A large Triad accounting firm has made a calculated move to the coast.
Greensboro-based firm Bernard Robinson & Co. LLP (BRC) recently opened an office in Wilmington, the firm announced in a news release.
“BRC has been strategically looking at many new markets over the past year including several where BRC already has a sizable client base,” the release stated. “One of the areas has included the Wilmington, NC market.”
Having an office at the coast is a real plus in another respect, BRC CEO Alisa Moody said Wednesday. It allows members of the firm to enjoy visiting – or even living at – the coast while serving their clients.
"It gives them that opportunity to find that dream location without leaving the firm they love," she said. "A few have already expressed an interest in moving."
BRC partner Tracey Flynn Martin has already taken that step, relocating to Wilmington to head up the office, located at 1213 Culbreth Drive, Suite 139. It provides a working space for about a dozen CPAs who travel here regularly to serve BRC’s roughly 100 existing clients in the area, Moody said.
Another factor in BRC's decision to open a Wilmington office is the access it provides to the University of North Carolina Wilmington, she added.
BRC participated in "Meet the Firm Day," held Aug. 27 on the UNCW campus. The annual event, conducted at many university business schools around the country, gives accounting firms an opportunity to connect with students interested in accounting and related services.
"It's a first step, a chance to introduce the firm to students before the interviewing and application process starts," Moody said, adding that BRC recruits many of its interns from those events. "We love interns and proximity to the university helps us identify good candidates. There's nothing better to get a student interested in public accounting. We had about 15 across the entire firm last year, would love to have more this year."
“Our firm continues to grow, so our entry-level recruiting goals have been to add a minimum of 10 new staff each year,” she said. “But as we just closed our fiscal year-end of May 31, 2021, with a 15% increase in revenue, that number will likely increase as for the upcoming recruiting season.”
Founded in 1947, BRC is a Certified Public Accountant and advisory firm that serves middle-market companies, private companies, not-for-profit organizations, small businesses, individuals and government entities, according to the release.
The firm also serves clients in specific industry sectors across the state, the Southeast and the nation. It was listed as one of Business North Carolina’s “Best Employers in North Carolina 2021.”
Overall, BRC has more than 185 employees, and the Wilmington office is its eighth. In addition to its Greensboro headquarters, BRC has two locations in Charlotte, and one each in Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Dunn and North Wilkesboro.
