Raised on the banks of the Upper Mississippi in Cassville, Wis., Eckstein developed his passion for the river at a young age. The youngest of Ray and Kay Eckstein’s eight children, tow boating was an integral part of his upbringing through his family’s ownership of Wisconsin Barge Line and the initial founding of Marquette when he was a teenager in 1978.
Eckstein spent his summers working as a deckhand while he attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management and economics. Following his graduation from Coe, he completed a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance at Vanderbilt University.
Following two years working as vice president, institutional bond sales for Merrill Lynch, Eckstein returned to Marquette as a dispatcher in 1990.
After 30 years with Marquette Transportation Co., he assumed the role of executive chairman.
“The last 30 years have been an incredible journey for me and the Marquette team,” Eckstein said. “I’m extremely proud of what we’ve built and appreciate the friendships I’ve been able to establish across our industry.”
Today, Eckstein carries forward the Marquette legacy of entrepreneurship and forward-thinking solutions to meet the demands of a new business world. With a world-class management team behind it, Marquette’s high-quality initiatives and innovative services have turned a once mom-and-pop operation into a vibrant marine transportation company serving some of the world’s largest suppliers of food and commodities. With a strategic mix of vessels across three fleets, Marquette now serves America’s inland rivers, the Gulf, Eastern Seaboard, and offshore destinations, such as the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America.