WS+B HELPS WITH RECESSIONPrinceton, N.J.-Accounting firm WithumSmith+Brown has introduced a new consulting service to help businesses deal with the troubled economy.
The firm's Project Forward team includes WS+B's top industry experts, who will provide independent counsel to enable leaders of middle-market companies to navigate difficult times. Tom Basilo, a CPA and CEO of WS+B's Global Assurance Division, will lead the team.
The Project Forward initiative will use a proprietary methodology called the Business Strength Analyzer that assesses a company's strengths, as well as new opportunities for improving profitability, productivity and cash flow.
"A lot of the CFOs are baffled because a lot of the old techniques that have been successful for years and years just are not working," said Basilo. "My feeling was that they needed someone to be a sounding board to help them come to some solutions."
The firm will also help business leaders prepare themselves to seek out sources of credit and financing. "Only the best companies will be given credit," said Basilo. "They need to be a lot more prepared than before and have an understanding of banks."
WS+B has put together people from different disciplines within the firm, including business process improvement experts, for the new team. Basilo has been dealing with entrepreneurs since the 1970s, working at firms such as Coopers & Lybrand and Ernst & Young. He plans to target companies that had been successful until the recession hit and are now struggling to find a way out of the economic downturn. - Michael Cohn
SENIORS DELAYING RETIREMENT
Oakland, Calif.-A new study from Gateway Financial, an online financial resource for seniors, showed that nearly 80 percent of the senior citizens polled are worried about the impact of the financial crisis on their retirement savings, while over 60 percent of those 65 and older said that the economic crisis has permanently hurt their retirement savings.
Nearly one third of those polled indicated that they were planning to delay retirement because of the current economic crisis, while more than 20 percent are considering returning to work because of the effects of the financial crisis on their personal plans. Nearly 75 percent of those surveyed said that they are making adjustments to their lifestyle as a result of the current economy.
The survey, conducted with Crestwood Associates in partnership with Golden Gateway Financial, polled more than 800 adult homeowners aged 65 or older from around the country.
NEWFROCK TAPPED TO LEAD J.H. COHN RECOVERY TEAM
Roseland, N.J.-Super-regional CPA and business advisory firm J.H. Cohn has named Jim Newfrock to lead the firm's newly established Client Economic Recovery Team. Newfrock will direct a multidisciplinary group of experts assembled to support, advise and assist client corporations and financial institutions affected by the troubled economy.
Prior to joining J.H. Cohn, Newfrock led the Global Strategic Risk management practice of consulting concern Booz Allen Hamilton.
J.H. Cohn's CERT unit is comprised of specialists from the firm's business investigation services, corporate governance services and financial services practices.
