"Executive Forum: What Do Hosting the Pope and Leading an Accounting Firm Have in Common?"

Public Accounting Report THE INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER OF THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION SINCE 1978

NOVEMBER 2015 | VOLUME XXXIX, NO. 11

IN THIS ISSUE 1 What Do Hosting the Pope and Leading an Accounting Firm Have in Common?

What Do Hosting the Pope and Leading an Accounting Firm Have in Common?

People issues and project management dominate.

3 PAR News Digest 5 Executive Forum: Team Members’ Ideas Yield Growth-Driven Practices 7 People, Firms, and Promotions

January 31, 2016

There’s nothing as exciting as riding behind the Popemobile as the pope kisses a baby, and then seeing the parents’ faces as their baby is handed back to them.

–Robert J. “Bob” Ciaruffoli, partner, office of the CEO, Baker Tilly Bob Ciaruffoli was in the greenroom of a Philadelphia television station in 2012, waiting to appear live on a business program, when the call came.

“I saw it was the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and I figured, ‘OK. This will be harmless,’ so I took the call,” recalled Ciaruffoli, who is a Philadelphia-based partner in the office of the CEO at Baker Tilly. Ciaruffoli was CEO of ParenteBeard before the Philadelphia- and Chicago-based giants merged on Oct. 1, 2014. (See PAR, October 2014.)

“It was the new archbishop of Philadelphia. He asked if I would be willing to serve as president and chairman of the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia,” Ciaruffoli remembered. “My answer was, ‘Absolutely!’ Then, when I went on the air, I found myself focusing 70% on the interview and 30% wondering, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’”

Good question. The answer? Responsibility for hosting the pope, raising $45 million, organizing a convention attended by 22,000 people, planning the Saturday evening Festival of Families (featuring entertainers such as Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli, Latin sensation Juanes and Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg) and arranging a mass led by Pope Francis attended by 1 million people. Other responsibilities: planning private events, as well as ensuring security and mobility for the pope and the public by working closely with the Secret Service, the Vatican, the state of Pennsylvania, the city of Philadelphia and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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“When dealing with that magnitude of people, everything is scaling,” Ciaruffoli told PAR. “There’s no such thing as a small problem.”

The World Meeting of Families, held in a different place around the globe every three years, is a congress of families that offers four days of education to help families cope with today’s society. Ciaruffoli was on the Philadelphia archdiocese’s radar because he’d served on its audit committee during a period of financial turbulence, among his other community service activities. The pope traditionally appears at the World Meeting of Families, but between the time Ciaruffoli received the phone call in the greenroom and the World Meeting of Families earlier this fall, Pope Benedict resigned.

For a while, coordinators of the Philadelphia event weren’t sure whether Pope Francis would continue that tradition, but they planned with the assumption that he would attend.

Also in the interim, Ciaruffoli’s firm, ParenteBeard, merged with Chicago-based Baker Tilly.

“I’d committed to this project before we started even thinking about the merger,” Ciaruffoli told PAR. “Baker Tilly was entirely supportive and funded a major commitment that allowed me to continue my responsibilities to the World Meeting of Families.”

Also in the lead-up to the event, Ciaruffoli visited the Vatican twice and met Pope Francis both times.

Ciaruffoli was at the Philadelphia airport to welcome the pope when he arrived and to send him off when he departed.

He was part of the papal motorcade and accompanied Pope Francis at every Philadelphia event except one.

Pope Francis shakes hands with Robert Ciaruffoli

“It was a global event that people around the world attended and the first World Meeting of Families in the United States or Canada. We had to hire people, and we managed to find amazing talent that was willing to come to work for us, knowing that between September and December 2015, they would be out of a job. Many of them joined knowing their jobs would last less than two years,” he said.

The first full-time people were hired in 2013, and hiring escalated in 2014. Three different event planners were needed to handle the variety of Philadelphia programs. Work continued even after the event, and Ciaruffoli was closing the meeting’s office when PAR interviewed him in October.

