An endless entrepreneurial spirit along with a desire to learn, grow, and a thirst to be challenged on a professional level has taken Will on an unconventional career path over the past 15 years that has seen him audit banks, pour beer and make pickles.
A passion for accounting and business landed Will within public accounting to kick-off his career within the audit practices of ParenteBeard, LLC then S.R. Snodgrass, P.C. During his public accounting career, he developed to the level of Audit Manager while also becoming a CPA and CBA. Also, he developed relationships and skillsets primarily in the Financial Services and Higher Education industries. Most importantly, he developed an understanding of the importance of what it means to enjoy what you do for a living while helping others achieve success along with his personal professional successes.
After 8 years of public accounting experience and developing a love for craft beer, Will and two of his brothers opened The Beerhive in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. The small business ownership role is where Will truly found the opportunity to fulfill his passion as an entrepreneur. He and his brothers worked tirelessly to create an establishment that fit their goals and is still thriving today. During the early years at The BeerHive, Will and his brothers developed a house-made pickle that left patrons asking for more…
In 2014, the Pittsburgh Pickle Company was created. This new venture pushed Will to further develop his understanding of what it takes to grow a company, hire and retain employees and work harder than he ever thought possible. The brothers now own a 10,000 square foot manufacturing facility where they pump out high quality, award winning products that are sold from coast to coast.
Throughout the course of these endeavors, Will learned some of life’s most precious lessons. He experienced the importance of allowing oneself to grow, an understanding that failure only exists if you don’t learn, and most importantly, knowing that you deserve to be happy in your chosen station in life.
When Will heard that Ryan had sold the staffing agency that he initially created and built from the ground to then launch the professional services firm Apogee Resources Group to be a team of accounting/finance professionals dedicated to helping others in our accounting/finance profession, he immediately reached out to his old friend to let him know that he was interested in joining him in the endeavor to help others experience the same joy that Will has experienced through his own career growth.
Academically, Will graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Business Administration. Personally, Will is married to his best friend, Stephanie, and together they are the proud parents of McClain and Finnegan. The Patterson family lives on 7 acres of wooded land where Will hones his handyman skills and his family happily tolerates his efforts.
After a 16 year career with Tiffany & Co. then taking a short break to be with her first baby, Tracy (Weigand) Kucera brings a wealth of operations experience and expertise to our team. Tiffany & Co. is well known for providing the highest level of service to their clientele where mediocrity is not an option and excellence in all aspects of operations is the only answer.
Tracy’s expertise lies in cultivating and continuously improving processes and operations. Her communication, organization, and innate attention to detail truly makes her the real-life version of the fictional character Donna Paulsen (Chief Operating Officer) from the hit television series “Suits”. She is always a step ahead, never afraid to drop a little tough love, and will tell you the way it is with the utmost honesty in the kindest way possible for the situation.
Tracy also has a passion for giving back to our community having been involved in many charitable organizations over the years. She is an active advocate with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania where she served as a Co-Chair of the Bridges Society and was a member of the Next Generation Steering committee. She is a current active member of the Bridges Society and Women’s Leadership Council.
Tracy is originally from Lincoln, Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. During her career with Tiffany & Co., she lived in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit before calling Pittsburgh home in 2008. She fell in love with our great city and then fell in love for and married a guy from Cleveland. She loves a good New Zealand sauvignon blanc wine and a perfect night of weather outside in the summer.
An unknown fact that Ryan has never shared publicly before that we were able to get him open up about is that he has experienced and overcome many challenges in his life as a child starting when the doctors told his mom that he would not see his 1st birthday.
In understanding this, it is easy to see how he is appreciative for the simple things in life and how he developed a passion for helping others. He never regrets always being a good person even to the wrong people as his perspective is that his kindness says everything about who he is and behavior says everything about the wrong people that have been through his life.
As the founder of Apogee Resources Group (ARG), Ryan has created a business model based on the experiences, lessons learned, and expertise developed through 12+ years of experience in the accounting/finance staffing industry on top of 10 years of direct experiences in both Big 4 public accounting and corporate accounting. Ryan began his staffing industry career with another start-up firm then co-founded a firm that he built from the ground up then sold the firm in the Fall 2018.
The initial 10 years of Ryan’s professional career began at KPMG as an Auditor working on clients all throughout the Pittsburgh (PA) and Cleveland (OH) marketplaces. Those experiences led him to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) where he was the Manager of Financial Reporting & Taxation. After his tenure at CMU, Ryan became a consultant working on various engagements through his own business development efforts. During this time, the result of Ryan’s efforts led him to being recognized by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants with the distinguished honor of being named part of the “40 Under 40: PICPA Members to Watch”. This award is for demonstrated commitment to the accounting profession and outstanding leadership qualities.
On an academic level, Ryan graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting along with the distinguished honor of the “Ralph H. Wherry Student Service Award”. This award honors graduating seniors who have excelled in service to the college, have exhibited academic achievement, and manifest the promise of a successful professional career.