Tom Harrison Named a 2022 Smart 50 Award Honoree by Smart Business

by Mary Varano
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 Corrigan Krause is proud to announce Tom Harrison, CPA, CEPA, has been named a 2022 Smart 50 Award honoree by Smart Business!

Tom Harrison is the President and CEO of Corrigan Krause. He has a leadership hand in most goings-on in the organization. Because of this, his mind rarely shuts off and he’s always open to talk with staff about new ideas for the firm. That’s a good thing for everyone at CK and our clients. In 2022, Tom celebrates 25 years with the firm, 14 of those he has served as managing director.

Our clients are paramount to Tom and he knows the key to helping individuals and privately-held businesses in Northeast Ohio is connecting the right people with the right knowledge to create and execute the best plan for the future. Tom’s creativity and people-first focus spearheaded a huge effort in 2022 to invest in the key to CK’s ability to service the small businesses of Northeast Ohio: our staff.

With input and collaboration from every department and seniority level at CK, Tom led the development of five major investments in our staff:

  • Over the past 12 months, increased payroll costs by an average of 13.5%
  • Invested $1.7 million in renovating and furnishing our new headquarters in Westlake, Ohio
    • Our headquarters is now a modern, bright, welcoming space with plenty of room for our growing team to work together to best serve our clients
    • Our recently improved Medina and Mayfield Heights locations are also ready for additional talent to join our team
  • Increased our IT infrastructure investment to support our hybrid structure and optimize our client experience
    • Our hybrid work policy is part of our greater commitment to support our team as people first
  • Reduced health care premiums by 50% in 2022 – without changing our benefits.
    • We are also now offering two no-cost single coverage options. The firm is taking on the extra cost to help our staff

Smart Innovation

Investing in CK’s IT structure is an innovative way Tom is looking toward the future of CK. Our staff’s work/life balance is at the core of the smart investments Tom leads. After months of fully remote work and a move toward hybrid work throughout the pandemic, Tom and CK’s leadership team saw and experienced how the positive impact the hybrid model had on our staff. He helped ensure the hybrid work model was written into the official policies at CK.

In order to make our hybrid work environment a permanent reality, Tom knew we needed the technical framework to support it. He greenlit increasing our IT infrastructure investment to ensure our staff could work from home, or anywhere else with a secure internet connection, half the time. People-first sometimes means our team needs to be closer to family than the office and this IT infrastructure investment strengthens and supports that core of our culture.

Sustainably Smart

All five of these investments directly impacted the sustainability of our team:

  • Over the past 12 months, increased payroll costs by an average of 13.5%
  • Invested $1.7 million in renovating and furnishing our new headquarters in Westlake, Ohio
  • Increased our IT infrastructure investment to support our hybrid structure and optimize our client experience
  • Reduced health care premiums by 50% in 2022 – without changing our benefits.

In 2022, the CK has experienced only one person leave the firm for another professional opportunity. We’ve had five interns stay on and become associates and over ten people join our firm, many citing the culture and communication as why they chose CK over other opportunities.

In addition to the five investments in 2022, Tom is always willing to give an idea a try. If it doesn’t work out, he’s ready to pivot using what we’ve learned from the experience. He consistently looks forward to the future of CK, supporting and encouraging the development of younger team members to champion initiatives and step into leadership roles. Tom’s smartest quality is his unbreakable optimism in the next generation.

Tom knows the future of not only CK, but Northeast Ohio is rooted in the next generation of professionals – professionals who want to be seen as a person first. These investments solidify Tom’s and CK’s commitment to clients, small businesses in every industry, and to the next generation of accounting professionals.

Tom also serves as a MSI Global North America regional representative and is an active part of the marketing activities, often leading sessions at the organization’s events. MSI Global Alliance (MSI) is a worldwide association of over 250 independent legal and accounting firms in more than 100 countries. Tom is also a member of Vistage, an executive coaching organization, Managing for Results (MFR), a group of managing directors of CPA firms.

Outside of the business world, Tom is passionate about sports. He is actively involved with the Avon High School baseball program, serving as an assistant coach for more than 10 years and was a member of the Avon Little League Board for more than 10 years. He is also dedicated to spending time with his wife, Pat, his three sons and their families.

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