ABOUT US
The BSP Mission
Building a Stronger Pennsylvania is about opportunity. It’s about giving our citizens the educations they deserve, the careers they crave, and the kind of commonwealth that bursts with economic growth for now and generations to come.
We see possibility in Pennsylvania. Our tradition of manufacturing, agriculture and thought-based industry is as old as William Penn’s vision of a “holy experiment” and as new as the technologies creating new jobs in laboratories and factories around the state.
We believe in policies that respect personal liberties while uniting people in the common purpose of pushing our state to the forefront when it comes to innovation and growth.
Reaching prosperity isn’t done by government command and certainly isn’t accomplished by pushing the same wealth around into different piles depending on which faction is in favor. The path to true opportunity comes from private sector employment, lower taxes to inspire working families, and an end to one-size-fits all Harrisburg solutions.
That’s why Building a Strong Pennsylvania is committed to private sector solutions when it comes to jobs, and public sector support when it comes to making growth a reality.
Meet Senator Ryan Aument
Raised in the ideals of his Pennsylvania home and tested on the field of combat defending his nation, Ryan Aument is committed to ensuring a prosperous and economically competitive commonwealth.
A lifelong resident of Lancaster County, Aument received his bachelor’s degree from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. He served as a U.S. Army captain in Operation Iraqi Freedom, briefly commanding an infantry company of 150 soldiers after the company commander was wounded in combat. His military service brought him the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, and the Army Parachutist Badge.
His father operated a dairy farm for the first decade of Ryan’s life before taking work as a commercial truck driver, while his mother worked at a nearby retirement community.
Like many other returning veterans, Aument struggled to transition to civilian life.
“I was wondering, ‘what am I going to do now that is as fulfilling as my time in the military?’” he asked. “Why did God spare my life? There were men that I served with who didn’t come home, didn’t have a chance to have a family, a full life.”
Aument spent three years as a production supervisor at ICI Paints in Reading, while also winning a seat on the Quarryville Borough Council. He later managed the state House campaign of a high school friend named Bryan Cutler. After Cutler won office, he hired Aument as a key aide.
Aument then won office as Lancaster County Clerk of Courts and went on to win two terms in the state House and later, two terms in the State Senate, where he served as chair of the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Communications and Technology Committee.
Along with serving as co-chairman of Building a Stronger Pennsylvania PAC, Aument represents the 36th State Senate District, where he heads the Nuclear Energy Caucus and serves as Majority Caucus secretary.
His experience in business and public service convinced Aument that Pennsylvania’s future lies in a renewed commitment to traditional manufacturing paired with transformative new technologies. His mission is to ensure Pennsylvania competes with growth states such as Texas, North Carolina, and Florida for jobs and opportunities.
To do that, he says, we first need to reform how state government conducts its own business.
“I think we have to look differently at how we do budgeting,” Aument said. He recommends a bi-annual budget with annual appropriations reviews, meaning the protracted battles in the Capitol, where state budgets have consistently arrived long after deadline, can be ended, eliminating the sense of uncertainty that frightens off business investment and relocation.
Similarly, he considers state government’s sometimes-sluggish system of granting the permits needed to create new manufacturing jobs as a major obstacle.
“Permit reform is also an important piece of this puzzle,” he says.
During his tenure, Aument secured his status as a government reformer by helping to establish the Office of State Inspector General, an office tasked with preventing, detecting and eradicating fraud in Pennsylvania government. Aument also introduced legislation, signed into law by Gov. Wolf, promoting stronger restrictions and penalties for the misuse of SNAP benefits, protecting dollars meant to feed hungry Pennsylvanians.
Aument lives in West Hempfield, Lancaster County, with his wife, Kate, a teacher at Mt. Calvary Christian School, and their two children, Jack, 11, and June, 8.
He is a member of the Mountville VFW Post 8757, the Lancaster County Career and Technology Foundation, the Lancaster County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education Board of Governors, and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
The Aument family worships at Grace Church at Willow Valley.
Meet Leader Bryan Cutler
Born and raised in central Pennsylvania, Bryan Cutler took on adult responsibilities as a teenager, caring for his terminally ill parents and helping to raise his younger sister.
When other young adults were headed to college, Bryan held down a job and paid his way through school to become an x-ray technician. He married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer, and attended Lebanon Valley College, where he graduated with highest honors with a degree in health care management. He then began a career with a local hospital, where he oversaw budgets and daily operations of the radiology department.
Bryan’s career didn’t stop there. He enrolled in Widener Law School where he specialized in health care law and joined the firm of Nikolaus and Hohendel.
In 2006, Cutler joined other fiscal conservatives who challenged incumbent House members who accepted a controversial legislative pay raise. Winning in the primary, he easily won a general election and has represented Lancaster County’s 100th District since then.
With his expertise in the field of health care and health care law, Bryan sponsored bills to eliminate redundant hospital accreditation procedures. Act 60 of 2013 now allows hospitals to better serve their patients without the distraction of dealing with requirements they already met as licensed health care facilities.
Other legislation has ensured that only eligible recipients get the state help they need, reformed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, promoted greater government openness and transparency, strengthened lobbyist disclosure, and hep established a state-based health insurance exchange.
Notably, Bryan’s legislation received strong bipartisan support.
Bryan is prominent as both an advocate for personal liberty and, mindful of his own life experiences in caring for two terminally ill parents, he has been steadfast in his support for life.
The Cutler family, including wife Jennifer and children Cheyanne, Caleb and Drew, live on an 11-acre farm in the same log house where Bryan was raised. The Cutlers are active members of the Wrightsdale Baptist Church.