By Sarah Pritchett Dalton
Recent Concord University graduates Ryan Weikle and Steven Kennedy have teamed up to open Allegheny Outdoors, LLP, a veteran owned and operated online retail sporting goods company that specializes in camping, hiking, hunting and fishing gear. The new online venture, which launched this spring, offers both brand-name items and Allegheny Outdoors apparel.
Promoting the business as offering high-quality products at affordable prices, Weikle and Kennedy also offer their customers free shipping on orders that are shipped to any of the lower 48 states. As an added perk, Allegheny Outdoors offers a discount to active duty military personnel, veterans and first responders.
Both Weikle and Kennedy are members of Concord University’s Class of 2018. Kennedy earned a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree, and Weikle received a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
“I feel that I have obtained the best business education I could by being in the business curriculum,” says Weikle. “I was able to create great relationships with my professors and staff at Concord because I felt comfortable asking them for help and guidance.”
One of Weikle’s business professors, Angela Addair, teaches entrepreneurship at Concord.
“I couldn’t be prouder of him,” she says. “When he told me he was going to start a business, I knew it would be successful. In class, everything he did he put his heart into, and this will be no different. He has the drive and determination. I love seeing our students become successful. It warms my heart knowing they are following their dreams and believing in themselves.”
At Concord, Weikle and Kennedy were very active on campus within their academic departments and also with the university’s Veterans Association. While he was a student, Kennedy worked as Concord’s student veterans’ advocate. Along with assisting fellow veterans in their academic pursuits, he helped coordinate and present Concord’s Veterans Day programs and other activities honoring members of the military.
Kennedy is a native of Welch, WV. He served with the Army in South Korea and is currently a member of the U.S. Army Reserves. Weikle, whose hometown is Ronceverte, WV, serves with the West Virginia Army National Guard.
The idea for Allegheny Outdoors grew from Kennedy’s personal experience in the military. When he was stationed in South Korea, he had difficulty finding a company that could supply him with outdoor gear. He turned that problem into the basis for his own company.
Initially, the target market for Allegheny Outdoors focused on members of the military exclusively. Today, Kennedy and Weikle have expanded their reach to include all outdoors enthusiasts.
The company offers a range of products. Hikers can find backpacks and duffels. Along with rods and reels, fishing enthusiasts can find tackle boxes, coolers, waders and more for their adventures on the lake, river or frozen pond while out ice fishing. Tents and sleeping bags for camping, golf clubs and golf balls, sunglasses, socks and gloves are also part of the inventory. There is even a page for gifts on the website featuring coffee mugs, clocks and art work. Allegheny Outdoors’ own brand of clothing, including its shirts and hats, are some of its best-selling and most popular items with customers.
Allegheny Outdoors enlists its customers to help with marketing efforts by means of the pro-staff program. Customers promote the company and its products through social media and receive discounts in exchange. Pro-staffers help with the company’s community service as well. For every 1,000 items sold, a community is selected as the recipient of a Friday-Sunday clean-up, which may include picking up trash in parks, around businesses and near creek banks. The communities can be in West Virginia or one of the other states that now have pro-staff members, including Texas, Colorado, Florida, New York, Tennessee, Ohio and South Dakota.
Weikle and Kennedy are serving as a great example of young entrepreneurs contributing to the future success of the Mountain State.
About the Author
Sarah Pritchett Dalton works in the Concord University Office of Advancement as a staff writer.