“It was a massive project. We created an accounting department. We created a legal department to handle

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING REPORT THE INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER OF THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION SINCE 1978 Editor Julie Lindy julie.lindy@wolterskluwer.com Senior Contributing Editor Bryan Powell bryanpowell.par@gmail.com Contributing Editors Tony Powell tony.powell@wolterskluwer.com Sandra Lim sandra.lim@wolterskluwer.com

Production Editor Craig Arritola Managing Editor Terry Vaughan Coordinating Editor Jim Walschlager

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VOLUME XXXIX, NO. 11

NOVEMBER 2015 | VOLUME XXXIX, NO. 11

contracts and HR. We signed up, trained and deployed 10,000 volunteers. We had approximately 7,000 media people. Of that, approximately 2,000 were from outside the United States. The events were televised around the world. Now I’m the king of minutiae,” Ciaruffoli quipped.

“In a lot of ways, it was a lot like running an accounting firm because everything was about project management.

Project management is at the heart of the accounting business, and it was at the heart of this undertaking,” Ciaruffoli told PAR. “One of things I’m most proud of is the people we hired and how well everybody worked together. It’s no different than an accounting firm or any other business, really. Everybody needs great people. But the life cycle of this ‘business’ was different. One year we were a start-up, the next year we were a thriving business, and the next year

we were going out of business. Each phase lasted basically eight to 10 months.”

Ciaruffoli and his team had no playbook. Information from previous World Meetings of Families was primarily anecdotal. Ciaruffoli, who will retire from the accounting profession in December, now is working to create a codified playbook to pass on to organizers of the next World Meeting of Families, to be held in Dublin in 2018.

Ciaruffoli set forth three goals at the beginning as chairman and president of the event: to have a successful World Meeting of Families, to re-energize the Catholic church in the United States and to promote the Philadelphia region worldwide.

“I knew we were successful when I saw hundreds of thousands of happy faces celebrating being a part of history.” 

PAR News Digest Marcum LLP may love New York, but Chicago is its kind of town, too. The New York-based giant (FY14 net revenue: $375 million; 180 partners, 1,350 total staff; 23 offices) combined with Frost Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, which had offices in Chicago and suburban Deerfield, on Nov. 1. FR&R has FY14 net revenue of $19.6 million, 21 shareholders and principals and 90 professional staff. The transaction marks the first entry into the Midwest market for Marcum. FR&R had industry specialties in healthcare, nonprofits, real estate, homeowner associations, broker dealers, high net worth individuals, construction, manufacturing and distribution, professional services and technology. FR&R CEO Richard Sgarlata became Marcum’s partner-in-charge of the Chicago and Deerfield offices.

“Our strategic focus on the future recognized the logical progression to join forces with a national firm,” Sgarlata said. “The merger … expands our recognized healthcare practice capabilities nationally and brings a wealth of expertise to our corporate clients’ M&A needs and the local private equity marketplace.” Added Allan D. Koltin, CEO of Chicago-based Koltin Consulting Group, which helped facilitate the merger: “Marcum had Chicago in

[its] strategic plan for the past five years but waited until [it] found the perfect firm. Frost had a great reputation in Chicago and had been courted by many national firms in Chicago, as well as others wanting to enter the Chicago market. Frost was one of those unique firms that really didn’t have a succession challenge, but rather chose Marcum for the strategic benefits of growth, greater opportunities for staff and additional resources and services for their clients.”

Type “McGladrey” into your web browser this morning and you’ll get search results leading you to RSM US LLP. The legal name change and rebranding of McGladrey LLP, announced earlier this year, became effective Oct. 26. (See PAR, August 2015.) The move unified the branding of the U.S. firm with global network RSM International. RSM is supporting its branding with a new TV spot, titled “The Gauntlet,” which features a young male professional making a James Bond-worthy run through a variety of hectic and hazardous production, shipping and building sites, finding his way to the rooftop of a tall building, which yields him a long view of

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a cityscape. The ad is running nationally in 15-, 30- and 60-second versions, according to a firm representative, and touts two key RSM tag lines: “Experience ‘The Power of Being Understood’” and “RSM … audit, tax and consulting for the middle market.” The firm also introduced a semi-annual global edition of “The Real Economy.” The firm launched a U.S. version of the same publication in January, which is published monthly except in the months in which RSM publishes the global edition. In addition, the firm is running print ads in several national publications, as well as in business journals in some of the firm’s major markets. RSM is using social media—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube—to support its branding agenda, the firm spokesperson told PAR. RSM US, as McGladrey LLP, posted revenue of more than $1.63 billion for FY15 ending April 30, an 11.3% increase over FY14. (See table, below.) RSM International posted global revenue of just under $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2014, an increase of 18.2% over FY13.

