California newcomer Chris Casacchia has joined the Orange County Business Journal covering finance, the econo- my, manufacturing and the business of sports.
For the past five years, Casacchia covered banking and finance, sports business and media for the Phoenix Business Journal, where he captured numerous reporting awards chronicling the region’s real estate crash, the growth of spring training baseball and major sporting events such as Super Bowl XLII and the BCS National Championship.
He has been a contributing writer for Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and a correspondent for Sporting News since 2006, most recently covering the Phoenix Suns playoff run that ended in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
After graduating from Western Illinois University in 2000 with a bachelor’s in journalism, Cas-acchia worked for a publisher of suburban and city newspapers in metro Chicago.
He moved to Arizona in 2004 to attend graduate school at Arizona State University, where he earned a master’s in mass communication and later became an adjunct professor.
In 2009, he was awarded one of 14 fellowships by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism to attend its weeklong “Strictly Financials Seminar” for working journalists.
Like most Chicago natives, Casacchia (pronounced “ka-sok-ee-a”) is a die-hard sports fan, keeping daily tabs on the White Sox, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs.
In 2005, he attended the American League Champion-ship Series in Anaheim and watched the Sox clinch their first World Series berth since 1959.
He won’t move into a home unless DirectTV is accessible so he can watch the Bears on Sunday mornings.
Casacchia is a political junkie and enjoys watching the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and the Food Network. He often tries to recreate celebrity chef dishes and has perfected Emeril Lagasse’s vodka pasta. Born to Italian and Puerto Rican parents, he always has enjoyed delicious home-cooked meals and spirited cultures.
He also enjoys live music and is a huge fan of Phish, a band he’s seen play more than 60 times across the country, including their recent Halloween festival in Indio.
Casacchia lives in Huntington Beach with his girlfriend Renee, her daughter Teegan and 2-year-old Chihuahua Bella. He plans on getting a much bigger dog soon.
He can be reached at casacchia@ocbj.com.
