Two operators. One long-term plan.
WNY Operators Group exists because Steve Kiernan and Chad Zingler believe there is a better way for a business owner to step back from what they built. Not through a broker. Not through a financial buyer who will flip it in three years. Through a direct conversation with people who actually want to own and run it.
Why we started WNY Operators Group.
Between the two of us, we have spent decades building, operating, and growing businesses in Western New York. We have hired people, served customers, made payroll, fixed problems, and learned what it actually takes to keep a business running well.
Along the way, we kept noticing the same thing: great small businesses with strong reputations, loyal customers, and good teams whose owners were quietly wondering what comes next. And too often, the only path they saw was through a broker, a listing, and a process that felt impersonal and uncertain.
We started WNY Operators Group to offer something different. A direct conversation. A serious buyer. A plan to keep what works and build on it. We are not here to strip a business down or flip it. We are here to own it, operate it, and make it better over time.
Steve Kiernan and Chad Zingler.
Steve is a Buffalo-area entrepreneur and operator with more than two decades of experience building and scaling businesses in Western New York. He is the founder of Pointman, a field-service SaaS platform he grew from zero to nearly 1,500 HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors across the US and Canada before it was acquired by ServiceTitan. He also co-founded and sold Field Nimble, another field service platform, to Pointman.
More recently, Steve co-founded Pattern RevOps, which helps residential and commercial service businesses improve their prospecting systems and operational processes. He also co-owns The Forge, a functional strength and conditioning gym he purchased, relocated, and rebranded in Clarence, NY. That acquisition is a direct example of how he thinks about buying and operating a business: find something with real value, improve what needs improving, and build a community around it.
Steve holds an MBA and a BS in Corporate Media from the University at Buffalo. He is a father and a Western New York native who has built his career here by choice.
Williamsville, NY
Chad is a Western New York sales and partnerships executive with a long track record of building revenue programs, managing complex client relationships, and growing businesses in competitive markets. He currently serves as VP of Strategic Partnerships at RevSpring, where he leads channel partner strategy across the healthcare technology and patient engagement space.
Chad has spent his career in roles that required him to understand what makes businesses tick from the inside: building partner ecosystems, managing large client portfolios, and working across sales, product, and operations teams to move things forward. Earlier in his career, he managed a portfolio of more than 750 clients and $1.8 million in annual revenue at Paychex, and he has built commercial relationships across healthcare, insurance, and technology sectors.
Chad is also the founder of Fluttering Wings Foundation, a nonprofit serving the Buffalo-Niagara community. He is a father, a SUNY Fredonia graduate, and a lifelong Western New Yorker.
East Amherst, NY
Why we prefer to talk directly with owners.
Brokers serve a purpose. But when you go through a broker, you get a listing, a process, and a lot of people in the middle. The business gets packaged and presented to buyers who may have very different intentions.
We prefer to skip that. We want to talk directly with the person who built the business, understand what they care about, and figure out together whether there is a fit. That conversation is more honest, more efficient, and more respectful of what you have built.
Nothing you share with us is listed, broadcast, or shared with anyone else. It is a private conversation between people who are serious about what comes next.
The team stays.
The people who show up every day are the backbone of a service business. We plan to keep them, support them, and invest in them. We are not coming in to replace anyone.
The customers are taken care of.
Your customers chose your business for a reason. We take that trust seriously and work hard to maintain the relationships and reputation you spent years building.
The reputation is protected.
In a local service business, reputation is everything. We do not take shortcuts that put it at risk. We build on it.
Ready to have a real conversation?
If you are thinking about what comes next for your business, we would like to hear about it. No pressure. No obligation. Just an honest conversation.
Start a Confidential Conversation