I am from the Southern Tier and live in Western NY!
Where it all started...Though my family's ancestry in this land can be traced back to the 1600's, my journey began in Broome County. I grew up in rural NY, with all the country-style living and friendships that go with it! Kids' sports, fishing, hunting, jobs on the dairy farm, paper routes, we had it all.
Now that I have been in Chautauqua County for the past seven years, my life is all about raising a family with my wonderful wife, Sarah, and our three young children. When I add them all up, I have five children and six grandchildren! We chose to settle in the Fredonia area, to be close to Sarah's family.
With three young children, Sarah and I know and can relate to that phase of life called parenting! We know the challenge of holding it all together, while raising a family and working for a living!
I am a retired, plant manager of food and beverage manufacturing, and manager of human resources. My wife is a Spanish teacher.
I graduated from Broome Community College, and attended SUNY Geneseo and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
In the past 25 years I have led teams to balanced budgets in excess of 150M/yr, achieved record/sustainable profits in every location, and secured customer contracts with brand name companies through improved performance, promoting workplace safety, product quality and environmental sustainability.
I have been a Teamster and been at the negotiating table with the Teamsters and the UFCW. I have walked a picket line with our striking workers as a member of management, in order to come to an agreement. I have been asked by the people of a striking union in Canada to bring the company, the union and the labor ministry, together, to resolve their strike, when I no longer worked for their company, and had moved back to New York! I helped them by contacting the labor ministry and explaining the situation, and recommending a solution. A contract-ratifying vote was called for, they approved their collective bargaining agreement and the United Food and Commercial Workers went back to work!
No matter where I have worked, my experience has taught me is that 'we' are the same, that we share 'common ground' and that we can accomplish anything that we need to when we work together!
As a small business owner, I learned how hard it is to make ends meet! Never mind that healthcare for small business owners is always 'out of pocket'! I will always work to improve the landscape for our family-owned and operated businesses, business people and entrepreneurs!
What the future holds for family, my friends and the people of the 23rd District, are my motivation to seek public office at this time. The competence and motivation of many of the members of Congress is at an all-time low. The worst and most extreme in the Republican party are doing most of the talking, and they are not legislating to make our lives better!
I have been in challenging situations throughout my career, and I know that I can help us in a big way!
We need to return to honest, respectful leadership - 'servant leadership' - that is not concerned with re-election or greed. I am ready to help us to move the ball forward!
tc in 2024!
