After working at Gunderson Inc. for six years Pat decided to take the leap into a dream of his own. In 1981, when interest rates were the highest in history, he decided to start his own business, Wyss Inc. His first office was a rented, single office space in the historic Buell Building in downtown Rapid City. He spent many hours educating people what a landscape architect is. Hand drawing projects, standing at a file cabinet to type his own letters on a manual typewriter, and answering his office phone, Pat worked very hard to develop the business and build community relationships. His first client was Dave Mortimer who hired Pat to design a plan for an apartment complex. After 10 years, expanding into four office spaces at the Buell Building, he moved the company to a historic four-square house at 6th and Quincy which he attained a listing as a National Historic Property. By this time he had a staff of four and changed the name to Wyss Associates, Inc. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) played a large part in the development of Wyss Associates. Pat began his involvement in the national organization in the late 1980’s, was a member of the national board by 1990, and became a ‘Fellow’ in 1993. Networking nationally with other landscape architects helped him guide and direct Wyss Associates Inc. into the future. His true mentor, however, was Wally Gunderson. Pat has great admiration for the man who was responsible for bringing him to the Black Hills. Wally taught Pat how to run a business, from the nuts and bolts of running a company, to the importance of its relationship to the community, and everything in between. Pat was blessed to have had such an amazing and gracious influence at the beginning of his career. Pat also credits the success of the company with having had many wonderful clients and projects. Hart Ranch was among the first; working with the Duininck’s and Gene Addink has been very rewarding. Kevin Costner’s projects have been exciting and challenging over the years. Like several others, Darryl Propp started as a client and has become a friend. Pat considers himself very lucky to have worked with the professional staffs at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Custer State Park, the US Forest Service, the City of Rapid City and numerous communities throughout the USA. Those are just a few of the many clients he has worked with; many have hired Wyss Associates repeatedly. Working with several of the Native American tribes in our country has been a rich and gratifying experience as well. Of course, all of this would not have been possible without the amazing staff that has been with Wyss Associates Inc. over the years. It has been very rewarding to give someone the first break in his/her career as well as to see a career develop and mature. Pat has worked diligently for 30 years to produce high quality landscape architecture projects, to be a steward of the land, to honor the cultures of those with whom he has worked, to nurture new landscape architects while maintaining integrity through it all. He feels blessed to have such a life and career.
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