I spent most of my childhood in Yuba City enjoying the many outdoor experiences that Northern California has to offer. During my teenage years, I worked at Glacial Trails Scout Ranch, located near Donner Summit, for five summers. I really enjoyed my experiences working at this summer camp and I am proud to have earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
I attended college at CSU, Chico earning a B.S. in Business Administration. I financed my education primarily by enlisting in the U.S. Army Reserves as a Combat Engineer. During my college experience, I took a life-changing semester off and backpacked Europe alone for a period of five months. This was truly an amazing experience as the Berlin Wall had recently come down and I was able to visit several countries that were previously part of the Soviet Union. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about myself and other cultures during this adventure. This trip sparked a life-long interest in travel and meeting people from around the world.
After graduating from college, I took a year off to work at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in the marketing department. My first “serious job” was a management-training program with Westinghouse Electric in the Bay Area. From there I took a job at State Farm Insurance in Redding as a fire casualty adjuster. In the mid-1990s, many private companies were downsizing due to a soft economy. I met my amazing wife Tami while living in Redding.
In 1995, I accepted a job as an Administrative Analyst in Butte County’s Chief Administrative Office. I proposed to Tami the same day I accepted this new career opportunity. I look back at my experience in the County’s Administrative Office as a period of time when I had many opportunities to grow professionally and build trusting relationships with other county employees and department heads. I was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer in 2000.
In 2007, I left the county for a position at CSU, Chico as the Associate Vice President for Business and Finance. I returned to the county one year later as a Deputy Chief Financial Officer, followed by Assistant Director of Employment and Social Services, and finally obtained my current position of Director of Child Support Services in February of 2016. I believe my greatest contribution as a Director will be to help my employees reach their full potential.
Tami and I have a lot of fun with our identical twin 17-year-old boys named Riley and Bretten. As a family, we enjoy many outdoor activities including hiking, backpacking, snow skiing, and riding bikes in Bidwell Park. Our family has hosted numerous foreign exchange students from all over the world. My wife and I believe this is an excellent way to expose our boys to different cultures and that the world is a better place when people get to know each other.
I enjoy working with all of my colleagues at CSDA. I appreciate the support that this organization and many directors have given me as I continue to learn and grow as the Director for Butte County’s Child Support Services program.
