Blue Valley Times Article

Mark Kukla CPA Celebrates Grand Opening in Wind Gap
By Chuck Schubert

WIND GAP - Did anyone notice the beautiful new building in Wind Gap at 40 S. Broadway? The site of the former Wind Gap Hardware is the new home for Mark Kukla CPA.

I sat down with Mark Kukla at his family’s favorite wing stop, Detzis, for a discussion on his business, the status of the profession and his community. I found that this good mannered professional has a refreshing sense of humor not typical of his counterparts. But make no mistake, a genuine passion for his family, clients & community is evident at every step.

I always thought that the Certified Public Accountant designation was reserved for the most trusted professional on your financial team. To me, it stood for integrity, high ethics and a code of conduct. If you look in my high school yearbook, it states that was the path that I wanted to take. To me, that was the pinnacle of the accounting profession.

“I received my bachelor’s degree from Bloomsburg University and worked for a small firm in Stroudsburg for eleven years, passing the CPA exam in that period” said Kukla. He and his wife moved to Wind Gap in 1991 along with their one- year- old son. They have been blessed with three more sons, all of whom graduated from Pen Argyl High School.

“I worked for a couple of small firms until 2005, when I decided to go out on my own. It was a fairly big risk for me, as I had more sons than I had clients. My practice was on West 1st St. in Wind Gap for ten years and really grew throughout that time.” The practice provides tax and accounting services to individuals and businesses, but their main target is small businesses.

“In 2018, one of the owners of Wind Gap Hardware stopped in my office and asked if I knew of anyone that would want to buy the hardware store. I told her yes, that I would be interested.” The practice, which consisted of himself and son, Michael Kukla, had outgrown the office that they were in and owning an office seemed like the logical next move. “I ended up purchasing the hardware store property with visions of completely refurbishing it.”

He had known Richard Guarry for a few years and met with him a couple of times over lunch at Detzi’s to discuss the possibility of purchasing his practice. Although those talks were ongoing, nothing ever came to fruition. “Unfortunately, Richard passed away late in 2018. His family contacted me a short time after about my interest in acquiring his practice. We worked out an equitable deal and Richard’s outstanding staff of Lori Stecz and Erika Stofflet agreed to stay on with Michael and myself to make the transition very seamless.”

“I contracted with Richard Pierce Builder from Stroudsburg to do the work on my building. The results have far exceeded my expectations. Although the new building is on the same footprint as the hardware store, the design and construction have blown me away. I’m very excited to be back in Wind Gap along with my staff, Michael Kukla, Lori Stecz, Erika Stofflet, Christi Scott and Karen Schubert.”

He’s humbled by all of the positive things that have happened to him in the last few years. “I would especially like to thank my wife and family, my clients, my builder Richard Pierce and Richard DeLuca from BB&T Bank for all of their assistance and help and all the Borough support and love. We now have the capacity to grow and again will be considering future firm acquisitions and taking on new clients.”