People on the move: Cherry Bekaert elects new MP/CEO

KPMG names national partner of campus recruiting and university relations; Raich Ende Malter adds two principals; and other recent hires, promotions and personnel news from firms across the country.

Mike Triantos was named the new head of partner development at Gusto, San Francisco.

Chiew Chun Wee, regional head of policy for Asia Pacific at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, was appointed a member of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, London, to serve a three-year term starting Jan. 1, 2018.

Keith Browning was hired as a managing director for the corporate performance improvement practice in the Atlanta office of Alvarez & Marsal.

James Acton, Rachael Bivens and Amanda Niehoff were promoted to staff accountant advanced at Louis T. Roth & Co., Louisville.

Hannah Castellano, a manager in the wealth advisory services group of RubinBrown, St. Louis, was honored with the 2017 Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants Women to Watch – Emerging Leader Award for her professional achievements and leadership efforts.

Eric Hespenheide was appointed chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative Board of Directors, Amsterdam, effective Jan. 1, 2018.

Johnpaul Crocenzi was hired as a principal specializing in high-net-worth individuals and their businesses, and Melissa Abbott was promoted to principal, specializing in tax compliance and planning for trusts, estates and private foundations, at Raich Ende Malter, Melville.

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners, Mineola, elected its 2017-18 officers and directors: President Stephen Mankowski, Mankowski Associates CPA, LLC, Hatboro, Pa.; executive vice president Neil Fishman, Fishman Associates, CPAs, Boynton Beach, Fla.; vice president Frank Gallo, Gallo & Company, CPAs, LLP, Jericho, N.Y.; vice president Stephen Palmerio, Stephen L. Palmerio, CPA, Broomall, Pa.; vice president Mark A. Stewart, Jr., Feldstein & Stewart, LLP, CPAs, New City, N.Y.; treasurer Stuart Lang, G.R. Reid Associates, LLP, Woodbury, N.Y.; secretary Barry Zalk, Barry D. Zalk, CPA, Huntington, N.Y.; and immediate past president Sandra Johnson, Sandra G. Johnson, CPA, PC, Bellmore, N.Y. NCCPAP also elected, as directors: Scott Cheslowitz, Mary Duff, Aaron Futterman, Robert Gaines, Kenneth Hauptman, Donald Ingram, Lynne Marcus, David J. Rothfeld and Sanford Zinman.

Michelle Thompson was elected firm managing partner and chief executive officer of Cherry Bekaert, effective May 1, 2018, and based in the Raleigh office. Thompson, who joined the firm in 1998 and became an assurance partner in 2001, will transition from her current position of managing partner of the firm’s assurance services practice and succeed Howard Kies, who will be stepping down May 1, 2018, after 27 years in the role of managing partner.

GBQ, Columbus, announced three new partners: Jeff Harden, director of assurance and business advisory services, who has been with the firm since 2015; Scott Bechtel, director of tax and business advisory services, who joined the firm in 2008; and Joe Borowski, director of valuation and financial opinion services, who joined the firm in 2005.

Jeff Jorge, principal and leader of the center for the return of manufacturing (CFRM) at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, was a keynote speaker and panelist at Baker Tilly’s Return of Manufacturing Forum at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel, sponsored by the firm’s CFRM.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, Nashville, presented three awards at its 110th annual meeting, held in New York City Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. E. Kent Smoll, director-at-large on the NASBA Board of Directors and chair of NASBA’s enforcement resources committee, of Dodge City, Kan., received the NASBA Distinguished Service Award, which honors individuals who have demonstrated an unswerving commitment and dedication to enhancing the mission of NASBA. Nicole Kasin, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Accountancy, of Sioux Falls, S.D., received the Lorraine P. Sachs Standard of Excellence Award, which recognizes a current state board executive or administrator that has shown outstanding service to improving the effectiveness of accounting regulation-on local and national fronts. Thomas Sadler, member of NASBA’s Past Chair Advisory Council, of Lakewood, Wash., received the William H. Van Rensselaer Award, which recognizes those who have contributed to the development of a new program, improvement of a current program for the Boards of Accountancy, or who have influenced passage of rules or statutes to strengthen accountancy regulations.

James Powell was named national partner-in-charge, campus recruiting and university relations, at KPMG, where he will also continue to serve as office managing partner for the Nashville office. Powell will work with the human resources vice chair and recruiting leadership team to maintain and enhance the firm’s university relations, succeeding Becky Sproul, a KPMG audit partner, who led the firm’s campus recruiting efforts since 2013.

David Romig was hired as a principal and leader of THIncIT, the new business unit at Cherry Bekaert that was announced concurrently with the acquisition of The Computer Solution Company of Virginia. The THIncIT business unit will develop and deploy innovative technology-based solutions, with the Richmond-based TCSC adding more than 30 technology professionals to Cherry Bekaert’s technology consulting practice.

Scott Burgess was hired as a managing director for the corporate performance improvement practice in the Washington, D.C., office of Alvarez & Marsal.