In his column in this issue, Paul O’Connor emphasizes that, while TEI rightly prides itself on its conferences, seminars, and courses, the bulk of the Institute’s educational activities occur at the local level. The numbers are impressive: Including regional events held this year in Gatineau (outside of Ottawa) (Region I), Atlantic City (Region II), Hilton Head (Region VII), and Dubai (Region IX), “local” TEI events numbered nearly 600. Indeed, our Houston Chapter alone held more than 50 events, with registrations totalling around 4,000. One meeting — the “Compensation and Benefits” module of the Houston Chapter Tax School — attracted 309 registrants.
Believe it or not, however, that wasn’t the most highly attended chapter event this year. That honor belongs to the Minnesota Chapter, whose 2011 President’s Seminar — a two-day program held in April — garnered a record attendance of 525. When Chapter President Tony Valento called me to report, I had three reactions: (1) Wow! (2) That’s more people than attended the Midyear Conference. (3) I’m sure glad the chapters are part of TEI, because they offer us our toughest competition. My congratulations to the Minnesota, Houston, and all the chapters — and regions — for the exemplary job they do in holding educational events for their members’ benefit.
July 1 marked the beginning of TEI’s membership year, and hence the transition date for chapter officers and other leaders. I offer thanks to last year’s Chapter Presidents, and congratulations to the 56 men and women who have agreed to lead their chapters for the next 12 months. We on the staff fully appreciate that the demands of their “day jobs” are not insubstantial, and we are in awe of the time and energy they have already devoted to TEI. The next time you attend a chapter meeting, I urge you to let them know that you appreciate their efforts, too. Indeed, better than saying “Thank you,” think about saying, “What can I do to help?” In the current business environment, it takes a special person to raise his or her hand to volunteer, but as Paul O’Connor also says in his column, TEI has a lot of extraordinary people in its ranks. Please consider joining them; you’ll be glad you did.
Nashville Chapter
In late April, I was honored to make an ethics presentation to the Nashville Chapter as part of its Spring Seminar. The full-day program was organized by Lee Grubbs of HCA, and it featured excellent presentations by Loren Chumley of KPMG, Karen Boucher of Deloitte Tax, Rick Grafmeyer of Capitol Tax Partners, Torsdon Poon of Ernst & Young, Pilar Mata and Melissa Smith of Sutherland, Susan Seabrook of Skadden Arps, and Mark McCormick of Alvarez & Marsal. My congratulations to Lee for his excellent work, and to Matthew Musso of Symbion, the president of the Nashville Chapter, and Glen Mortensen of HCA, its representative on the Institute’s Board of Directors, for the chapter’s successful year.
The trip to Tennessee gave me an opportunity to have dinner with Bob Ashby of Cracker Barrel, who served as TEI’s International President the year I became Executive Director (2001-2002) and who has been a source of sound advice for nearly two decades. Bob was one of the founders of the Nashville Chapter, and he nodded knowingly when I told him that a couple of members from Memphis had approached me during lunch to talk about starting a chapter there, so tax executives would not have to travel the 200 miles or so to attend chapter meetings. Relaying the story of TEI’s newest chapter in Oklahoma City (which was set to spin off of the renamed Tulsa Chapter on July 1), I told them, “All it takes is for you to raise your hand.” Hearing that story Bob quipped, “That’s what you told me in 1991.”
One disappointment of my visit to the Nashville Chapter was that business compelled Jim Wiseman of Capella Healthcare, the chapter’s Treasurer, to miss the meeting, which denied me the opportunity to present to him the Institute’s 2011 Pro Bono Service Award. (See the story in this issue.) From disappointment, however, springs opportunity: I’ll be going back to Nashville later this year to do the honor.
Portland Chapter
From Nashville, I travelled to Portland, Oregon, for my first chapter visit in well more than a decade. It should not have taken so long for me to return, especially given the truly outstanding Tax Conference the chapter put together. Nearly 100 TEI members and their colleagues attended the all-day meeting, which began with a Washington Update by Jeff Kummer of Deloitte and included presentations by top professionals from Baker & McKenzie, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Morrison & Foerster, and Tonkon Torp. I was especially impressed with the session on Accounting for Income Taxes, which featured partners from all four of the Big 4, who candidly discussed differences among the firms in how they approach specific issues and situations. Also enjoyable was a session entitled “The Oregon Outlook” by Kevin Lynch of Iberdrola Renewables.
