With more than 20 years of public accounting experience, Dirk joins AGP as a tax principal and national restaurant practice lead. Dirk’s expertise consists of servicing restaurants, including breweries and wineries, and other industries such as distribution, construction, and professionals in the service sector. A frequently requested presenter, Dirk provides business owners within the food industry best practices for tax planning, accounting, and most recently, navigating the changes brought on by the pandemic for restaurant owners. He has also provided extensive consulting services to assist his clients with improving profitability and performance by utilizing benchmarking and related metrics, developing more streamlined accounting systems and other best practices from the restaurant industry and identifying tax-saving opportunities. Dirk holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Michigan State University. He is an active member of the AICPA, ILCPAS, and Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. He also served on the Advisory Council of the Illinois Restaurant Association and was Past President of the Food and Beverage Equipment Executives. He shares his experience and knowledge of the industry as an Adjunct Professor in the Manfred Steinfeld School of Hospitality at Roosevelt University in Chicago.