About Us/The Designer
I began life as a farmer’s son in rural Pennsylvania one of three boys and two sisters as well, it was a typical large farm family. Growing up on the farm meant pitching in, there was always work to be done. When you grow up on the farm it happens fast, it was not long and I was given responsibility for many chores. I developed a strong sense of pride very early with regards to work, of course there were moments when I would have rather spent the day playing or riding my bicycle than feeding the pigs or shoveling manure. But on the days, weekends or weeks when the family had to work together to complete some daunting task, after it was completed, there was a definite satisfaction in a job well done.
I learned a lot growing up, as I assume most everyone does, only I got to learn practical things like work ethic, responsibility, and team work. Pretty early on I discovered I had a knack for drawing things. In grade school my fellow class mates would ask me to doodle things on their book covers for them. Later in high school I began taking drafting courses, mechanical and architectural. By the time I graduated I knew that I wanted to be an Architect I loved making things come to life on paper.
The last couple years of high school brought many changes to my family. I moved from the farm to a small nearby country town with my father, his new wife and baby daughter. Among the many events during that time only two are worth mentioning here. I fell in love with a girl at my school who would later become my wife. And although I was gainfully employed at a local lumber yard manufacturing roof trusses. I enrolled in a trade school to get my associate degree in Architectural Drafting.
After graduating from Pittsburgh Technical Institute I relocated to Orlando, Florida. I stayed in Florida about three years. I took two different jobs while there doing computer drafting work. One involved surveying existing buildings and then drafting them up on the computer. The other involved taking existing paper maps and equipment drawings and drafting them onto the computer. While in Florida My wife and I were married in a small private ceremony. Eventually, when we could stand the heat no longer we headed back north.
In 1992 My wife and I were remarried with a huge formal wedding in Washington Pennsylvania where we still reside today. I began work as a residential draftsman for a local contractor in Wheeling WV. Soon after that in 1995 God blessed us with a baby boy! It was to say the least a big change in all our lives. Just As I was getting used to having my son around in 1997 God blessed us with a beautiful baby Girl. It was around then that I decided to take a job closer to home as a construction superintendent for a custom home builder.
I managed to find something else in the field of architecture that I really enjoyed, actually building. I ran each job from start to finish. I got to work with the customers, the vendors the subcontractors and our company employees. I learned a great deal and it helped me understand better about what went into building the houses I had been drawing all these years. While I was learning how to build, I decided to start my own drafting business as a side venture. CRP Technologies was started January 1st, 1998. I initially had just wanted to continue drafting enough to keep my skills from getting too rusty. But on top of a heavy workload of construction management requirements. My “side” business was keeping me busier than I had imagined.
The years passed by quickly and soon our little ones were both in school full time. In 2003 my wife was offered a position with the construction company where I was employed. She became our customer coordinator. I really enjoyed working in the construction end of the business but I realized that I could not continue working both of my jobs. My “side” business by this point was getting busy enough that I knew I had to give one of them up before both of them suffered. Although I had just began working with my wife, I made the decision to leave the construction company and I began drafting full time.
My drafting business was going well, slowly gaining more and more clients. In 2005, I had one of my largest personal and professional setbacks. I was diagnosed with throat cancer. My wife and I were in shock, I am not a smoker, nor a heavy drinker and I thought I was pretty healthy at 35 years of age. Anyway, I began my cancer journey with surgery, many tests doctors visits and medications. I had radiation treatment everyday, chemotherapy once a week.
I started out pretty good but about halfway through my treatments it was all I could do to walk around let alone work . The last month of my treatment I lost my ability to swallow anything so I had a feeding tube installed in my stomach. I got sick a lot, and I was admitted to the hospital three separate times for dehydration. Going through a life threatening illness tested everything I thought I knew about me. My faith in God, my family, my strength, my determination I spent most of the time afraid of what was to come. But I have to say I learned how much all those things meant to me. My faith in God kept me going and not showing or focusing on how afraid I really was. My wife never left my side, she truly saw to my every need I never felt more loved by her. My family and friends helped out numerous times with dinners, errands, watching the kids, fund raisers prayers and support. I came to appreciate what good health meant, not just in taking care of my body but how much power you have in your mind to get you through anything. I finished my treatments and fifty three pounds lighter I began to nurse myself slowly back to health. Having not been able to work for about 6 months I was ecstatic to finally able to began supporting my family again. I have continued to endure many test and doctors visits (and bills) since my treatments were finished. I have apparently “survived” with as clean a bill of health as they are willing to give me at this point, Thank God. While undergoing treatment I had often asked myself, “What did I do to deserve getting sick?”. Just as often now, I have asked myself, “What did I do to deserve to live?”. I still do not have the answers to either of those questions. I did get back to living though, my business is picked back up. I started weightlifting again I also took up a new hobby, bicycle riding.
In 2007 almost two years after my illness I rode in the LiveStrong Challenge in Philadelphia PA. I rode 100 miles in one day. I made it to the end but it was definitely a challenge. I loved every minute of it. I raised about $2500 to ride and also got my twin brother and a friend of mine to ride with me. I wanted to do something physical that I would not have attempted before I got sick, just as a way to let myself know that I was better than okay. Since my illness, I have also been very involved with the American Cancer Society. I volunteer as a driver for patients going through treatment. I lobbied at our state capitol for the clean air act for tobacco free public spaces. My family and I attended a “Relay For Life” event last summer and are planning on participating this summer. I am on the committee for their local bicycle ride here in Washington county this season. I wanted to do something for the community that I would not have considered before I got sick just as a way to let everyone know that I was better than okay.
Towards the end of 2007 I began work on this website. I have been drafting houses for about 15 years now and I have completed quite an array of different designs and projects. I would like to extend an invitation to you to browse through them and see if there are any that may fit into your lifestyle and help to enrich your journey. I would also like to introduce you to the many other services that my company offers in the field of Residential Architecture. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. Thank You and God Bless!
Sincerely,
Wes Briant