Every office at Barnes Wendling CPAs Inc. a copy of the company’s core values that encourages giving back to the community, an important reminder to its employees,.
It’s a value Jeffrey Neuman, president and director of Barnes Wendling, says has been at the center of the business since it was founded 60 years ago.
The firm regularly supports the interests and efforts of individual team members — often sponsoring walk-a-thons and fund-raisers — and conducts charitable raffles at its social events. The amount raised from ticket purchases at events is matched by the company and donated to a charity.
But the company is about more than just attaching its name to an organization or making a contribution, says Neuman.
“All we ask is that if one of our employees wants to become involved, they truly be involved,” he says.
Every spring, employees can make a weekly $5 donation to the Harvest for Hunger food drive in exchange for the chance to wear jeans to work on Fridays. This year, the firm raised $1,148 through that drive.
It has also made a significant impact on area schools.
For the past five years, Barnes Wendling has made donations to the art departments at Dike Montessori Center in Cleveland, Tennyson Elementary in Sheffield Lake, and St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s elementary schools in Norwalk, where the firm has offices. The company sponsors a Thanksgiving card design competition at these schools, and one winner from each school has his or her artwork displayed on the front of the company’s Thanksgiving card, which is sent to clients.
At each school, the company hosts an awards ceremony at which Neuman and his associates present a check to the school’s arts programs and prizes to the winning students.
The firm has also made contributions to Providence House, Rainbow Babies and Children Foundation, United Way and the Cleveland Sight Center, among others.
Barnes Wendling also offers reduced rates for services performed for nonprofit organizations, and for the past 12 years has donated bookkeeping and tax return services to Malachi House, a home for indigent and terminally ill people with no family or support network.
HOW TO REACH: Barnes Wendling CPAs Inc., (216) 566-9000
