Plante Moran announces 24 new partners

Southfield, Mich. — Plante Moran, one of the nation’s largest certified public accounting, tax and consulting firms, has announced 24 new partners.

Jaime Eckels, CFP joined Plante Moran in 1999 and is based in the firm’s Auburn Hills office. Eckels is a leader in the Wealth Management group and provides comprehensive, holistic financial planning and investment advisory services to affluent individuals, families and business owners. She specializes in tax and estate planning, budgeting, charitable giving strategies, retirement planning and education planning. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Duquesne University and resides in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Dori Eggett, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2000 and is based in the firm’s Denver Tech Center office. She is the firm’s nonprofit tax practice leader in the Rocky Mountain region, advising on all types of exempt organizations about tax compliance and tax strategies. Many of her clients are in the healthcare, higher education and nonprofit sectors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a minor in economics and English literature from Brigham Young University and resides in Littleton, Colorado.

Valerie Grunduski, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2004 and is based in the firm’s Detroit office. Grunduski specializes in real estate tax related to planning and structuring concerns for partner and property transactions, historic tax credits and other community development incentives. She is also leader of the firm’s opportunity zone practice, a member of the wealth management tax group and the Detroit office tax director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Michigan State University and resides in Ferndale, Michigan.

Stan Hannah, PhD joined Plante Moran in 2014 and is based in the firm’s Southfield office. He is the firm’s talent and organizational development practice leader, guiding CEOs and human resource leaders working towards optimizing talent in their organizations. He specializes in succession planning, talent assessments, leadership development and cultural transformation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. Hannah resides in Novi, Michigan.

Jerry Luebbers, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2008 and is based in the firm’s Cincinnati office. A leader for the firm’s healthcare private equity team, he primarily advises private equity firms that invest in healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, and general business services. Luebbers provides financial due diligence assistance and support through quality of earnings analyses. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Mount St. Joseph University and resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Scott McLellan joined Plante Moran in 2011 and is based in the firm’s Auburn Hills office. He develops cost-effective benefit strategies, ensures compliance with myriad regulatory requirements and reduces the administrative burdens associated with health and welfare benefits. McLellan holds a bachelor’s degree in financial administration from Michigan State University and resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Ashley Paschke, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2008 and is based in the firm’s Denver Tech Center office. Paschke provides tax services for the real estate sector with a specialization in private and public real estate investment trusts, or REITs. She also advises real estate clients who have multiple limited liability companies or holding companies that are not structured as a REIT. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Colorado at Boulder and resides in Denver, Colorado.

Scott Petree, CPA rejoined Plante Moran in 2013 and is based in the firm’s Denver office. A leader for the firm’s information technology consulting practice, Petree assists companies with various assessments of security controls. He advises clients on cybersecurity assessments, compliance audits, risk assessments and mitigation in the financial institutions, not-for-profit, healthcare, manufacturing and services industries. He holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics from Grand Valley State University and accounting information systems from Eastern Michigan University.  

Ginger Powell, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2012 and is based in the firm’s Chicago and Schaumburg offices. Powell is a leader in the firm’s tax solutions group and helps clients identify tax-saving opportunities that allow companies to reinvest in their employees, product development, and innovation. She specializes in research and development tax credit incentives for organizations that perform new product development and engineering activities, primarily in the manufacturing and software industries. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Iowa and resides in Barrington, Illinois.

Kris Ray, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2002 and is based in the firm’s Southfield office. As the technical leader for the firm’s not-for-profit practice, she is responsible for the industry’s technical quality control, including developing and providing training for staff and clients. She works with nonprofits in the Great Lakes region and throughout Oakland County, that range from small groups to large, complex organizations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola University and a master’s degree in accounting from Eastern Michigan University. Ray resides in Dexter, Michigan.

John Samulak joined Plante Moran in 2013 and is based in the firm’s Southfield office. He specializes in financial due diligence engagements for private equity groups, their portfolio companies and middle-market companies that seek to strategically expand their businesses. His expertise includes buy-side due diligence, such as quality of earnings and transaction-related consulting services, and sell-side due diligence. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Grand Valley State University and an MBA from Walsh College. He resides in Northville, Michigan.

Tim St. Andrew joined Plante Moran in 2005 and is based in the firm’s Detroit office. He is responsible for providing audit, tax and consulting services to municipalities and the construction industry. Many of his clients are cities, counties and special-purpose governments, as well as general, heavy highway and specialty trade contractors. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and MBA from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and resides in Dearborn, Michigan.

Brett Stetson, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2006 and is based in the firm’s Chicago office. Brett is a leader in the firm’s real estate and construction practice, advising clients on complex accounting matters specific to real estate and construction. His expertise includes consolidation, revenue recognition, lease accounting, impairment and joint venture accounting considerations. He primarily serves residential and commercial real estate clients and specialty private equity real estate funds. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business pre-law from Ohio University and resides in Barrington, Illinois. 

