The Next 100 Years of Excellence

By Joseph A. Forlenza, CPA

It is an honor and a pleasure to serve this great CPA profession—of which I am a very proud member—in the capacity of chapter president. As a CPA with a tax practice, I had the pleasure of serving people’s financial needs as a tax adviser. The experience I accrued in my accounting practice has served me well as a trusted adviser in my current position as a retirement-focused financial planner. It has been through CalCPA and other professional associations that I have been able to develop professionally and better serve the needs of my clients and grow my practice. It is with this commitment to service and professional development that I hope to lead the chapter into the next 100 years of excellence.

It has been 100 years since CalCPA has been serving its diverse and talented members as a nonprofit corporation. So please remember to register for the Centennial Gala being held June 19 at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. This celebration promises to be a worthwhile and elegant event.

I am excited to help lead the chapter as it moves forward into the next phase of its development. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Cindy Holcomb, our new program associate, and welcome back Maria Nazario as our program director. Additionally, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Carmen Conrady and Gary Hammond for serving the chapter this past year as program associate and program director, respectively.

I also would like to express my gratitude to Marlene Thudium on her contributions and leadership during the past year as chapter president. Marlene got the chapter focused on financial literacy and the 150-hour legislative initiative. These are two important issues that I look forward to continuing to work on during this coming year. In fact, I feel that financial literacy and accounting education are two essential areas in which CalCPA is uniquely qualified to lead and contribute to both the profession and the public at large.

With regard to the 150-hour rule, I would be remiss if I did not mention the stupendous job the students from our local colleges and universities did in getting our state legislators to take notice of what students have to say in support of this initiative. These students took the time to go to Sacramento and visited locally with legislators. They clearly and precisely expressed their concerns and needs as students getting ready to enter the accounting profession. They made it clear that they had no interest in graduating with a degree that leaves them viewed as being substandard practitioners by the majority of other states. These students recognize that today’s business environment is global, competitive and demanding of skills that allow them a broader understanding and knowledge base so they can effectively understand, communicate and advise on their clients’ rapidly evolving business needs. Both Sharon Lightner and Tom Dalton have done an excellent job of leading this effort, and I would like to thank them both.

I look forward to a fun and productive year, and I am excited to work with such a great group of people and outstanding professionals on this year’s board of directors.

As a reminder to our local chapter members, please mark your calendar for the joint CalCPA and San Diego County Bar Association mixer being held on Wednesday, June 3, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Please consider coming out to meet some fellow practitioners and mingle with some local attorneys. I think this will be an excellent opportunity to build relationships and develop professional ties across our professions. Check it out and register online.
— Joseph A. Forlenza, CPA

This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 7:08 am and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.