A recent interview with John A. Zinno Jr., office managing partner, and Thomas A. DeVitto, chief marketing officer, in Blum Shapiro & Co. P.C.”™s 70-person Shelton office touched on the firm”™s growth and regional leader position in accounting, tax and business consulting. Ten-thousand clients count on Blum Shapiro for advice.
The reason for the success ”” a big reason, at least ”” hinges on what both Zinno and DeVitto repeatedly called the company culture. For Blum Shapiro, said Zinno, “It”™s not just about compliance; it”™s about bringing value.”
Which is promoted, as DeVitto, 54, explained, by knowing the turf. “Our strategy is one of living in the communities we serve, of personally knowing the local network of banks and providers,” he said. “Somebody who flies in from outside your town won”™t have that perception.”
“Companies teaming up ”” even three companies teaming up ”” this is the type of business relationship we can bring to our clients,” Zinno, 46, said.
“The ability to tap into that network is that special X factor,” DeVitto said.
The firm”™s growth numbers are solid. This year it added 20 staffers via its acquisition of Newton, Mass.-based Friedman, Suvalle & Salomon; and last year it acquired Sullivan & Co., a Rhode Island firm that added 70 to its roster. Other acquisitions include Glastonbury-based Scully & Wolf L.L.P; Nishball, Carp, Niedermeier, Pacowta & Co. in Shelton and with a second office in Waterbury; Fairfield-based Leask & Leask; and a 1990s merger with Hartford-based Cole & Frago.
Blum Shapiro”™s accounting, auditing, tax and business consulting services target, but are not exclusive to, privately held and closely held businesses, government entities, schools and nonprofits.
The firm since its West Hartford birth 34 years ago has grown to some 300 customer-facing employees, of whom 152 are CPAs and 55 are firm partners. It was founded by Bernie Blum, George Kaplan, Al Rosenthal, Julius Shapiro, Mort Gavens and Sy Gavens ”” principals in Shapiro, Rosenthal & Co. P.C. and Blum, Gavens and Kaplan P.C. ”” to “deliver superior accounting services to individuals and small business.” The focus was Hartford.
By 1982, the firm billed itself as the largest CPA firm in the state and by 1987 it topped 100 employees. Its West Hartford office, its largest, now has more than 100 employees.
DeVitto said it is a Blum Shapiro goal to bring all the offices ”” besides West Hartford and Shelton they include Providence, R.I., and Quincy and Newton, Mass. ”” to the 100-employee level. Plans also include growing what are now smaller satellites in Westport and Boston.
“Our strategy for growth is to build on our current offices to become 100 persons per office, where West Hartford is now,” Zinno said. “We feel 100 offers us a depth and breadth of knowledge to serve our clients locally in the most effective way.”
Zinno said the firm regularly attracts talent from other large accounting/consulting firms and he ticked off a handful that would be familiar to even a casual observer of the regional and national business scene. He credited, again, the firm”™s corporate culture, which promotes community involvement, as one reason for growth. “We live here, we work here, we volunteer here,” he said.
Both DeVitto and Zinno stressed that Blum Shapiro”™s broad client base and deep local connections lead to creative solutions and even to the union of clients to the benefit of both.
“It”™s another example of Blum Shapiro walking the talk,” said DeVitto. “We want our clients, the community and our employees to be better than when they began their relationship with Blum Shapiro. A culture of shared values gets credit for a lot of what we”™ve done.
“Our goal is to create business environments such as we”™ve grown here in Shelton,” he said. “We have one of the highest quality products a firm can have and that product is our people. We possess national experience and we deliver it on a local basis.”
In dealing with privately held and closely held companies, Blum Shapiro often handles business succession. Zinno, who joined the firm in 1989, said that in that time he has seen a decline in what he termed “senior to junior” transactions. Today”™s deals can involve strategic acquisitions and the availability of private equity.
“Forty-eight percent of business owners are considered affluent,” DeVitto said. “And a big issue is the future of the company.”
The firm counts 350 nonprofits among its clients. As a rule, nonprofits are seeing diminishing money. Mergers ”” complete with their reduced overhead, better use of funding and economy of scale in purchasing ”” are a trend. “We”™ve helped with these mergers,” Zinno said.
“But,” he continued, “it”™s almost the opposite with private secondary schools.” The firm handles the accounts of more than 50, often prestigious, schools like Choate Rosemary Hall and Kent School. “They”™re doing well because people sending their kids to these schools are more affluent and are not as affected by the downturn. In many cases, it”™s tradition and they don”™t want to break that tradition.”
Pump and dump.
Hire a bunch of college grads and fire them fast.
I hope Blum clients enjoy the fresh faces every year!