Morgan Pagett

Some People Find Their Way to a Company. Morgan Grew Up Alongside One.

Morgan Pagett didn't find Pine Cove through a job posting. He found them in a high school hallway in Douglas, Wyoming.

Pine Cove was the IT provider for Morgan's school district, and as a student tech, he was already elbow-deep in the work, fielding problems and trying to fix things. When Pine Cove came in to help sort out some aging infrastructure, Derek Curtis and Mike Stroud took notice.

"Instead of brushing me off, they brought me in and taught me all the things"

Pine Cove became the thing to look forward to each summer. Years of contracting followed, and in 2021, Morgan joined full time. Some people find their way to a company. Morgan grew up alongside one.

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From Project Engineer to Operations Manager

Morgan's path at Pine Cove has been anything but static. He came in as a project engineer, doing on-site work, customer visits, installing servers and switches. Then in July of last year, he moved into managing the service desk. By early this year, he was transitioning into the Operations Manager role.

"Drinking from the fire hose" is how he describes the last 12 months. But what that also means is that he now works across every team in some capacity, triaging issues, building out project plans, and helping the organization move and execute at scale.

Why the Work Matters

Morgan grew up in Douglas, Wyoming. Population around 6,000. Good people, not a lot of tech support nearby. If something broke, you called someone in Denver and hoped for the best. Getting somebody on-site to physically do anything, he says, was like pulling teeth.

Both of his parents were in education, his dad a principal and teacher for years. So when he talks about why Pine Cove's work matters, it's not abstract.

"Helping these customers that are in places where nobody else really will go, and doing it for education, what better purpose is there? Everything we do in education trickles down."

It's not just fixing computers. It's making sure the school in a small town has the same shot as everyone else.

What Drives Him

Ask Morgan what part of the work feels most like him, and he doesn't hesitate: problem solving.

It started with diagnosing a network. Now it looks like figuring out how to structure a project schedule, smooth out a team workflow, or help an organization think through what they need before they realize they need it. The scale has changed. The instinct hasn't.

At the end of every summer, when the dust settles on months of hard work, hundreds of switches and access points deployed, upgrades pushed through for schools across the region, teams logging serious miles to make it happen, Morgan says that's when it hits.

"Looking back now, it's impressive to see how much we actually got done."

Outside of Work

When Morgan isn't solving problems at work, he's usually creating something at home. Saturday is his day in the kitchen, putting together a big meal for his wife that takes longer than it probably should. If cooking paid the bills, he says, he'd have a harder decision to make. When the weather cooperates, he trades the kitchen for the outdoors, camera in hand, going for walks and taking in whatever the season has to offer. And when he's winding down at the end of the day, there's a good chance something from a galaxy far, far away is on in the background.

One Word for Pine Cove

When asked to pick one word to describe the company, Morgan didn't hesitate.

Loyal.

"If you need something outside of work hours and that subject matter expert is technically on vacation, if it's an emergency, I don't think there's a person I'd call who wouldn't answer if they could."

He's quick to acknowledge he's biased. He's known most of these people for what feels like forever. But that's kind of the point.