Perhaps it brings other milestones into focus that may not have been noticed – but there are many of them. Dusty Howland founded “Blackstone Management” in 1967, over fifty years past, with his son Tony joining 35 years ago to guide the firm (Howland Capital Management) to now oversee over $2.5 billion of assets.
Joe Flynn, under whose guidance our Tax Group has grown, turned 90 years old this year – a milestone to be sure – made the decision to “retire.” Rest assured, should you visit, you are still very likely to see him in full formal attire in the hallways of our office!
Sophie Costley also retired – she had the lowest badge number of all having joined Blackstone Management 47 years ago. It is impossible to guess how many tax payments she has made on our clients’ behalf – perhaps equaled only by the number of items that she has removed each and every morning from our dishwasher to set us all up for a successful day!
Not wanting to start work on April Fools’ Day, Charlie Clapp started on April 2, 1991 – 30 years ago! Of equal, if not greater, importance is the continuity that exists. Friendly, familiar faces abound at all levels of the firm – as so many of you know having been welcomed by Valerie at our front door or on the phone for over two decades. There are so many more milestones that we share amongst each other and celebrate with frequency and look forward to being able to do so in person with you before too long. Regardless of circumstance, we have built a firm to last with the intention of remaining independent to serve your needs and look forward to doing so as we pass many more milestones ahead.