Groundbreaking ceremony for new VonLehman headquarters in Fort Wright.
VonLehman & Company — a leading regional CPA and business advisory firm with offices in Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis — broke ground today on the a new $10.7 million headquarters building the company is developing in Fort Wright.
One of the largest accounting firms in the Greater Cincinnati area, VonLehman will build a 57,000-square-foot Class A office building at the Wright’s Summit Office Complex, which is owned and developed by Wessels Construction & Development Company, Inc. and its affiliates.
The project was cited by Governor Beshear last month as an example of “a great corporate citizen for many years” continuing to expand and add jobs in Northern Kentucky.
Members of VonLehman’s executive leadership team, local elected officials including Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore representing Northern Kentucky Tri-ED and Fort Wright Mayor David Hatter and representatives of Wessels Construction & Development Company, Inc., the project’s developer, took part in the ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the new headquarters.
“Northern Kentucky Tri-ED is focused on fostering the region’s successful professional office sector,” said Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore, Northern Kentucky Tri-ED Board Chair. “Northern Kentucky Tri-ED applauds VonLehman’s choice to expand in Northern Kentucky — we are grateful and appreciative!”
“VonLehman has a significant history of success and community involvement in Northern Kentucky with the founding of their operations in Kenton County,” said Kenton County Judge-Executive Kris Knochelmann. “I congratulate Andy Von Lehman and Brian Malthouse and the entire VonLehman team on deciding to stay, consolidate and expand in Northern Kentucky with this new office building venture with The Wessels Company, which will be an asset to the entire region.”
Wright’s Summit, existing Wessels building
VonLehman is scheduled to relocate to the building in December of 2016, the year marking the company’s 70th anniversary.
“How appropriate and fitting that in the year VonLehman will celebrate 70 years in business, we will move our company into a new, state-of-the-art office building developed by one of Northern Kentucky’s top real estate developers,” said VonLehman President Brian Malthouse. “The past has been successful for VonLehman, and the future is bright as we move toward the milestone of opening a new headquarters in 2016.”
Wright’s Summit is located along I-75/71 near the intersection of Kyles Lane and Dixie Highway in Fort Wright. VonLehman will occupy approximately 31,000 square feet of office space. Another 26,000 square feet of office space will be available for lease.
VonLehman will continue to operate its offices in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
“To accommodate our continued growth and to better serve our clients and staff, we have hired one of northern Kentucky’s top developers to build our new state-of-the-art office building in Fort Wright,” said Brian Malthouse, president of VonLehman. “The location of our new office – just off I-75/71 three miles from downtown Cincinnati – will be convenient to both our clients and our employees.”
Founded in 1946, VonLehman provides services to privately held businesses, individuals, nonprofit and governmental organizations in the region. All of its services are provided by the company’s in-house staff.
“It’s always a great honor and pleasure to welcome new businesses to our community,” said Fort Wright Mayor David Hatter. “And we are especially fortunate and proud that VonLehman & Company, one of Greater Cincinnati’s most recognizable companies and brands, has chosen Fort Wright for its new headquarters. We look forward to the next 70 years and beyond as the company realizes what our residents and businesses learned long ago – that Fort Wright is a wonderful place to live, work and visit.”
VonLehman made the decision to build a new headquarters because it has outgrown its existing headquarters building. It chose the location after conducting an internal market study and learning that Wright’s Summit in Fort Wright was superior in many respects and a more convenient location for many of its employees and clients, Malthouse said.
“We looked at a number of different options, but in the end, we determined that the Wright’s Summit office development in Fort Wright was the most suitable location and offered the best office solution for our clients’ and employees’ needs,” Malthouse said. “With the local landscape of our industry changing through mergers and companies from outside the area buying and merging with local CPA firms, we are proud to be regionally owned and operated and therefore wanted to stay committed to our region.”
The move to the new headquarters comes as VonLehman is growing its business. The company announced in early September that it had moved up a full 20 positions — from 176 to 156 — in Inside Public Accounting’s Sixth Annual Ranking of the Nation’s Top 200 Accounting Firms list — the “IPA 200” — which is regarded as the benchmarking gold standard within the industry.
“VonLehman hires the best people and works hard to anticipate and fulfill our clients’ needs,” Malthouse said. “Our growth depends on exceeding our clients’ expectations every day and keeping our employees challenged and fulfilled. I’m proud to say our leadership team is succeeding.”
To encourage the investment and job growth in Kenton County, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $300,000 through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
In addition, VonLehman is eligible to receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies are eligible to receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives. Last year, the Kentucky Skills Network trained more than 84,000 employees from more than 5,600 Kentucky companies.
For more information on VonLehman, visit www.vlcpa.com.
