The accounting firm of Estes, Bridgewater & Ogden has been in business since 1918, but the current partners are getting ready to go their separate ways.
“It’s a culmination of a lot of things, but lack of staffing is the biggest piece of it,” said partner Lori Milosevich. “Public accounting has taken a hit over the last few years. We’re not unique in this situation.”
Milosevich said that the firm has been located at 901 Second St. since the 1970s and typically had a staff of 15-16 people prior to COVID. But although the office never closed during the pandemic, Milosevich said it’s become more challenging to find people who are willing to work in a traditional office setting.
“It’s been hard trying to get someone in here who didn’t want to work from home,” she said. “You’ve got a whole generation of 25 to 35-year-olds who want to work remotely, and that takes out a lot of candidates.”
Some public accounting firms have reduced the number of clients served due to lack of support staff, but Milosevich said that she and the other partners – Terri Phelps, Jim Legg and Dan Coady – knew that it might be challenging for their clients to find other accounting firms.
“We’ve always catered to the small- to medium-size nonprofits; we do a lot of audit work, and the bigger firms don’t even like to do that sort of thing,” she said.
“It’s hard to downsize when you’ve been around this long. We’ve decided to shut down the practice, and we’re each going our separate ways,” Milosevich said. “Nobody is retiring.”
Coady is joining another firm, while Legge, Phelps and Milosevich all plan to practice on their own.
“I’m moving into a smaller office space. I do mostly audit work, so I don’t get walk-in traffic and I don’t need a receptionist and all that,” Milosevich said. “Going out on our own means we’ll need fewer support staff.”
Dec. 31 will be the last day of operations for Estes, Bridgewater & Ogden, with the new practices scheduled to launch in January.
“I’ve spent 35 years here, so it’s a lot to process,” said Milosevich. “But this will allow us to provide continuity for our clients.”
