Friday August 16, 2013
We are a Texas based professional services firm providing advisory, consulting, interim, and executive search solutions in the areas of Accounting & Finance, Risk & Compliance, Business & Technology, and CFO Services.
Commitment to our core values of Exceptional Value and Servant Leadership shape who we are.
Aventine Hill Statement of Commitment
Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which Ancient Rome was built.
We are committed to listening and understanding our Client’s needs and delivering results that meet those needs. Our actions are true to our promise of Uncompromising Quality in everything we do.
I sat down with Beth Hair, CEO of Aventine Hill Partners, Inc. this Friday afternoon. She juggles her time between branches in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. Founded at the depths of the financial recession in April 2009, the firm has grown to three branches and single digit millions of gross revenue. Gee how'd she do that?
This is a story that should be of interest to all our students.
Beth Hair graduated with an accounting degree from UT Austin in 1984. She subsequently became a Texas CPA. (Professor Elam has all three of his degrees from UT Austin.) Beth worked for corporations in Dallas, and Houston. She found herself drawn to the idea of recruiting and personnel services. But that seemed too much by the transaction without a longer term focus.
IN 1999 Beth moved to San Antonio. She worked for Resource Global Professionals and Accretive Solutions. These firms perform third party accounting work (see commitment statement above) as Aventine does today.
By 2009 she found herself in Houston. A firm was in need of some accounting assistance. As she tells it, the job only grossed just over $10,000. But all journeys start with a single step. Argentine Hill had its first success.
Beth notes that Sarbanes Oxley SARBOX helped comp;anies like Aventine Hill a lot. Traditional large accounting firms had to shed their advisory services. And they were forbidden to do the accounting work they audited, so good-bye to internal audit work for the Big Four.
This was a niche that launched Aventine. Beth realized that firms needed experienced financial professionals. With more and more employee requirements, and hte reduction of headcount in accounting deparments in 2009/2010 more and more firms became reluctant to have any excess employees on hand for special projects. Outsourcing to a firm with experienced personnel in compliance made more sense than inventing the wheel themselves.
IN a surprise move in 2012, Beth was offered the chance to buy Accretive Solutions in San Antonio. She purchased it, increased the size virtually doubling in a few months, and managed to retire the purchase price within a few months. Today the firm is debt free, only borrowing to meet expanded payroll requirements.
Again and again in our conversation, Beth stressed the importance of long term planning and outlook. She also was clearly concerned in finding the right job for her employees and contacts. She noted that Aventine's business model, culture, and goals work together to differentiate the firm. Aventine is neither a temporary agency nor a CPA firm.
In describing the niche that Aventine fills, Beth told me Aventine's bill rates are more than a temporary agency would charge. But a typical large accounting firm would charge but are about half in many cases those of a a large consulting firm.
I was left with the sense that Beth has a clear notion of what she wants to do. She remarked on what the firm might be in ten years, again reflecting her long term view of what she is doing.
Perhaps the most insightful moment came when I expressed admiration for her accomplishments. She was quck to point out that Aventine has been a team not an 'I' effort. To wit – in her own words she credits the team as follows.
For example, without Scott Dickinson, our COO, I don't know that we would
have even received the opportunity to buy Accretive's SA office. Also,
Walter Belt played a huge role in the analysis and decision to make the
acquisition–there were many conversations where we benefitted greatly
from Walter's counsel and the questions he raised that were important to
address. Scott, Walter, Nick Tummers, Roxanne Morris, Brenda Zabojnik and
myself worked as a team to integrate the acquisition. Communication,
change management, process integration and extreme people care were
critical. Everyone worked intense long hours for 6 months nonstop. The
commitment to succeed and welcome our new consultants and other key
employees was amazing. It simply would not have happened without each
person acting as a leader and contributing their individual talents.
Also, once the acquisition was announced, there were several legacy
Accretive employees who stepped up as leaders and were hugely important to
our success during a challenging period.
And today, there are many on our team who are proven business leaders,
thought leaders, analysts and problem solvers. I rely heavily on the team
(our CFO Partners are incredible). The ability of any of us to pick up
the phone or walk down the hall and ask for input and advice from others
on our team makes Aventine successful. It's a huge differentiator for us
that is somewhat hidden, but obvious that when you have a great team, then
the organization stands a better opportunity to succeed and hopefully
become an industry leader.In conclusion, I asked if she thought the Texas location had aided the growth of the firm. I received an enthusiastic yes. We both agreed that the success triangle of DFW, Houston, and San Antonio-Austin was a success story that wold be tough to replicate anywhere else.
This fall we will host Aventine Hill employee Heidi Harrington to speak with our students. Thanks to Beth for this insight which should serve our students well.
Professor Elam 