1. What are your proudest accomplishments from your time at KLR?
I am very fortunate to have led and been part of KLR’s success these past 40 years, but I share in these accomplishments with a great leadership team, both past and present. Some of the most notable milestones are growing KLR from a two-person firm in 1983 to a 280-plus-person firm today; recognitions, including the 80th-largest accounting firm in the U.S., a “Best of the Best” firm in 2021 and 2022, and a “Best Place to Work” for 16 years; and opening of offices in Boston, Waltham, [Mass.], and Lausanne, Switzerland.
2. How has the industry changed over the course of your leadership and how did you adapt to these changes?
Technology has changed everything. KLR has always been way ahead of the curve, and it allowed us to seamlessly go virtual in March 2020. We have continued to evolve by adopting a hybrid work environment that works incredibly well for our team and our clients.
3. What do you see as the biggest hurdles facing the industry, and KLR specifically?
Hiring and retaining top talent is first and foremost. We have been providing training through KLR University and developing our people with technical and soft skills. We are also hiring people with different skill sets and from different backgrounds. Artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are also having a significant impact on the accounting profession. KLR will need to be proactive and be leaders in deploying these technologies, which has been our modus operandi for more than 40 years.
4. Many local accounting firms have merged into larger regional, national and international firms in “upward mergers” in recent years. Do you see the loss of local ownership as a disadvantage for Rhode Island businesses or a benefit, and why?
The merger trend has greatly helped us and our clients. With all decision-making done locally, we can quickly deliver the highest-level services in a time frame that our clients need in a cost-effective manner.
5. Looking back, is there anything that you wish you would have done differently?
Even though we have grown steadily, I would have looked to have grown our advisory businesses more aggressively. Envision Technology Advisors [LLC], KLR Executive Search [Group LLC], KLR Outsourcing and KLR Wealth Management [LLC] are all booming now and poised to take off. If we had made more acquisitions in those lines of businesses sooner, we would be even more successful in those areas today.
