Monday, July 30, 2012

80 years and ac-counting!!

The Roaring 20’s had just come to a crashing end. A new president was talking about a recovery thing called the “New Deal”. And in 1932, in downtown Columbus, a young CPA named Sam Wellborn, Jr. hung out a fresh shingle to begin a new accounting practice. Mr. Wellborn continued his practice for 44 years. Near the end of his time in practice, one of his senior partners was a true southern gentleman named Keith Grimes (we’ll come back to him in a minute).


It was a more robust time, the post-war 1950’s, when Mr. Otis LeMay gave up his IRS career of fighting organized crime, moved to Columbus, and started his own CPA firm. Years later, one of his senior partners was another southern gentleman named Ross Robinson.


And so it was, that on May 31, 1980, two of the most successful accounting practices in Columbus -  Robinson, Oliver and Norman , along with Grimes, Snipes and Ellison - were merged to form Robinson, Grimes and Company, P.C.  It was truly a unique blend of the community’s two largest firms, combined to form what today has become one of the premier practices in our region.


With that little look back into our history, Robinson, Grimes takes great pride, here in 2012, celebrating our 80th Anniversary.  It has been an amazing journey, from the early days of our country and community’s re-birth to today’s fast-paced, technology-charged business world. Through it all, Robinson, Grimes and all of our predecessor partners and staff have served clients of various industries, locations and sizes. We have shared in their development over the years, as we remain “Committed to Your Success.”

Jay Pease, Audit Partner (and Firm Historian)