Apple Growth Partners

Apple Growth Partners Announces Promotions, Top 300 Consecutive Ranking

AKRON, Ohio – (August 12, 2021) – Apple Growth Partners (AGP), award-winning accounting and business advisory firm, has announced staff promotions effective July 1. Six employees earned career advancement due to their commitment to the firm’s clients, including three members of the firm’s business valuation department.

Business valuation department:

Bethany (Dria) Lawrence, ASA, manager
Eric Flickinger, CPA, ABV, senior manager
Matthew J. Silla, ASA, CFA, principal

Tax department:

Morgan McLaughlin, senior associate
Andrew Tucker, senior associate
Kenneth Banchek, CPA, senior manager

“Our employees’ promotions are a direct result of their hard work and commitment to excellence, especially during the ongoing pandemic,” says Chuck Mullen, chairman. “Particularly within our business valuation department, three staff promotions is a monumental success for the world-class service provided by our employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) and litigation team.”

The six staff appointments indicate the start of the firm’s new fiscal year, expanding services to clients outside of Northeastern Ohio with the transition to a remote workforce earlier in 2020. Effective September 1, 2021, AGP will activate an internal strategy known as “AGP Anywhere,” empowering employees to determine their work location along with their manager. Staff members can select to work remotely, in one of three offices, or a hybrid of both. The groundbreaking AGP Anywhere is one-of-its-kind in the accounting industry and positions the firm to attract new talent outside of Ohio while promoting employee retention by embracing the future of where employees choose to work.

“Our solution to the workforce’s underlying adaptation during the pandemic is what we’re calling AGP Anywhere, which is recognizing professionals want to have a say where they work best,” comments Erica Ishida, president.

In addition to the staff promotions, the firm is also celebrating being named a 2021 IPA 300 Firm, as announced by INSIDE Public Accounting. This is the fifth consecutive year the firm has been recognized as a Top 300 Firm, identifying the top U.S. accounting firms based on participating firm’s net revenues. As the leader in data collection for the CPA industry, IPA received a 92% return rate from participating firms.

About Apple Growth Partners

Apple Growth Partners (AGP) is an award-winning accounting and business advisory firm with more than 77 years of creative solutions that deliver healthy, sustainable growth. AGP offers a full range of services for privately held businesses, including tax planning and compliance, audit and assurance, business valuation, litigation consulting, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), fraud prevention and detection, family office services for High-Net-Worth individuals, and transaction advisory. With more than 100 employees, AGP collaborates with business owners and partners across Ohio and beyond, extending client services through a remote workforce in 2020 while maintaining office locations in Akron, Canton, and Cleveland. AGP’s professionals provide expertise in additional industries and services, such as employee benefit plans, bookkeeping, auto dealerships, manufacturing, construction and real estate, and Black-owned businesses. To learn more, visit http://www.applegrowth.com.