Public Accounting Report

RSM US (as McGladrey LLP) Revenue ($M)

FY15

FY14

Assurance

642.8

594.8

Tax

603.0

535.4

12.6

Consulting

372.9

313.9*

18.8

18.2

26.6*

-31.6

Other Total

1,636.9

1,470.7

% Chg. 8.1

11.3

Editor's Note: Figures are for fiscal years ending April 30. *Restated for comparability to current year.

Source: Firm data, PAR analysis

Eide Bailly (FY15 net revenue: $220 million; 237 partners, 1,633 total staff; 27 offices) merged in Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Beckman & Kunkin, a firm that also had a Phoenix location, effective Nov. 2. B&K shareholders Howard Beckman and Adam Kunkin and the firm’s staff joined Eide Bailly. The deal gives EB two Phoenix locations and increases its Arizona staffing to 72. “Beckman & Kunkin will bring even more depth to our real estate and tax practices in the valley, as well as firmwide,” said Andy Spillum, partner-in-charge of EB’s Phoenix office. It’s been a busy summer and fall for EB. The firm added James & Co. Business Advisors, based in Ogden, Utah, also effective Nov. 2.

(See PAR, September 2015.) In August, EB added Salesforce® software capabilities to its technology consulting practice with the addition of cloud computing consulting firm Kyazma Business Consulting of Lehi, Utah. In June, the firm merged in Sartain Fischbein & Co./Tulsa, Okla., adding six partners and 32 staff members. (See PAR, August 2015.)

Public Accounting Report

Eide Bailly FY15

FY14

FY13

FY12

Revenue ($M)

220

192

171

158

Partners

234

210

195

165

1,619

1,447

1,299

1,181

27

24

22

20

Total Staff Offices

Editor's Note: Figures are for fiscal years ending April 30.

Source: Firm data, PAR analysis

Citrin Cooperman/New York (projected FY15 net revenue: $175 million; 144 partners, approximately 650 total staff) added the partners and staff of Joel Popkin & Co./New York, a boutique firm that specialized in restaurants, night clubs and event venues. CC announced the deal on Oct. 28; it was effective Nov. 1.

Approximately 25 professionals joined CC. Roy Tumpowsky, managing partner of Joel Popkin & Co., joined CC’s Nick Florio and Stacy Gilbert as co-chairs of CC’s restaurant and hospitality practice. Other industry specializations for Popkin included construction, real estate, trusts and nonprofit organizations and high-net-worth individuals. CC expects the addition to push annual revenue beyond $190 million.

In September, the firm merged with Bethesda, Md.-based Regardie, Brooks & Lewis. (See PAR, September 2015.) The firm also took steps recently to bolster its Plainview, N.Y., office. In September, Michael Sabatini was named managing partner of the office. Sabatini, a Long Island resident, spent more than 17 years at Grant Thornton/New York, including almost seven years as an audit partner and was co-audit practice leader. CC partners Corey Bell and Marc Sonnenberg, as well as other CC staff, relocated to the Plainview office.

Mountjoy Chilton Medley (MCM CPAs & Advisors), headquartered in Louisville, Ky., will merge with Cincinnati-based Cooney Faulkner & Stevens, effec-

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tive Jan. 1. CF&S will become MCM CPAs & Advisors at that time. MCM (36 partners, 19 principals, nearly 300 total staff) posted revenue of $39.1 million for the FYE December 2014. MCM Managing Partner Diane Medley told the business journal Louisville Business First that the deal enables the firm to expand its existing presence in Cincinnati, where it has had an office for 15 years. CF&S has four partners and, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, is the 20th largest firm in Cincinnati, with 13 CPAs. MCM will move 10 employees into CF&S’s existing office, where it currently has a staff of 20, according to the Courier.

