Five local accountants spent the evening of Nov. 17 away from the ledger, and instead were honored at the 2014 CPA Awards co-founded by the Westchester County Business Journal and People”™s United Bank.
Called Beyond the Bottom Line, the event was hosted by the Manhattanville College School of Business. It was the first event to honor the accounting profession in Westchester County.
“This is one of a series of recognitions for great professionals that has been established by Westfair (Communications) over the past few years,” said Assemblyman David Buchwald, D-Mount Kisco, in remarks given before the presentation of the awards. “As a tax attorney, I have a particular respect for CPAs. I commend your profession and the honorees in particular. So many of you have been the ones to make sure that members of boards of directors and the public know that something needs to be changed, and that”™s the great service that CPAs have been providing for generations.”
“I”™ve been to a number of Westfair events, and they”™ve all been great,” said Joe McCoy, a team leader and senior vice president at People”™s United Bank. “I saw this as an opportunity to honor a profession that”™s an integral part of the business community, and I couldn”™t be happier with the culmination of our effort.”
Anson J. Augustine of Marcum LLP was honored with the Top Accountant Under 40 award. A partner in the New York City office of Marcum”™s assurance group, Augustine joined the firm in 2003. He works with publicly traded and privately held companies to provide services related to SEC compliance, as well as mergers and acquisitions and complex accounting and reporting. Augustine has a Bachelor of Science degree in public accounting, an MBA from Fordham University and a Master of Science in human resources from Hofstra University.
Taking home the Most Community Oriented Award was Frank Pellegrino of Pellegrino & Co., who has more than 40 years of experience in accounting, audit, tax planning and compliance, and business and management consulting. A past president of the Westchester chapter of the New York State Society of CPAs, Pellegrino was also chairman of the advisory board of the chapter”™s Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession program. He holds a BBA from Baruch College of the City University of New York.
Honored with the Most Trusted Adviser Award was Michael S. Hymes of Hymes and Associates CPA PC. Through his firm, Hymes provides tax consulting, income and estate tax planning, tax compliance services, and representation before federal and state tax authorities for individual and business clients. Hymes teaches undergraduate accounting at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University and Concordia College-New York.
Anthony J. Justic of Maier, Markey & Justic LLP was honored with the Ahead of the Curve Award, for earning his clients”™ trust with his comprehensive technical knowledge of auditing and accounting principles and guiding the merger of Compufit into his firm. He joined the accounting department of Maier, Markey & Justic in 1987 and has helped grow the firm from three to 90 employees. Justic is a graduate of Fordham University.
Kevin Keane of O”™Connor Davies LLP was honored with the Best Managing Partner Award, for developing an environment of inclusion where all staff are informed of company goals, attend monthly seminars and annual training, work with the latest tools to better serve clients and are encouraged to give back to the community. With more than 30 years experience in the accounting business, Keane is also a director and founder of The Westchester Bank. He holds bachelor”™s degrees in accounting and information systems from Pace University and the University at Albany.
“The accounting profession today is strong and sensitive to the consumer,” said Manhattanville School of Business Dean Anthony Davidson. “In order to be meaningful as an accountant in today”™s economy, you need to do more than your line duties. You need to understand the business better, you need to understand more aspects more holistically and be in touch with the values of society as a whole.”
