Accounting Firm Adds Another Local Native

Article by Dave Kurtz | KPC News | January 12, 2021

AUBURN — Austin Miller was looking for the right person to join him and founder Steve Post inPost & Miller Inc., an Auburn accounting firm.

“The guy that I thought was right for us had been sitting in front of me for the last five years,” Miller said. It was one of his clients, Jordan Pfister.

“We had worked together five years or so,” with Miller preparing taxes for Pfister’s business, Heartland Castings in Waterloo, Miller said. “I would talk to him on the phone … about complex tax issues, and he got it. That’s not typical.”

Pfister, 29, quickly accepted Miller’s invitation to join Post & Miller, a firm started by Auburn native Steve Post in April 1974.

“Little did I know or have any comprehension of what it would grow into,” Post said about the business.

For the past year, the firm has operated from its new home in a remodeled building at 4571 C.R. 35on the city’s eastern boundary.

Miller joined Post as a partner in the firm eight years ago, when he was 26.

“I’ve known all my partners since they were young people,” Post said. “I’m very proud of the fact they were all former DeKalb athletes. .. It teaches you a lot about life when you’re an athlete.”

Post himself was a standout basketball player at DeKalb High School, graduating in 1970 and going on to play at Georgia Tech. He returned home to Auburn to start his business right after college.

Both Miller and Pfister began their careers working in large accounting firms — Miller in Chicago and Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Pfister in Indianapolis — before deciding to return home.

Five years ago, Pfister bought the Kitchen Quip company in Waterloo and changed its name to Heartland Castings. He guided its return to profitability and its growth from 11 employees to more than 25.

“It was a fun challenge. I learned a lot,” Pfister said about managing the business, which he sold to join Post & Miller.

“Steve and I were looking for someone like Jordan for four or five years, now,” Miller said, because Gary Klaehn of their firm was approaching his eventual retirement.

“We never ran a factory, so he brings a different point of view,” Miller said about Pfister. “He’s got what it takes. He’s got the skills, he’s got a unique background, he’s got the drive.”

Explaining what he likes about his new job, compared to his previous accounting experience, Pfister said, “It’s the relationships you get to build with your clients and meeting them face-to-face. … You don’t really get that at a big firm.”

“That’s how I’ve viewed why I was in practice all along, is to help people and develop relationships, ”Post said. Specializing in work with small businesses, he said, “I was trained not to just be a recorder of history … but instead using those numbers to help them improve their business and do proper tax planning to try to minimize their tax.”

With Miller and Pfister in the fold, Post said, “There are almost no young accountants in Auburn other than these two guys. The sky’s the limit for them for the long haul.”

As for his own future, Post said, “I have no interest in retiring at all … but at the same time, I do want to slow down … so Jordan is taking on some of my clients.”

Post will shift more of his personal efforts to Pathway Financial Advisers, a investment advisory firm he started 10 years ago that shares the C.R. 35 office.

Joel Grimm has been with Pathway for eight years after selling his family business, DeKalb Distributing. “It seems like we’ve had new clients on my desk every day” during that time, Grimm said.

David Tracey left a banking position to join Pathway three years ago. He said he feels at home with Miller, his soccer teammate at DeKalb High School, and Pfister, his neighbor when they were growing up southeast of Auburn.

“I just feel very blessed to be a part of the team here. … each of us adds a different thing to the table with our own characteristics,” Tracey said.

“Steve has a very huge legacy in this community that I’m hoping to carry on,” Tracey added.

“To see it evolve and grow into something that’s going to be here for a long, long time is very, very rewarding,” Post said about his firm.

Article source: https://www.kpcnews.com/thestar/article_3c9016ac-9364-532d-b338-e94ac16a2fbb.html