CenterState CEO has hired LAUREN DEVENDORFas its new account manager for the Benefit Specialists of NY (BSNY) group. Previously, she served as policy owner services coordinator for Northwestern Mutual where she worked directly with clients to connect them to the company’s services. In addition to her client relations experience, she also brings a diversity of knowledge of the insurance and legal fields. Devendorf is a graduate of SUNY Oswego. She earned degrees in public justice and history.

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JOHN STELMACK, JR. has joined Preferred Mutual Insurance Co. as a liability claims representative. He brings more than 11 years of claims experience to Preferred Mutual, having most recently served in a similar capacity at a national insurance carrier.

Stelmack earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Hartford and a master’s degree in history from Long Island University.

XX JEFFREY SMITH has joined Preferred Mutual Insurance as a senior internal auditor. He previously worked for 21 years as a senior lead auditor at KeyCorp. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Siena College and is a certified internal auditor.

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The Bonadio Group believes it’s “better governance” when the chairman of the board and the CEO are not the same person.

Thomas (Tom) Bonadio, the firm’s founder and CEO, handled both roles “for years” because he founded the company. But as the accounting firm grows, it wants to have “better” checks and balances because the board of directors is responsible for overseeing the CEO.

“If it’s the same person, you don’t have the same checks and balances,” says Bonadio. He spoke with CNYBJ on June 27.

Under the succession plan, Bonadio is “handing over the CEO role in three years.”

Besides the CEO succession, the firm announced that Mario Urso has already assumed the role of chairman of the Bonadio Group’s board of directors, as of May 1.

The firm, which is headquartered in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford, operates Central New York offices in Syracuse, Utica, and Geneva. It describes itself as upstate New York’s “largest independent provider of accounting, consulting, and financial services.”

The firm’s partners voted to have long-time employee Bruce Zicari assume the role of CEO on May 1, 2019. The Bonadio Group on May 1 of this year named Zicari a managing partner of the Rochester office.

Tom Bonadio “will continue to mentor Zicari” over the next three years, the firm said in a June 24 news release.

Leadership team
Bonadio called Zicari the “perfect” person to succeed him as CEO.

“He’s probably in seniority in the top five in the firm. He’s been with us for 25-plus years,” says Bonadio. “He is on the management committee and has been on the management committee, so he’s well aware of how we operate as a firm. And frankly, he knows our partnership agreement better than anybody.”

As a managing partner in the Rochester office, Zicari will work with Bonadio COO Robert Enright to oversee the administration and operation of the Bonadio Group’s headquarters.

In addition, Zicari will continue to lead the firm’s small-business advisory state-wide practice.

As chairman, Urso will lead the Bonadio Group board of directors and set the “strategic” direction for the firm.

In addition to that position, he will still co-lead the firm’s healthcare/tax-exempt practice.

Urso is a “little older” than Zicari, and COO Enright is “about the same age” as Zicari as “40-somethings,” says Bonadio.

“So we see that group being able to run the firm for decades into the future,” he adds.

Not retiring
Bonadio emphasizes he has no plans to retire. “I will stay on with the firm,” he says.

He also has a “couple of very large clients” with which he will maintain a consulting role. Bonadio declined to name the clients. He also anticipates working with the firm’s management on future mergers and acquisitions.

Besides his continued work with the firm, Bonadio is also working to launch a venture-capital fund called Impact Capital.

“We’ve raised about $11 million so far. We need to raise $15 [million] in order to go into business,” says Bonadio.

Growth plans
The Bonadio Group structured its succession plan to coincide with its current, three-year strategic plan, which ends May 1, 2019.

The company wants to grow its revenue to about $135 million annually and expand to about 1,000 employees.

“It’s already a very good size firm but we hope to be about 35 percent larger by the time this transition actually happens,” Bonadio says.

The firm generated revenue of $96 million for fiscal year 2016, which ended on April 30 of this year.

The Bonadio Group is “dating a multitude of firms” around New York state for possible mergers, says the firm’s founder and CEO.

“First dates are general discussions, and by the fifth date, they’re getting a little more detailed as to how those discussions go,” says Bonadio.

He’s not sure if the firm will complete any of those deals during 2016, but the Bonadio Group is “anticipating doing two more mergers” during its three-year strategic plan.

The firm has “definitely targeted” Central New York as one of the areas where it would like to complete another merger, but that might not necessarily mean the immediate Syracuse area.

The Bonadio Group now serves more than 17,000 clients on a “local, national, and international scale,” with an employee base of more than 700 people across New York.

The publication Accounting Today recently recognized the firm as the 38th largest certified public accountant (CPA) firm in the nation, with revenue of about $100 million.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com