When Shirley Levin took a job as a receptionist for Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. 26 years ago she was just the fifth person to join the team. Today the certified public accounting and business-consulting firm employs 160 people, and Levin is director of administration. Times have changed, as has her role at the company, but Levin said the small- firm culture still exists, making it a place people like to come to work.
“When I first started here, I had school-age children and was given flexibility, which made it easy for me to still have a life while working here. The owners here believe it’s important for their employees to be able to have a good balance between work time and life time. That’s part of why people here are happy to come to work every day,” Levin said.
KLR started as a traditional accounting firm in 1975, with services including audits, taxes and accounting. But over time it has branched out to include business & financial consulting, technology and recruiting departments. Managing Director Alan H. Litwin, who joined the firm around the same time Levin did said, “The thing that resonates most about working here is the fact that we treat our employees the way we want to be treated.”
Levin has been at the firm through five mergers. She has seen the firm develop protocol and training classes and build the team to what it is today.
“We’ve changed with the times, but the company’s basic philosophies haven’t changed. We also have a very diverse client base here, which keeps things interesting. We’ve been given [the Best Places To Work] award three times in the past so I think if we weren’t doing something right people wouldn’t be talking about us,” Levin said.
In addition to its Providence location, KLR has offices in Newport, Natick and Boston. It is the accounting firm with the most CPAs in Rhode Island, according to the Providence Business News’ 2009 Book of Lists, as well as one of the largest in Massachusetts. And it was recently recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in New England. Litwin feels the company growth is a direct result of what how KLR manages itself.
“We’ve always worked at treating people well, both clients and employees,” he said.
In addition to a competitive salary and benefits package, education and career opportunities, KLR often goes out of its way to reward hard work for employees. Levin said she’s been treated to a day spa day, a limo to Newport and an occasional extra day off, courtesy of the firm. In the fall the entire group attends a full-day retreat at Ledgemont Country Club at which employees spend the day discussing ideas and enjoying professional camaraderie.
The firm also provides staff with personal health assessments as well as individual and group health programming, just another way it cares for the full character of its employees. •
