David was born and raised in the Helena, Montana, area. Aside from his degree in Environmental, Health, and Safety from the Columbia Southern University, his most valuable education came from serving in United States Air Force where he learned to work smarter not harder, being an avid listener, and spending time with the employees. Employed by Valley Wide Cooperative and then J.R. Simplot for the past 10 years, David works closely with all aspects of agriculture, from agribusiness, farming to ranching and animal feed production. His efforts have focused mainly on safety policy, sustainability, and environmental issues – spending considerable time lately on training and reducing recordable injury. David has conducted over 3000 hours of training and has been authorized to conduct OSHA 10- & 30-hour outreach course for 9 years.