I was born in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1977, but most of my youth and adolescence was spent in Southern New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia. I became interested in Physics in high school and at the urging of my guidance counselor applied to Drexel University where I was accepted into their Physics and Atmospheric Sciences program.

While there I participated in Drexel's co-op program, where students would get 6 months of work experience and then take 6 months of classes. This was an exceptional program and was fortunate to work with companies like SmithKline Beecham and Connectiv Services, and was often brought back during my school seasons to help with special projects.

By the end of my senior year at Drexel I applied to the University of Florida and received a full scholarship for my first year working towards a Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering. After completing my degree in 2002 I was hired by Westinghouse Electric and joined their Exelon team, working on core design and safety analysis for the Byron and Braidwood plants. I quickly went from performing calculations to managing teams of up to half a dozen people to prepare deliverables for one of Westinghouse's largest customers. However, after 3.5 years I decided to leave and in November 2005 I bought Elite Settlement Services, LLC, a title company in North Huntingdon Township.

I became a licensed title agent and notary public and set out to grow my business, which was no easy task considering the looming credit crunch and housing bubble which occurred in 2007. However, even during difficult times I always managed to keep business coming in, and through an intelligent monitoring of cash flows, my company always paid it's staff and never went in the red. This was while many companies in the real estate industry were closing up shop.

As a business owner, and as a concerned citizen, I started to become more involved with my community, attending township and school board meetings to raise my concerns over budgets. In 2008 I was appointed to the Western Westmoreland Municipal Authority to represent my community on its board. The more I became involved in my community the more I started to see the importance of constituents taking an active role in their government. I, like many others, am concerned over the direction that our local governments are taking with entitlement programs, and the funding of projects and programs that we as tax payers can ill afford. This is what has led to my decision to run for Westmoreland County Treasurer. The Treasurer sits on the Retirement Board for the county, where I hope to make my message about the dangers of defined benefit plans loud and clear. I want to bring the lessons I have learned as a business owner, who understands how to run an office efficiently, manage cash flows, and still focus on the needs of his customer.

This year, the voters of Westmoreland County had the opportunity to tell those who ran for political office that it is about being given an opportunity to serve, not a birth right...that the Westmoreland County Treasurer's seat belongs to the people of Westmoreland, not just a single family.