My host in Portland was Lori U’ren of the Regence Group, the chapter president, who could not have been nicer. At a dinner for speakers the night before the program, I had the opportunity to visit with Bill Ramirez, a recipient of the Institute’s President’s Award for his work in founding both the European and Asia Chapters, and Wayne Monfries of Nike, former chair of the Institute’s Membership Committee. Special thanks to Ellen McMillan of Cascade Corporation for chauffeuring me from the dinner to my hotel, and to the City of Portland for having Powell’s — the greatest bookstore in the country.
Tri-Chapter Conference
A week later, the Syracuse Chapter hosted the 52nd Tri-Chapter Conference. The Tri-Chapter is held in Rochester each year, but responsibility for the program rotates among the Buffalo-Niagara, Rochester, and Syracuse Chapters. 2011 was the Syracuse Chapter’s turn, and Janice Horwath of Carrols Corporation, the chapter president, and her team of planners did an outstanding job. From an update on New York State matters by Mark Klein of Hodgson Russ and a Washington Update by Peter Merrill of PwC (who was a speaker at the Midyear Conference) to an International Tax Update by Lincoln Terzian of Grant Thornton and Mary (Handy) Hevener’s renowned Compensation and Benefits presentation, the Tri-Chapter Conference maintained its own high standards.
When I addressed the group of nearly 120 people during the luncheon, I reminded them that dollar for dollar and minute for minute, there is no better provider of tax education and networking than TEI. I also had the opportunity to mention the sustained leadership provided by members from the three upstate New York Chapters, including Janice Horwath, Mike Nesbitt of Paychex, Paul Malachowski of National Fuel Gas Company, Jim Foreman of Care-stream Health, Ed Steele of Mark IV Industries, and Ron Maphey of Conmed Corporation. I also had the opportunity to visit with good friends Bill Waldorf (who was kind enough to drive me to the airport) and Steve Friedlander, both of whom have retired from the tax world and yet still find value in the TEI network. (Steve is also a recipient of the President’s Award).
Indiana Chapter
My last chapter visit of the membership year was to Indianapolis, where I had the honor of presenting the Chapter Meritorious Service Award to Vince Akers of Cummins Engines. Vince worked for Cummins for 30 years before retiring in 2010, and he had been an active member of the Indiana Chapter for nearly two decades. A solid, unassuming professional, Vince is a tax executive who has truly “given back” to the profession. For example, he mentored countless other professionals, including his Cummins colleagues Aaron Levenhagen, the chapter’s representative on the Institute’s Board of Directors, and Matt Peters, who will serve as 2011-2012 Chapter President.
Matt planned the May meeting, which featured technical presentations by KPMG professionals on several accounting for income tax issues. As good as the meeting was — and it was excellent — a true highlight of the meeting for me was its venue: Indianapolis Motors Speedway. It was very cool. And then Matt approached me and asked, “I have a couple of track passes. Would you like to take a lap?” Would I? We were driven around the two-mile track by Anders Krohn, a 23-year old Norweigan (nicknamed “The Viking”) who started racing at the age of 8. When we returned to the meeting area for lunch, Matt asked another question: “When you were at Churchill Downs for meeting of the Kentucky Chapter a couple of years ago, did you get to ride one of the horses? I thought not.”
Not only did Matt arrange an excellent meeting at a great location, but he also took me to dinner the night before the meeting and — this seems to be a recurring theme of this column — drove me from my hotel to the Speedway. More important, during the meeting he effectively recognized the efforts of Jeannette Steward of Rolls Royce North America, the chapter’s 2010-2011 president (who, by the way, drove me to the airport!). Matt has a hard act to follow in Jeannette, but like all the extraordinary people in TEI’s leadership positions, I’m sure he’ll do fine.