I was born in Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University on a 3-year ROTC scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement and Corrections. I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army upon graduation, served 11 years on active duty, and an additional 17 years in the Wisconsin and Minnesota National Guards, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. My assignments included: Korea, NATO Headquarters Kosovo, Germany, and various continental assignments. My awards include the Defense Meritorious Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Army Commendation Medal (3 awards), and various campaign medals, including Korea, Kosovo, War on Terrorism, NATO Service Medal (non-article 5), and several other service medals.
After ten years of active military service, I returned to school and received a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis in Operations Management from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and was asked to remain for a semester in the Business Department to teach, while a tenured professor went on sabbatical. Midway through my MBA, I decided to remain in Wisconsin because of its outstanding educational system for my children, its progressive politics, and the phenomenal hunting and fishing opportunities it offers. It was a difficult decision, but for my children, I left active duty and joined the Wisconsin National Guard to ensure they had one of the best educational opportunities in the US at that time. It is the excellent nationally acclaimed schools, DNR, and progressiveness of Wisconsin that I want to bring back.
After teaching at Eau Claire, I worked for a combination of small and large businesses where I personally experienced the demise of Health Insurance programs for workers– going from no deductions, to a reasonable deduction of $300-$1200, to $7,000 or more, and cost shares of 80/20 after the deductible. This is no longer affordable Health Insurance. And without the leverage of a state program for small businesses to buy insurance from, it is unfortunately the best many small businesses can provide to their employees.
While working for larger corporations, I earned a Black Belt in 6 Sigma (root problem solving), was certified in Kubota Production Systems (process and quality improvements in business), and taught CPIM (Certified Production Control and Inventory Management). These certifications add to my understanding of fiscal issues at the state and local levels.
I moved to Grantsburg in 2002 with my wife and two sons, after I followed her to the University of Minnesota in 1998, from Stevens Point. She had left the U of MN to raise our young, growing family while I focused on my early business and National Guard careers. When she finished, we returned to Wisconsin and the Burnett/Polk area because of the mix of farmland and its strength as the gateway into Wisconsin’s beautiful recreational area.