July 2001

Society's New Chapters Hit the Ground Running, and How!

By Simon Eskow

The distance between Elmira and Binghamton is about 57 miles, a hefty hike even as the crow flies. But that doesn’t matter so much now for Nancy Kirby, who lives and works in Elmira.

“Especially over the last 10 years or so, we CPAs in the area have been saying we should get together more often, but there’s been nothing close,” said Kirby. The Elmira resident used to trek to Binghamton to participate in New York State Society of CPAs meetings for the Southern Tier Chapter, but now she is involved in a chapter much closer to home—the Central Southern Tier Chapter. “Now we are going to do it,” said Kirby, the first president of the new chapter.

Those few words could be the motto for the Society’s six new chapters that officially launched on June 1—the fruit of a three-year initiative to better serve CPAs dispersed across a state roughly the size of Nicaragua. Inspired by the new chapter steering committees as well as guidance from the Society’s staff, chapter leaders have sketched plans—ranging from social networking events and continuing professional education—to make new chapters work for the CPAs in their communities.

Efforts by the new chapters— Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan/Bronx, Rockland, Adirondack and Central Southern Tier—appear likely to elicit more participation among CPAs who previously worked or lived too far away from a chapter to be effective members.

“I was a big advocate of the addition of the new chapters,” said NYSSCPA Vice President G. William Hatfield. “There have been a multitude of black holes around the state—including the little isle of Manhattan! I’m sure there will be increased membership and involvement as a result of the new chapters.”

Edward Torres, president of the Queens Chapter, said he wanted his chapter to have a “grass roots” effect. “My personal goal for tenure as a president is to lay a foundation; I’d rather do more with less,” Torres said.

With meetings tentatively scheduled for every third or fourth week, the chapter plans to host professional “mixers,” hold routine tax updates at the beginning of each year, distribute a newsletter to prospective members, and invite speakers from other professions to discuss the importance of networking.

“We’re off and running,” said Myrna Fischman, president of the Brooklyn Chapter. “We already have the schedule for the year: when we’re running our CPEs, our seminars, our dates.”

The Brooklyn Chapter currently is meeting twice a month, in addition to a scheduled dinner meeting, with which the chapter hopes to reach out to small practitioners who are concentrated in Brooklyn. “Part of the problem for the small practitioner is he or she is all alone. So we want to give them opportunities for possible relationships,” said Philip Wolitzer, the Brooklyn Chapter’s representative to the statewide board of directors.

“Our plan is to come up with programs that will offer more possibilities for networking. Networking among ourselves as members but also networking with other professional organizations,” said William Aiken, president of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter.

The Manhattan/Bronx Chapter’s activity committee is considering plans for social events at the New York Stock Exchange, in conjunction with groups like the state bar association. One of the events on the chapter’s “wish list” is a Society-sponsored political debate among the city’s five mayoral candidates, Aiken said.

“You have to look at this as an opportunity; the state Society is strongly supporting this effort, so it’s hard to go wrong,” said David Evangelista, president of the Rockland Chapter.

The chapter recently held two brainstorming sessions to find out what local members wanted. The most common issues addressed were recruiting and networking. Beginning with their organizational meeting, the chapter, like the other five, is looking to whip up interest among members in the geographic area, already arranging for a social function in September, Evangelista said.

“We want to get the people involved, get the chapter to grow, and see what direction it goes then,” said the Rockland Chapter president.

These goals are especially difficult to accomplish in a chapter like Adirondack, which covers Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and Warren counties.

“It’s a big geographic area, so it’s a special challenge,” said Barbara Dwyer, Adirondack’s first chapter president. “But the feeling is, we’ve had two meetings of people who’re ready to get this started.”

With a core leadership representing sole practitioners and industry CPAs, Dwyer said the chapter would benefit through pooling resources and creating a dialogue, while addressing issues such as recruitment, the Uniform Accountancy Act, and other timely topics. And in a chapter that reaches north to the Canadian border, the ideas of CPE seminars and revolving meeting locations have already gained support.