Experience
Richard’s qualifications for Congress are real life experiences of creating jobs, growing a business and understanding how both the federal and state governments affect decisions of business owners.
He will use his nearly three decades experience as a business leader to help turn around both the national economy and Upstate New York’s. Richard is no stranger to facing tough challenges and finding solutions through hard work.
Richard’s father died suddenly in 1971, leaving Richard – at age 20 – the primary supporter of his mother and four sisters. He dropped out of school to work and pay off a substantial family debt. Over the next eight years, and without any outside assistance, Richard and his sister, Katrina, worked together to support their family. He put himself through college and graduated in 1976.
After graduating with honors in Economics from Reed College in Portland, Ore., Richard started Hanna Construction and worked on small residential projects. Over the next 27 years Hanna Construction grew to employ more than 450 people – many from the construction trades – and successfully complete a myriad of multi-million dollar commercial and municipal projects in Upstate New York. Hanna is a 25-year member of the Operating Engineers Local 545.
In addition to being Owner and President of Hanna Construction, Richard is a partner in the Gabriel Group, LLC, which has owned and operated Forge Hill Estates in Ilion, N.Y. – a premier apartment complex in the Mohawk Valley – since 1992 and has other ongoing business interests.
Richard is a successful businessman who has maintained a lifelong interest in public policy and economics. He is a sustaining member of the CATO Institute, and traveled to Russia as part of an international study group. Richard is also a member of the Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce, and is a proud member of the National Rifle Association.