Adam Stevenson, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2006 and is based in the firm’s Grand Rapids office. He specializes in audits for large hospitals, health systems and healthcare organizations across the United States. Additionally, he leads the firm’s internal trainings on technical topics such as the implementation of the new revenue recognition standards. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Grand Valley State University and a master's degree in accountancy from the University of Michigan. Stevenson resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Randy Surratt, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2006, is based in the firm’s Macomb office and is a member of the firm’s Southeast Michigan manufacturing and distribution practice leadership team. He is responsible for providing audit, tax, and financial reporting consulting services to private equity-owned and owner-managed manufacturing and distribution companies, including those with domestic and internationally active operations. In addition, Surratt works with the firm’s management consulting team, providing acquisition-related consulting services, including quality of earnings analysis, working capital, and opening balance sheet assistance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Wayne State University and resides in Macomb, Michigan.

Amber Terakedis, CFP joined Plante Moran in 2008 and is based in the firm’s East Lansing office. She is a leader with Plante Moran Financial Advisors, helping clients define and achieve their financial goals. She provides comprehensive, holistic financial planning and investment advisory services to emerging affluent and affluent individuals, families and business owners. Her expertise includes financial goal setting, risk management, debt-reduction strategies and investment policy creation and implementation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in economics from Western Michigan University.

Jeanette Tolar, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2013 and is based in the firm’s Downtown Denver office. Tolar is the firm’s state and local tax team leader for the Rocky Mountain region, identifying state and local tax risks and opportunities as well as finding solutions for minimizing and managing state and local taxes. Her expertise is in state income and franchise tax, gross receipts tax, state and local sales and use tax personal property tax and unclaimed property. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Metropolitan State University of Denver and resides in Brighton, Colorado.

Jonathon Trionfi, CEBS joined Plante Moran in 2008 and is based in the firm’s Auburn Hills office. He is an employee benefits specialist with a focus in healthcare consulting and helps develop effective benefits strategies that address cost, compliance and administration. His expertise includes health and welfare benefits procurement, negotiations, cost analysis, underwriting and general healthcare strategy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political economy and economics from Michigan State University and resides in Commerce Township, Michigan.

Diana Verdun, SPHR joined Plante Moran in 1997 and is based in the firm’s Grand Rapids office. As the partner in charge of human resources, she is responsible for recruiting, retaining, developing and promoting the firm’s talent. Verdun creates, implements and oversees human resource strategies impacting total reward programs, professional development opportunities and work-life balance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bradley University and resides in Belding, Michigan.

Colleen Wellman, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2001 and is based in the firm’s Auburn Hills office. She performs and supervises accounting, audit and consulting engagements for credit unions, banks and mortgage companies. Her experience spans internal and external audits, purchase accounting, mortgage banking activities and internal control risk assessments and testing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Walsh College and resides in White Lake, Michigan.

Josh White, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2010 and is based in the firm’s Boulder office. White works with middle-market private equity-owned and publicly traded technology, renewable energy and car dealership companies to help grow their business. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western Illinois University and resides in Erie, Colorado.

Kipp Yost, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2005 and is based in the firm’s Denver Tech Center office. He advises energy executives on how to navigate the current income tax regulations to maximize returns to investors, manage their cash flow and utilize the tax advantages of independent oil and gas producers in the United States. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska and resides in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Craig Zampa joined Plante Moran in 2012 and is based in the firm’s Southfield office. He is a leader for the firm’s IT management consulting team, assisting commercial industry clients with enterprise technology solutions to improve their operations as well as serving private equity and strategic investors with the IT merger and acquisition lifecycle services. He is responsible for evaluating existing technology solutions, selecting and implementing new solutions and providing dependable and competitive outcomes for public or privately held and private equity owned commercial organizations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer information systems from Davenport University and resides in Hartland, Michigan.

Jenna Zhou, CPA joined Plante Moran in 2010 and is based in the firm’s Denver Tech Center office. She is the firm’s ASC 740 financial accounting and reporting of income taxes group co-leader. She advises clients on their consulting and tax compliance needs, as well as corporate and international transactions. Her clients include public companies, private equity-owned entities and family-owned businesses with international operations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Peking University and master's degree in accounting from the University of Kansas. She resides in Aurora, Colorado.

About Plante Moran

Plante Moran is among the nation’s largest accounting, tax, consulting, and wealth management firms and provides a full line of services to organizations in the following industries: manufacturing and distribution, financial services, service, healthcare, private equity, public sector and real estate and construction. Plante Moran has a staff of more than 3,300 professionals throughout the United States with international offices in Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Tokyo, Japan; and Monterrey, Mexico. Plante Moran has been recognized by a number of organizations, including Fortune magazine, as one of the country’s best places to work. For more information, visit plantemoran.com.