When Kevin Gilmore decided to start his own accounting firm in 1996, he and his partners saw an opportunity to serve medium-to-large, privately owned businesses in the Toledo area.
"We felt there was an unserved niche," said Mr. Gilmore, managing partner of Gilmore, Jasion & Mahler Ltd., now headquartered on Indian Wood Circle in Maumee's Arrowhead Park.
A decade later, he said, "we've achieved what we set out to do. We grew from 13 to 75 people [and became] clearly the largest locally owned accounting firm in northwest Ohio."
The firm also does some work for several publicly held companies in the region.
Despite a regional economy that has suffered from recessions and from a shakeout in the automotive industry, the firm has grown every year since its founding, said Mr. Gilmore, who projects its revenue to be about $10 million this year.
"It's definitely a bit of a challenge for businesses in this area, because of high taxes, utility costs, health-care costs, and worker-compensation costs," he said. "But we've been fortunate in adding good clients, we've been aggressive in getting the best people, and many of our clients have grown."
Clients include manufacturing, construction, health-care, and professional-services firms.
Kurt Ohlrich, vice president and chief financial officer of Rowmark Inc. in Findlay, said the plastic products company chose Mr. Gilmore's firm because of its flexibility.
"They're truly responsive, excellent," Mr. Ohlrich said. "From our standpoint, and this I really like, they're business-oriented. They look at our business as if they owned it But the bottom line is: They're very nice people to deal with."
David Alleman, chief of TolTest Inc., a Maumee defense contractor, said, "The work they've done helping us grow our business is fantastic."
For a time, Gilmore, Jasion & Mahler had offices in One SeaGate in downtown Toledo and in Sylvania Township, but it consolidated its operations into Arrowhead two years ago.
It has always done such work as accounting, auditing, tax preparation, and audits of employee-benefits plans. But recently, it has benefited from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a federal law crafted to crack down on corporate fraud, said Adele Jasion, one of its nine partners.
The firm also offers such services as estate planning, management consulting, business valuation, fraud investigation, and cost analyses.
In addition to Mr. Gilmore and Ms. Jasion, the company name stemmed from Andrew
Mahler, another certified public accountant and partner.
About two-thirds of the staff of 75 are CPAs, many from large national accounting firms, such as Steve Schult, a partner who worked at Ernst & Young until two years ago. The local firm has a networking relationship with RSM McGladry Inc., an international consultant based in Minneapolis.
In two years, Gilmore, Jasion & Mahler has nearly filled its 17,000-square-foot headquarters.
Contact Homer Brickey at:
homerbrickey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6129.
Small Business Profile is a weekly feature on local companies. To be considered, send information about your company to Small Business Profiles, Business News, The Blade, P.O. Box 921, Toledo, Ohio 43697-0921.
First Published January 8, 2007, 12:12 p.m.
