BerryDunn:
Finding growth within BY SETH FINEBERG
While firms across the country
are noting growth that many have not seen
for a few years, getting there organically is
another challenge entirely — and that’s just
what BerryDunn was able to accomplish over
the past year.
With continued investment in its staff and
promising client service areas — even during
the downturn — 2011 marked a notable turn
around for the Portland, maine, firm, when
Berry, Dunn, mcneil & Parker rebranded it
self to become BerryDunn and experienced
one of the most significant financial improve
ments in its entire region by posting a 12.7
percent lift in net revenue year over year.
mergers and acquisitions have not histori
cally been a part of the firm’s growth strategy;
even in the darkest of times, the firm chose
to invest in itself and in practice areas that
offered the most potential growth.
“During the recent financial crisis, we were
affected adversely as a whole, but one thing
we did at that time was to invest in and retain
our people. We had no layoffs or upheavals
that tend to happen during a financial crisis,
so we took the opportunity to assess where
we were and how we could help our clients
navigate the challenges and opportunities
during that period,” said managing principal
John chandler. “We found that a few oppor
tunities emerged: government consulting,
particularly around medicaid and health in
formation technology, financial services, and
health care as a whole. We invested in those,
and are on track to grow in those areas.”
With over 200 professionals in eight offices
throughout new england (and one in West
Virginia), BerryDunn is able to offer a full
range of services from audit and accounting
through wealth management.
BOUNCING BACK
chandler stressed that many of its strengths
come from embracing the profession’s watch
word of being a trusted advisor to its clients
— specifically through helping clients gain
perspective and greater control through ac
cess to its seasoned business advisors.
like many firms, BerryDunn
is only recently starting to see
new client growth, and was able
to weather much of the financial
downturn by serving its existing
client base. “When things turned
more positive, we started to see
an increase in traditional servic
es when people started looking
for audit and attest work again.
During that time we also worked
with a branding firm, too, to help us better
communicate our message, so we grew by
helping clients gain control over their biggest
challenges,” said chandler.
BerryDunn is planning to grow in a few ar
eas, mainly via service offerings, rather than
strategic acquisition. consulting services are
the key for the firm, with government con
sulting as one large area of focus. There are
also plans for growth in financial services,
health care and energy consulting.
in addition, BerryDunn is finding that —
much like its own profession — many of its
John Chandler
clients are in need of succession
planning and exit strategies. as
chandler points out, “The dem
ographics are such that they
don’t have anyone to transition
to and the businesses are get
ting older, so we are helping to
preserve wealth.”
ultimately, chandler noted
that while there are always un
knowns — particularly in an
election year — he is confident about the
plans the firm has laid out, as well as in the
overall improvement of the economy and its
impact on business. he has also learned a
great deal from the past. “The best thing for
us has been our ability to get through the past
few years the way we have,” said chandler.
“our firm formed in 1974 when the last great
recession happened, and in some cases it was
worse then. The way we worked through [the
most recent recession] has been a learning
experience the whole way and made us much
stronger as a firm.” at
Kahn, Litwin, Renza:
The importance of people BY ROGER RUSSELL
ALAN LI T WIN, MANAGING DIREC TOR OF
Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd., attributes the
;rm’s success to two things: its people, and
adhering to its ongoing strategic plan.
“Our philosophy has been to treat people
as we would want to be treated,” he said. “;at
means giving them an opportunity for a ca-
reer, not just a job. ;at means making them
part of the success of the ;rm, which means
involving them in the ;rm’s strategy, giving
them good compensation and bene;ts, con-
tinuing education, and always providing an
opportunity for career development.”
At a recent meeting of the AICPA Major
Firms Group, Litwin was surprised to hear
a Big Four partner admit that it budgets for
25 percent sta; turnover every year. “We’re
in the single digits every year, and we con-
sciously strive to keep the turnover low,” he
said. “When we have people here, we want
to keep them.”
;at is why KLR places such great impor-
tance on the hiring process, observed Litwin,
who has seen his ;rm grow from its inception
as a two-partner operation in Providence, R.I.,
in 1983 to its current place as one of the larg-
est regional ;rms in New England. “We have
a totally di;erent philosophy from the ‘up
or out’ practice of some ;rms,” he said. “We
spend a lot of time in the screening process
up front to make sure we get the right people
to begin with, and we want to keep them. We
work very hard to retain them.”
While the recruiting e;ort is aided in part
by an executive search ;rm that is operated
as a separate entity within the ;rm, it’s not the
only approach. “We have a college outreach
program. ;ere were 14 students interning
with us during the busy season, and we have
outreach programs in which students can
work here full-time for a semester, or come
here to work on their o; days.”
As a result of all this, KLR receives numer-
ous unsolicited inquiries about employment.
“We have people who call us and say, ‘I hear
it’s a great place to work.’ We have happy
people here, and they tell their friends.”
STICKING TO THE PLAN
;e second key to the ;rm’s success is faith-
fully adhering to its strategic plan, Litwin in-
dicated. “We keep updating and executing
from our plan,” he said. “It goes back to the
early 1990s. We looked at where we wanted
to be and planned the steps necessary to get
there. We update, revise and execute from the
plan every year.”
Although KLR has grown through acquisi-
tions as well as organically, it did
so in accordance with its overall
plan, Litwin observed. “We take
advantage of opportunities that
come up in the marketplace, but
pretty much keep to the plan and
modify it as opportunities arise,”
he said. “Every single merger was
for strategic reasons, not just for
the sake of a merger.”
KLR has four o;ces, in Provi-
dence and Middletown, R.I., and in Boston
and Waltham, Mass. “We’re not looking to ex-
pand our geographic area,” Litwin said. “Our
future expansion will be within our existing
footprint. We see incredible opportunities in
the greater Boston area — there’s a real void
because of recent national ;rm acquisitions
of our competitors.”
KLR’s emerging leader plan was born both
from its “people” focus and its strategic plan-
ning. “We developed the plan a year ago for
our next generation of leaders,” said Litwin.
“It enables us to have our next generation
in place, and to look to the next generation
beyond that with our 30-year-olds. We see a
dearth of next-generation leaders in the mar-
ketplace, and we decided to develop the plan
to make sure we have a pipeline of leadership.
;e ;rm becomes attractive to
new recruits when they know
we put resources into develop-
ing the next generation.”
KLR has taken advantage of
the opportunities presented
by the economic downturn,
;e ;rm’s niche practices include private
equity, venture capital, health care, technol-
ogy, life sciences, manufacturing and not-for-
pro;ts. It expects its future growth areas to be
in high-net-worth individuals and families,
and with emerging growth companies. “Our
next niche, one that we’ve already started, is
with emerging growth companies,” said Lit-
win. “We’re working with early-stage compa-
nies and helping them get o; the ground.”
Ultimately, KLR de;nes its success by the
success of its clients. “We go to work each
day, every day, to help our clients succeed,”
said Litwin. “We listen, roll up our sleeves
and deliver solutions to help them achieve
their goals.” AT
