance and operations. Before joining the Port, he served as Director of Facilities at Varda Space Industries; Senior Construction and Development Manager at Relativity Space; Senior Manager of Facilities at Virgin Orbit, where he oversaw more than $30 million in capital improvements; and in facilities leadership roles at Dropbox and Beats Electronics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Schuchmann’s appointment was effective Sept. 19.

The Port of Long Beach is building the Port of the Future™, guided by its bold new 2050 vision and a plan to double annual container volumes to 20 million units by 2050. By strategically modernizing the Port’s infrastructure with $3.3 billion in capital investments over the next decade and developing digital systems to dramatically enhance efficiency and visibility, the Port is also becoming the world’s first zero-emissions port. Today the Port moves cargo valued at $300 billion a year and generates 2.7 million jobs across the U.S., as it continues to lead the world on sustainability programs and plans to double those benefits by doubling volume. As one of only 18 commercial strategic seaports in the U.S. with a duty to support force deployment during national defense emergencies, a community partner that offers $3 million per year in sponsorships for local nonprofits and a major catalyst for workforce development creating opportunities for students far and wide, the Port is well-positioned for even higher achievements. After all, industry leaders named Long Beach “The Best West Coast Seaport in North America” for an eighth consecutive year. The Port of Long Beach. Always open. Always moving.