Medley told Louisville Business First that MCM also hopes to expand into Indianapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; and western Kentucky. Cincinnati has been an active M&A market in recent years: BDO USA merged with SS&G, effective Jan. 1; McGladrey LLP (now RSM US) acquired Battelle Rippe Kingston on Nov. 1, 2014; and Clark Shaefer Hackett, the largest non-Big Four firm in the market, acquired J.D. Cloud & Co. on July 1, 2014. (Sources: Louisville Business First, Cincinnati Business Courier)

Grant Thornton reported revenue of $1.45 billion for its fiscal year ending July 31, a 6.9% increase over FY14’s $1.35 billion. The firm reported double-digit growth rates in two industry groups, Consumer & Industrial Products, and Energy and Financial Services. Each of GT’s industry groups grew in FY15, according to the firm, and “organic growth ... was strong across all businesses,” but the firm denied PAR’s request for specific growth rates by industry or service line.

Firms of all sizes are invited and encouraged to participate in the 2015 Accounting MOVE Project, an annual survey that monitors women’s career track issues in the profession. Registration is open at www. wilson-taylorassoc.com. The MOVE Project is supported

by Seattle-based Moss Adams, national sponsor New York-based CohnReznick, and administrative fees from participating firms. Public Accounting Report is the project’s media partner and neither provides nor receives financial support associated with The MOVE Project. Look for survey results in PAR in spring 2016. 

Executive Forum

Team Members’ Ideas Yield Growth-Driven Practices Sometimes, the best ideas don’t come from the top. Team members at every level often come up with inspired and profitable ideas that speak to firm strategy as well as to the bottom line. This month, firm leaders tell PAR about great ideas that originated with staff members, how the firms recognized the value of those ideas and implemented them, and what growth and expansion potential exists as a result.

Richard Berkowitz

Richard Berkowitz, CEO and director-in-charge of management consulting, Berkowitz Pollack Brant/Miami (FY14 net revenue: $50 million; 20 partners; 200 total staff; three offices): About three years ago, Larry Bernstein, a senior manager in our

tax department who has a passion for process improvement, identified an alternative to QuickBooks called Xero. This product offered real-time financial information in the cloud and mobile [applications]. Larry conducted research and created a business plan to roll out this mobile product to existing firm clients, and more importantly, new prospects who may not be ready for our services but needed basic accounting and bookkeeping. The value proposition was the mobile, real-time access and monthly advisory sessions with our experienced CPAs. The advisory services were scalable and could be increased as clients’ business needs changed and grew. QuickBooks created a comparable product not long after Xero began gaining traction. We find that clients are familiar with the QuickBooks software and appreciate the cloud-based, real-time access. The firm encouraged Larry, invested in the concept by hiring people and served as an advisory board for

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his efforts. The original concept of small business accounting focused on physicians. The services and pricing have evolved as we better understand the market; however, we have offered the online product to existing clients to extremely positive reviews. The business line went from a simple mobile accounting concept to a more sophisticated approach because of the demand. We’ve learned that it is not easy to launch a new product line—flexibility is crucial. In the three years we have been working on this project, now called Accounting Intel, we’ve learned to refocus and measure success. We believe cloud accounting with the added benefit of advice and guidance is a service line that has a future and will open us to new clients. We will grow and attract new clients to the firm. Our firm prides itself on continually striving to leverage technology, enhancing our clients’ experience, keeping information secure and providing new revenue streams.

Lee Beall, CEO, Rea & Assoc./ Dublin, Ohio (FY14 net revenue: $33.2 million; 40 partners; 215 total staff; 11 offices): Rea & Assoc. created a service offering for oil and gas landowners (Four Pillars Wealth Enhancement), which originated with an idea from Lee Beall Scott Moyer, a senior manager on our oil and gas team in our Zanesville, Ohio, office. While he was meeting with landowners in southeastern Ohio, Scott noticed they were being underserved from an accounting standpoint. He wanted to serve these clients beyond tax compliance and created the Four Pillars, which are (1) income tax compliance for all landowners’ streams of income: lease bonuses, pipeline easements and royalties; (2) asset protection: moving mineral rights into an LLC and out of their personal names; (3) transfer of wealth/estate planning: through the LLC, landowners can gift units of the LLC to their families, and their estate tax and estate planning situations are also monitored; and (4) royalty auditing to ensure they are being paid correctly from the oil and gas companies. Since developing this service, Scott has grown his client base by meeting one on one with landowners and his network of referral sources. Since launching this service in early 2015, about 40 of Rea’s 100 oil

and gas landowner clients have signed up for the Four Pillars approach. Beyond selling this to our remaining landowner clients, there is a tremendous opportunity to grow this service in southeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

John J. Mackel III, managing partner and CEO, Weaver/Fort Worth, Texas (FY15 net revenue: $95.1 million; 76 partners; 531 total staff; eight offices): The most recent great idea that Weaver has implemented, thanks to a suggestion from a staff memJohn J. Mackel III ber, is investing in and incorporating business development in all levels of practice-staff training.

