People on the move: Vrakas names next president & managing shareholder

Published December 13, 2019 10:49 AM

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Updated December 13, 2019 11:11 AM

1 Min Read

BKD appoints new national leader for private equity; Crowe elects 34 partners and principals; and more personnel news.

COLORADO

ACM, Denver, admitted five to partner, effective Jan. 1, 2020: Erin Breit, Jessica Friedly and Tim Stueven as audit partners and Scott Norquist and Jason Slavsky as tax partners.

CONNECTICUT

Vanessa Rossitto

Steven Laschever photography

Vanessa Rossitto, partner and industry leader of the government services group at Blumshapiro, was recognized as one of the Distinguished Service Awardees for the inaugural Connecticut Society of CPAs’ Women’s Awards, recognizing the contributions of CPA women professionals in the state.

FLORIDA

Ernie Gelpi, leading partner of Kushner LaGraize, was named the new chair of the board of CPAmerica, Gainesville, succeeding Sharon Thompson, managing shareholder and leading partner of Hughes, Snell & Co. Additionally, Greg Hammonds, leading partner of Whaley Hammonds Tomasello Accountants & Advisors, was elected to the vice chair/chair-elect position, and Jackie Cardello of GRF CPAs & Advisors and Greg Denning of Larson & Co. were elected to the board. Returning to the board are: James Barrett of Meyers Brothers Kalicka, Dane Floyd of Aldridge Borden & Co., Ernie Gelpi of Kushner LaGraize, Gregory Hammonds of Whaley Hammonds Tomasello Accountants & Advisors, Brian Malthouse of VonLehman & Co., Frank Monaco of 415 Group, and Sharon Thompson of Hughes, Snell & Co.

GEORGIA

David Roberts

David Roberts was hired as practice leader of governmental advisory at Mauldin & Jenkins, Atlanta.

ILLINOIS

Crowe, Chicago, elected 34 new partners and principals, effective April 1, 2020. The firm elected, in tax services: Sarah Allen-Anthony, Mark Andrews, Donielle Borgo, Marc Claybon, Kevin Gilbreath, Sharon Jones, Kristin Kranich, Michael Levy, Sergei Mytko, Chris Oliva, Corey Pfeifer, AJ Schiavone and Kristin Steinhauser; in audit and assurance services: Dan Balla, Nicholas Bennett, Stephen Buckner, Art Salvadori, Doug Sayad, Beau Schwegman, Nicole Spiker, Janelle Sprinzl and Leslie Yates; in consulting: Tamara Bowen, Giulio Camerini, Jamshid Ebadi, Amar Gandhi, Mike Grob, Dave McKnight, Bryan Rector and Gayle Woodbury; in advisory services: Eric Ference, Paul Jordan and Robert Kollar; and in firm risk management: Kyle Owens.

MAINE

Deborah Patry, senior consultant, and Victoria Waugh, associate consultant, at Michaud Accounting Solutions, earned the Sage Intacct Certified Implementation Specialist certification.

MASSACHUSETTS

Baker Newman Noyes added four professionals to its newest office in Woburn, opening January 2020: Drew Nagus, principal in the audit practice; Jim Guarino, managing director and Certified Financial Planner in the tax practice; Jeff Rogers and Chris Giallongo, senior managers in the tax practice.

MINNESOTA

Josh Rapp

Josh Rapp, retirement plan advisor at BerganKDV, Bloomington, was one of 100 advisors named to the 2020 list of Top Retirement Plan Advisors under 40, this year rebranded as the “Aces,” by the National Association of Plan Advisors.

MISSOURI

John Kmetz was hired as the national leader for the private equity practice at BKD CPAs & Advisors, St. Louis, succeeding Jerry Henderson, who is transitioning into the role of regional managing partner for BKD’s national advisory services region.

Bradley Danner was hired as a senior associate in the tax department and Tricia Ewald was hired as a staff accountant, at Abeles and Hoffman, St. Louis.

Jody Padar (pictured), principal of New Vision CPA Group and founder of The Radical CPA, St. Louis, formed a partnership with video marketing service Marketing by Numbers.

NEW YORK

Andrée Bourgon

Andrée Bourgon (pictured) was hired as a managing director, overseeing the growth strategy practice for the insurance sector at Grant Thornton, New York.

Christine Miller, partner at Janover, New York was elected to the firm’s executive committee to serve a two-year term effective Jan. 1, 2020. Additionally, Christopher Gagliardi and Jason Hoffman were promoted to principals.

OHIO

Azra Nakicevic

Azra Nakicevic (pictured), director in tax and business advisory services, was named a partner at GBQ, Columbus.

Joseph Ledford and Keith Veres, principals at HBK CPAs & Consultants, Canfield, both earned the Certified Exit Planning Advisor distinction.

PENNSYLVANIA

Brenton Musselman

DunlapSLK, Chalfont, announced four promotions: Brenton Musselman (pictured) to manager in the tax services department, Dale Rudaski to manager in accounting services, Haley Priester to staff II accountant in audit services, and Shane Kraynik to staff II accountant in accounting services.

UNITED KINGDOM

Mark Carter was promoted to principal in the business management department at Prager Metis, London.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Internal Revenue Service appointed 12 new members to the IRS Advisory Council: Walter “Ted” Afield, Martin Armstrong, Sharon Brown, Robert Howren, Denise Jackson, Kathleen Lach, Kelly Myers, Joseph Novak, Robert Panoff, Nancy Ruoff, Katherine Sunderland and Kevin Valuet. The 2020 IRSAC Chair is Diana Erbsen, a New York-based tax partner at DLA Piper.

WISCONSIN

Bradley Weckwerth

Bradley Weckwerth was appointed the next president and managing shareholder at Vrakas CPAs + Advisors, Brookfield. He succeeds James Holmes, the firm’s president and managing shareholder since 2006, and who will remain as a co-managing shareholder with Weckwerth through June 2020 before staying on as a full-time tax shareholder with the firm.

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