A lifelong connection to Utah

My connection to this state started as a child. Both of my parents were high school science teachers. Every single summer, they packed up our family and led field trips all over Utah, teaching other educators about our state’s unique history, geology, and local industries. There wasn’t a single corner of Utah we didn’t visit.

Through those childhood trips, I didn't just see our natural beauty—I saw how our communities worked. I watched the hard booms and busts of the Uinta Basin oil fields. I studied how our power plants were built. I learned how the Bureau of Reclamation chose spots for dams, and exactly how they moved that water to the communities that needed it to survive.

That early fascination with the infrastructure keeping Utah alive led me to Utah State University in Logan, where I earned both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering.

Tested by the Real Economy

After graduating, my wife Lori and I started our engineering careers, bought a home in Layton, where we raised our daughter and still live today, and earned our Professional Engineering licenses. In 2003, we took a leap of faith and launched our own geotechnical engineering firm.

We built that business from the ground up. Before long, we had 15 employees. As we grew, our staff became more like our extended family than a list of numbers or names. I quickly realized that to be a successful boss, your employees have to be able to make a good living and grow right alongside you.

Then, the 2008 financial crisis hit.

Almost overnight, new construction completely stopped. We faced the fight of our lives just to keep the company alive. To survive, we had to furlough and lay off people we cared about deeply. It was a brutal, heartbreaking stretch that taught me exactly what real independent business owners face when the economy turns upside down.

The Creative Pivot

Right after a painful round of layoffs in late 2008, Lori suggested, jokingly, we turn our winemaking hobby into a business because people buy wine even during a recession. Two weeks later, I sat down with her to go over my business plan for a part-time winery we could run alongside our engineering firm just to keep the bills paid.

We launched the winery in 2010. For years, I pulled double duty as a full-time engineer and a winemaker. But by 2016, skyrocketing corporate insurance costs made running the engineering firm impossible. We pivoted fully. Today, we are full-time winemakers and distillers. Lori and I still craft, bottle, and pack everything ourselves, with our own hands.

Why I'm Stepping Up

"My decision to run came down to a hard truth when I realized if you do not make enough zeros on your paycheck, the
federal government does not care about you."
— Jay Yahne

Washington writes massive loopholes for giant corporations and ultra-wealthy developers, while regular middle-class families are left holding the bag for rising costs and failing infrastructure.

If good people refuse to take risks and stand up, we will watch our rights, water, public lands, and our democracy slip away to the highest bidder. I love this country too much to sit idly by and let that happen.