FLORIDA
Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Company PA, Fort Meyers has been named the title sponsor for the 2014 Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, presented by the Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University.
ILLINOIS
Crowe Horwath LLP recently published a survey that states, only one in five banks are ready to meet mandatory stress-testing requirements. By March 31, 2014, and annually after that, banks with more than $10 billion in assets are required to submit the results of their stress tests, or hypothetical analyses, to federal regulators. Stress tests measure how the banks would perform under a variety of economic scenarios and if they would have sufficient capital to withstand those scenarios. To help banks address these new requirements, Crowe has introduced the Crowe Credit 360 Portfolio Surveyor, a comprehensive stress-testing and credit portfolio management system.
McGladrey LLP and the National Association of Corporate Directors conducted a report which identifed critical information gaps between the board and the C-suite. For the full report visit
MARYLAND
CohnReznick LLP has been selected as one of The Baltimore Sun Top Workplaces. The Top Workplaces are determined based solely on employee feedback. The employee survey is conducted by WorkplaceDynamics LLP, a leading research firm on organizational health and employee engagement. CohnReznick is among the 100 companies named to the list.
MASSACHUSETTS
BlumShapiro teamed up with the South Shore YMCA Germantown Neighborhood Center for its annual Holiday Gift Giving Program. BlumShapiro and its employees will hold a toy and clothing drive at their offices in Quincy to generate donations for the program which provides low to moderate income families with gift certificates, winter clothing and gifts. In addition, BlumShapiro will donate $1,000 to the Center that, last year alone, served a record-breaking 3,000 people living in Quincy, and the demand is expected to increase again this year.
MISSOURI
BKD has been named to Training magazine’s annual Training Top 125, which ranks companies based on the excellence of their training and development programs. BKD—the only CPA and advisory firm to appear on this year’s list—was among hundreds of applicants vying for a spot on the prestigious list and one of only 27 newcomers.
NEW JERSEY
Hunter Group LLC took part in the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants Pay It Forward presentation, which gave high school students a glimpse of opportunities into the accounting profession.
NEW YORK
PwC US year-end outlook expects the solid M&A momentum to continue into 2014. Improved stability and early signs of growth in other key global markets have contributed to an increasing level of business confidence and sharpening focus on finding opportunities for growth. PwC notes that the average monthly deal volume continued to pick up through the latter part of 2013. According to data compiled by Thomson Reuters and analyzed by PwC, average monthly deal volume increased by 10 percent from 808 deals per month in the first six months of 2013 to 886 deals per month from July through November. The CFO Squad LLC has been launched to offer a suite of CFO-level services in response to strong demand from both publicly and privately held companies seeking to outsource all, or a portion, of the high-level financial and accounting activities typically performed by an in-house CFO or high level Controller. PwC released a 10Minute piece titled, What you need to know when your business is in their hands, finding that clarity over service providers’ controls can potentially strengthen a business’ brand and operations. PwC’s report explores service provider blind spots that can cause potential harm to business, along with best practices on how to best mitigate these risks. Among the key findings: The majority of CEOs believe a cyber-attack or major disruption of the internet would have a negative impact on business; 34 percent of CEOs are concerned about the inability to protect intellectual property and customer data; Almost half (42 percent) of CEOs are concerned about the speed of technological change KPMG International conducted a survey that stated that Corporate Responsibility reporting has become a well-established practice in the United States. The KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2013 found that among the top 100 U.S. companies by revenue, 86 percent now formally report on their CR efforts, compared to 83 percent in 2011 and 74 percent in 2008. Globally, the CR reporting rate was 71 percent, up from 64 percent in 2011 (the survey is conducted every other year). Of the world’s largest 250 companies (the G250), 93 percent now publish a CR report.
NORTH DAKOTA
Eide Bailly LLP has launched Eide Bailly Private Exchange, a private insurance exchange system that will give businesses and their employees an exciting new option for health care coverage through the flexibility of a defined contribution health plan.
OHIO
BCG & Co. has introduced its newest service line, BCG Legacy Advisors. Over the next 20 years Baby Boomers are expected to transfer $10 trillion in wealth. The vast majority of this wealth is held as stock in more than 12 million privately-held businesses. The harsh reality is that most of these organizations and owners don’t have a plan in place for when they change hands.
TEXAS
Ernst & Young recently held a MENA Tax Seminar in Houston, Texas to discuss the recent developments in tax, foreign investment and associated regulatory developments in MENA. The conference was attended by executive tax and financial professionals from oil & gas, technology and engineering multi-national companies based in the USA and Europe. Presentations on tax updates for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Libya and Iraq were led by EY tax partners at the conference.
WASHINGTON
Clark Nuber’s employees recently pulled out their best crockpot recipes to enter the firm’s fifth annual Cook-Off Contest to raise money for a local charity. The money was raised by collecting donations from each employee to purchase tastes of the entries. Each taster then cast one vote for their top three favorite recipes. The winning dishes included Thai Peanut Chicken Stew, Apple Blueberry Crisp and Gluten Free BBQ Meatballs. The proceeds of the event this year were donated to United Way of King County. The firm matched the employee’s donations $1 for $1.
