Q&A with Ryan Houseknecht

Ryan Houseknecht is president at Storm & Park Group LLC, a full-service, independent P&C insurance agency in State College, PA.

Q. You have a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, so I suppose working in the family business (Best Line Equipment) or opening an independent insurance agency wasn’t the plan. Tell us how your career unfolded!

A. Growing up, I always loved to cook. At age 13, while my friends were delivering papers and mowing lawns, I was interning at a local fine-dining restaurant—a job I loved. So when I got to Penn State and was figuring out what to do with my life, I decided to pursue something I was already good at: hospitality.

Finishing my degree and working for several hotel companies taught me more about management, marketing, planning, and forecasting than I ever expected. Hospitality is an intense field—employee turnover is high, competition is fierce, and special events can wreak havoc on your budget if you’re not well prepared. But the skills I gained and the friendships I formed during that time remain some of the most valuable in my life.

While it was an amazing experience, the constant stress and travel eventually pushed me to look for a more rooted lifestyle. I bought a house, got a dog, and took a role with a construction firm before ultimately joining Best Line Equipment—the company my father had started 25 years earlier. It was a risky move, one my future wife helped guide me toward, and I’m so glad she did. Not just because of the company’s ongoing success, or the fact that my brother and I were able to purchase it from my father and help him retire, but because that journey led me to build something of my own: Storm & Park.

Storm & Park was formed in 2016 when Best Line identified a need to insure risks it had been self-insuring for years and couldn’t find viable market options for. That challenge prompted us to create our own offshore captive insurance company, along with an agency to serve its only client. In that moment, I transitioned from being a project manager at a construction equipment retailer to a licensed insurance agent and president of my own company.

With support from IA&B, I was able to hire our first employees, apply for carrier appointments, and begin serving individuals and businesses in our community. I went from knowing almost nothing about insurance to becoming proficient within a few years, thanks to insights from fellow agents and advocates—many of whom contribute to Primary Agent. Without that support, I might still be lost in a sea of policy terms and conditions, or worse, I might have given up altogether.

Q. How has your agency, Storm & Park Group, evolved since you founded it in 2016?

A. Initially, Storm & Park was a part-time endeavor while I continued working full time at Best Line. Monthly reporting, claims, and billing were relatively steady, and I could split my time between the two companies. Over time, I began prioritizing the agency so we could expand our services.

In late 2020, just after the pandemic began to settle, we hired our first dedicated employee and secured our first agency appointments with Liberty Mutual and Safeco. Shifting from 100% inbound service to a mix that includes outbound sales has been a slow, intentional process. Today, we operate from a dedicated office with three fulltime employees (not including myself) and a diverse book of business that we’re proud to manage.

Q. What are your aspirations for the agency?

A. Shortly after I was born, my father started his business from scratch and grew it into a company that now employs more than 500 people across Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Coincidentally, Storm & Park was founded just before my daughter was born. I’d be thrilled if the parallels between our stories continued.

While I don’t envision a 500-person agency, I do hope to grow Storm & Park into a business that offers my daughter the same opportunity for success that my father created for me. I know how fortunate I am to be in this position, but I also witnessed how hard my parents worked to get here. I’m excited for the chance to do the same for her.

Q. What have you found to be most surprising about working in the insurance industry? What about most rewarding?

A. Before I started in this field, I thought the hardest part would be mastering the rules, regulations, and coverage forms. But for me, the real challenge was the terminology. So many words in insurance sound familiar but mean something entirely different.

Take “marketing,” for instance. Outside the industry, it refers to advertising and promotion. But in insurance, it becomes a verb describing the matchmaking process

between carriers and potential insureds. Add in terms like co-insurance, ACV vs. RC, standard vs. non-standard, MEP, LPR, wholesaler, aggregator, cluster, broker, agent—it’s easy to get overwhelmed as a newcomer.

On the rewarding side, it’s the ability to make a real difference in someone’s life—even if they’re not a client. Whether it’s having a friendly conversation, consulting, or helping someone understand their coverage, those moments are incredibly fulfilling.

Q. What professional accomplishment are you most proud of and why?

A. Without question, my proudest professional accomplishment is being able to pay my employees a fair wage.

Providing meaningful work that people can take pride in— and compensating them fairly for it—always brings a smile to my face. Knowing that their income supports families, pays taxes, and sustains households is a responsibility I deeply appreciate and take seriously.

Q. When you’re not working, how do you spend your time?

A. A portion of my free time goes to volunteer work and community organizations like Freemasonry. The social aspect has had an outsized positive impact on my mental health, and I look forward to dedicating more time to it in retirement.

Most of all, I cherish time with my wife and daughter. We’ve taken road trips through the Northeast, visiting places like Niagara Falls, Mt. Washington, and the Statue of Liberty. We’ve also traveled to Arizona, Florida, and the Caribbean. But some of our best memories are made at home, playing UNO and Monopoly in our pajamas.

Last—and probably also least—I enjoy hunting, foraging (mostly mushrooms and berries), sipping a good whiskey now and then, and learning new skills in the kitchen. Lately, I’ve gotten a little too good at making foods my doctor probably wouldn’t approve of. So, it may be time to focus on salads—and maybe throw in a bit of exercise, too.