Throughout the year, [training sessions] are held for practice staff for level I, level II, level III, manager and leadership.

Weaver invited a well-respected sales trainer to teach attendees the tactics, tools and best practices to use in business development. Those who have attended the training so far have left with information they could immediately implement into their ongoing contact with current clients, prospects and referral sources. Additional [training sessions] have been scheduled for this year. We believe this business development training will impact Weaver’s growth and expansion in the future, and we will continue to implement business development and related soft-skills [development] going forward.

Joe D. Havens, executive partner, Horne LLP/Ridgeland, Miss. (FY14 net revenue: $73.3 million; 35 partners; 520 total staff; 12 offices): We’ve added many things at Horne based on team members’ ideas. However, one of the most profound things that comes to Joe D. Havens mind dates back to 2013, when our 500-plus team members collaborated to begin solving our flexibility problems. Like every firm, we saw flexibility as the No. 1 issue facing our profession and our team. So we threw out all of our formal career balance arrangements and destroyed our old “flex policies.” We used a cloud-based

NOVEMBER 2015 | VOLUME XXXIX, NO. 11

collaboration module to create a first-ever, one-of-a-kind philosophy about Horne’s approach to flexibility. No more policies—just a guiding philosophy we call “Fearless Unrivaled Flexibility,” one the entire firm literally wrote together focused on changing how we work. Teams are empowered to integrate life and career. Now, two years later, we are learning how to live our “Fearless Unrivaled Flexibility Philosophy” and daily getting even better. It’s a journey together.

Timothy J. McPoland

Timothy J. McPoland, managing director and CEO, Freed Maxick, Buffalo, N.Y. (FY15 net revenue: $43.8 million; 38 partners; 268 total staff; four offices): This year we added [the position of] professional development officer to the firm, filled by

Assurance Senior Manager Janice Moceri, who focuses on professional development, career counseling, mentoring and training of employees. The director group had employee retention and development high on their radar that coincided with staff feedback through internal communication initiatives, which solidified the need. We chose Janice because of her passion for mentoring others, listening, communication skills and industry knowledge.

Early on, Janice hit the ground running by implementing new onboarding procedures and several professional development and career counseling programs. The overwhelmingly positive response from employees thus far reinforces that it is a “win-win” and that we’re moving in the right direction. The more we continue to grow and hire new employees, it is reassuring that we have Janice focusing on their key needs. We foresee expansion of this position in the future. 

PEOPLE, FIRMS, AND PROMOTIONS Anchin, Block & Anchin, based in New York, admitted Raphy Soussan as a partner and Marc Nadritch as a director. Soussan is a commercial audit partner. Nadritch is a director in the private equity practice.

BKR International admitted Pratapkaran Paul & Co. of Chennai, India.

Carl Chatto was tapped to succeed Eleanor “Ellie” Baker as managing principal of Baker Newman Noyes, based in Portland, Maine. He takes on the new role Jan. 1. Chatto currently is a principal and director of audit. Baker, a founder of the firm, plans to retire in June.

Joseph Kask will succeed Carl Johnson as managing partner of BlumShapiro, based in West

Hartford, Conn., effective Jan. 1.

Kask joined the firm in 2007 through its merger with Scully & Wolf, based in Glastonbury, Conn. He currently serves as leader of the firm’s government services group and office managing partner for the West Hartford office. After 14 years at the helm, Johnson will become COO and focus on internal operations, M&A and key talent acquisition.

Bober Markey, based in Akron, Ohio, named Karyn Sullivan as COO and Tod Wagner as managing partner of the firm’s Cleveland office.

Both positions are new.

CBIZ and Mayer Hoffman McCann welcomed Dora Dvir and Roxanne Guerrerio as managing directors in the New York office.

Dvir is a managing director in the MHM audit practice and works with middle-market companies in the consumer and financial services industries. Guerrerio is a managing director in the tax practice and focuses on middle-market companies within the apparel/consumer products group.

