A YEAR OF MAKING WAVES
INTERNALLY TO BETTER
SERVE OUR CLIENTS
At Rea, we refuse to sit back and ride the waves. We’re wave-
makers. We take innovative and thoughtful steps to move our
firm forward.
Over the last year, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work
implementing the ins-and-outs of The Rea Advantage, the
firm’s strategic plan and compass for growth. Our accom-
plishments directly reflect our efforts. We became razor
focused on our people who, in turn, went above and beyond
to serve our clients. Collectively, our hard work enabled us to
grow many facets of our business.
CEO Don McIntosh (left) stands with Rick Lash,
president of Rea's Northeast Ohio region.
Here’s a few ways we made waves in 2017:
We became a stronger practice. In addition to strong
organic growth, Rea & Associates merged with the Cleve-
land-based firm, Walthall CPAs, on Nov. 1, 2017, to create
a single, stronger practice with more than 300 profession-
als serving clients across our 13 Ohio offices. By uniting our
compatible cultures, traditions of service and stewardship,
and most importantly, the client-focused way we conduct
business, we’ve created a bright future ahead for the firm.
We restructured for our team and clients. Perhaps
just as significant as our merger was Rea’s launch of our new
organizational structure. We strategically placed some of our
proven leaders and change makers at the helm of our four
newly designated regions. Equity principals Mark McKinley,
Chad Bice, Kyle Stemple and Rick Lash lead the charge
in each Ohio region. Mark heads up our West Central team;
Chad leads the Southeast; Kyle leads our East Central region;
and Rick, with his experience as Walthall’s former managing
partner, is growing Rea’s business in the Northeast. They’re
focused on the development of our people, enhancing the
client experience and driving revenue. Already, this structure
has positively impacted collaboration and communication
among our teams to strengthen client service.
We helped our clients grow. Throughout the year,
partners held deep-dive discussions with their clients to inquire
about business needs or issues. Client opportunity plans, de-
signed to solve clients’ biggest challenges with Rea’s services
and guidance, were developed. The driving force behind client
opportunity plans is to understand what clients need to move
the needle forward for their business. We’re focused on iden-
At Rea, we refuse to sit back and
ride the waves. We’re wave-makers.
We take innovative and thoughtful
steps to move our firm forward.
tifying this solution before they ask for it. As
trusted advisors, if we don’t provide the right
solution or service to meet the client’s need,
we’ll refer them to an expert who does.
We’ve received great feedback from clients
who appreciate this intentional investment
of our time and talent to strengthen relation-
ships and proactively support their business.
These plans will propel the success of our
firm forward, as we differentiate ourselves
in the industry. We grow so our clients can
grow. In 2018 we’ll expand client opportunity
plans to more relationships, and we’ll contin-
ue to grow the program each year.
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