Tronconi Segarra Merges in All-Female Firm DKS

All-female CPA firm Domachowski Kempisty & Salvatore has joined Tronconi Segarra & Associates, offering a new option for companies seeking a larger regional CPA firm in the upstate New York area.

Tronconi Segarra, with offices in Williamsville and Niagara Falls, will add DKS’s office in Clarence. All 15 members of DKS are women and will be joining the 80-member Tronconi Segarra, which has a ratio of about 50/50 male and female.

The three partners in DKS, Lynn Domachowski, Sarah Kempisty and Carol Salvatore, formed the firm in 1994, after they took over the former firm of Campbell Brown, according to the Buffalo News. They will now become partners in Tronconi Segarra, which already has eight partners of its own.

The merger took effect on November 1. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are an all-women accounting firm, not that we needed to tout that very much, but we all work together very well, and that’s how it all progressed,” Salvatore said in an interview. “We felt we had a lot to offer Tronconi Segarra & Associates, as they did with us, such as specialization and more resources. They are highly regarded in the community, so we felt like it would be a great mix.”

After the merger, Tronconi Segarra will have 52 CPAs out of the 95 associates in the combined firm, and will be the third largest independent firm in the Buffalo, N.Y., region.

“The partners of our firm and Domachowski have known each other for quite some time in one way or another,” said Barbara Harmel, sales and marketing manager at Tronconi. “Some of them actually went to school together and some of them started their careers at Price Waterhouse. Over the years we have had the occasion to even work with one another together on various projects where we have teamed up or done a prime contactor/subcontractor type of arrangement. That was the beginning of the evolution of thinking that maybe we would be really good together as a firm.”

Informal discussions began approximately two years ago and became more serious within the past several months.

“This merger is a natural evolution of our firms’ similarity in technical skills, dedication to exceptional client service and desire to offer our clients enhanced services and added value,” Segarra said in a statement. “It’s also a statement about our commitment to being part of the growth of Western New York and wanting to offer CPAs, new accounting graduates and college students seeking an internship enhanced opportunities for a rewarding professional experience working with a great group of clients.”

DKS also sees expanded opportunities from the merger. “The DKS associates are excited about becoming part of a larger firm and interacting with a new group of professionals and clients,” said Domachowski in a statement. “We realized that, by joining forces with Tronconi Segarra & Associates, we would complement one another’s strengths and be able to offer our clients an even more comprehensive and integrated pool of resources, knowledge and experience.”

Tronconi, a tax partner in the firm, said the merger would increase the diversity of the firm’s client group, allowing the professional associates to expand their knowledge bases and expertise. “In the larger sense, our firm and our associates become stronger, all for the benefit of our clients,” he said. “This is another example of our ongoing efforts to provide greater value to our clients.”

Jay Nisberg, a merger specialist who is originally from the Buffalo, N.Y., area but was not personally involved in the Tronconi Segarra-DKS union, noted that “merger mania” is not limited to the large metropolitan cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

“This merger had many national implications,” said Nisberg. “Local CPA practices are combining to enhance their ability to expand the depth of services and to be able to compete in markets that are attracting large regional firms. This merger has significant uniqueness in that it’s combining an all-women firm into a more generic practice, allowing it to expand its attractiveness to untapped opportunities. This particular amalgamation will stretch the imagination of others looking at opportunities in non traditional arenas acknowledging market opportunities not yet pursued in their marketplaces.”

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