17 Professionals Join Brown Smith Wallace from Bergman, Schraier & Co.
01.14.2016
Firm additions include two partners, four principals and two managers
(ST. LOUIS, January 14, 2016) Brown Smith Wallace welcomes 17 professionals, including nine CPAs, to its Entrepreneurial Services and Audit practices. The professionals joined the firm from Bergman, Schraier & Co., which merged into Brown Smith Wallace on January 1, 2016. The additions include the following two partners, four principals and two managers in the firm’s management team:
 | Ira H. Bergman, CPA: Bergman joins Brown Smith Wallace as Partner, Entrepreneurial Services Group. Ira was named "CPA of the Year" in 2000 by the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA), St. Louis chapter. As a leading CPA spokesperson, Bergman has provided testimony on tax-related issues before the IRS and the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on commerce. He has headed the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Tax Practice and Procedures Committee and the AICPA Taxpayers’ Rights Task Force, as well as communications with the IRS task force. Bergman was co-founder and managing principal at Bergman, Schraier & Co. | ||
 | Joel H. Schraier, CPA: Schraier joins Brown Smith Wallace as Partner, Entrepreneurial Services Group. He provides consulting, planning and compliance services to clients. He has spoken at many civic, business and academic sessions on various business-related topics. Joel was co-founder and principal at Bergman, Schraier & Co. With a long history of local philanthropic involvement, Joel is a past board member of several charitable organizations, including the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis and Meadowbrook Country Club, where he also served as treasurer of the executive board of directors. | ||
 | Paul M. Krussel, CPA: Krussel joins Brown Smith Wallace as Principal, Entrepreneurial Services Group. In his more than 15 years of public accounting experience, Krussel’s strong emphasis has historically been in auditing financial statements of middle-market and closely held businesses. His expertise includes financial statement preparation and analysis, attestation services, internal control analysis, business valuation and comprehensive business analysis services, including income tax planning and overall company strategies. | ||
 | Ellen M. Norrenberns, CPA: Norrenberns joins Brown Smith Wallace as Principal, Audit Services. She has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting providing services to numerous not-for-profit organizations, employee benefit plans and closely held businesses. These services include audit, consulting, financial statement analyses and presentation, out-sourced controllership services, financial reporting and internal control recommendations, income tax planning, and training. | ||
 | Katheryn A. Schroeder, CPA: Schroeder joins Brown Smith Wallace as Principal, Entrepreneurial Services Group. She has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting with specific emphasis in tax planning, compliance and research for individuals and businesses. Schroeder also spends much of her time consulting with small business clients on operating, financial and tax matters.
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 | Wendy D. Shireman, CPA: Shireman joins Brown Smith Wallace as Principal, Entrepreneurial Services Group. She has more than 15 years of public accounting experience serving individuals and privately-owned businesses in a variety of industries, including real estate, personal services, finance and manufacturing. Shireman was honored by Small Business Monthly as a 2014 Top 100 St. Louisan to Know. Additionally, she has authored articles and edited columns in several publications, including The Asset, the St. Louis Business Journal and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. | ||
 | Barb D. Gruzeski, CPA: Gruzeski joins Brown Smith Wallace as Manager, Accounting. With more than 30 years of public accounting and industry experience, Gruzeski has worked in manufacturing, real estate and controllership services, and has experience with individual and corporate taxation. | ||
 | Vicki L. Swider, CPA: Swider joins Brown Smith Wallace as Manager, Entrepreneurial Services Group. She has more than 30 years of experience in public accounting with specific emphasis in several industries, including retail, consulting and medical services, personal holding companies, not-for-profit organizations and restaurants. Her taxation experience includes reviewing individual, corporate, partnership, fiduciary, gift, estate, benefit plan, not-for-profit, multi-state and consolidated corporate tax returns. | ||
The firm also welcomes Christine Berzinas, Leah Bevins, Laura DeNormandie, Jake Dressler, Rebecca Kibler, Erin Morton, Stephanie Munro, Carissa Schweig and Jeanne Voellinger.
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| Berzinas | Bevins | DeNormandie |
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| Dressler | Kibler | Morton |
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| Munro | Schweig | Voellinger |
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About Brown Smith WallaceBrown Smith Wallace is the second-largest, locally owned, full-service CPA and business advisory firm in Missouri with 270 employees. The firm is nationally recognized as a “Top 100 Firm” by INSIDE Public Accounting and is the top ranked St. Louis firm in the 2016 Vault Accounting Firm rankings. For more information, visit bswllc.com or call 314-983-1200.
For More Information Contact:
Cheryl Foster Valeria Klamm
314.983.1321 314.983.1353