CPAConnect, a Gainesville, Fla.-based companion association of CPAmerica International, welcomed six new members. They are Dawson & Assoc., based in Encino, Calif.; Ehlen Heldman & Co., based in Indianapolis; Hungerford Vinton, based in Rochester, N.Y.; Krikorian & Co. based in Fresno, Calif., Reddon, Koehn & Assoc., based in Riverton, Wyo.; and Woodall Group, based in Knoxville, Tenn.

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Dixon Hughes Goodman, based in Charlotte, N.C., welcomed Seth Davis, Jennifer George and Thomas (Tom) Kremer as partners. Davis is a tax advisory partner in its Tysons, Va., office. Previously, he was a senior manager at EY. Jennifer George joined DHG as a partner in the Professional Standards Group and is based in Charlotte. She will focus primarily on SEC services.

Previously, she was a partner at Springfield, Mo.-based BKD LLP and is an alumnus of Deloitte. Kremer is a tax partner in the Raleigh, N.C., office. Previously, he was with Salix Pharmaceuticals. He will focus on growth companies in the technology and life science sectors.

Atlanta-based Frazier & Deeter welcomed Clint Mock as a partner and leader of the firm’s National Entertainment and Digital Media Industry Practice. Mock previously was with Atlanta’s Mock & Assoc., a firm he founded in 2009 that specialized in audits and attestation for film industry projects.

to joining the firm, Silvio was a managing director at CBIZ MHM in Irvine. He previously was a tax partner at McGladrey.

National Director of Assurance Services. She succeeded John Keyser, who left the firm to pursue his Ph.D. in accounting.

Carl S. Carande succeeded U.S. Chairman and CEO Lynn Doughtie as vice chair of advisory at KPMG. Laura Newinski was named the firm’s vice chair of operations, and Mike Nolan is the new vice chair of Innovation & Enterprise Solutions.

Tandra Jackson succeeded Bud Giesinger as managing partner of the firm’s Houston office.

Previously, she focused on the firm’s healthcare, energy, tech and IT practices in Houston.

Wayne Kamenitz joined Mitchell & Titus/New York, the largest minority-controlled professional services firm in the U.S., as executive director overseeing the firm’s employee benefits practice. He was most recently EY’s Human Capital Talent & Reward Regulatory Risk & Compliance Service line leader.

Marks Paneth, based in New York, named John N. Evans as partnerin-charge of the firm’s New Jersey office, located in Parsippany.

New York-based WeiserMazars welcomed Gregory K. Black as a partner in the tax practice. He is based at the firm’s headquarters.

Previously, he was a director in the Private Wealth Services Group at Grant Thornton. The firm also admitted seven new equity partners and one equity principal. They are Richard Bloom (private client services /Edison, N.J.), Dennis Cancellarich (tax and accounting/ Woodbury, N.Y.), Ira Cooperman (audit/Woodbury), Jerome Devillers (financial advisory services/New York), Pierre-Marie Lagnaud (financial advisory services/New York), George Parker (assurance services /Fort Washington, Pa.) and Anthony Stranix (insurance audit/ Fort Washington). Debra Bornstein (healthcare/New York) was named equity principal. 

Julie Lamey was named partnerin-charge of Chicago-based Grant Thornton’s new office in Jacksonville, Fla. The office opened Sept 25. Before taking on the new role, Lamey spent more than two decades at Deloitte, where she was a director in the Jacksonville office.

Atlanta-based Mauldin & Jenkins admitted seven new partners. They are Bob Heuel (tax/Atlanta); James Bence (government/Atlanta); Matt Hill (public services/Chattanooga, Tenn.); Dianne Kopczynski (financial institutions, education, not-for-profit and employee benefits plans/Bradenton, Fla.); Christian Bennett (accounting and consulting/Chattanooga); Carl Garner (tax/Atlanta); and David Irwin (accounting/Macon, Ga.).

Hall & Co., based in Irvine, Calif., welcomed Michael S. Silvio as director of tax services. Prior

Sara Lord, a partner in McGladrey’s National Professional Standards Group, was named

PrimeGlobal welcomed two new member firms: LSL of Brea, Calif., and Piascik of Richmond, Va.