YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – HBK CPAs & Consultants started in business in a small office in downtown Youngstown in 1949 as Hill & Hammonds. By the mid-1950s, the firm had become Hill, Barth & King, and today the company – still based in the Mahoning Valley – is recognized as the 46th largest accounting and business consulting firm in the country.
For 75 years, the locally grown business has played an important role in its profession and the communities its offices serve.
Present at the beginning and central to HBK’s growth is Wallace “Wally” King, a combat pilot during World War II who returned home and cofounded the company along with Rowland Hill and William Barth. King, who turns 101 on Oct. 31, shares his story and insights in this special feature.
Others helping to tell HBK’s story are principals Phil Carlon, who joined the firm in 1980; Jim Rosa, who joined in 1986; and Jim Dascenzo, who arrived at the firm in 1988. Together, these professionals share important business and life lessons inspired by their experience at one of the more resilient and dynamic accounting firms in the country.
HBK’s rich history touches upon the post-World War II boom and early business strategies that set the firm apart from others – a tradition of excellence that continues today. It’s a story about a firm evolving and innovating amid changes in the local and national economies, pivoting and diversifying to meet marketplace challenges and demands.
Today HBK is a full-service business consulting firm with 700 employees, and 17 offices across five states as well as a presence in Delhi, India.
Aside from traditional accounting and audit services, the firm provides information technology, business leadership and culture development, wealth management, retirement planning, and valuation services.
HBK has carved out expertise in traditional business sectors such as manufacturing, construction and dealerships to emerging growth industries such as cannabis – laying a foundation for the next 75 years.
Pictured: HBK CPAs combined its Mahoning Valley offices in 2014 when it opened a new headquarters on Summit Drive in Canfield.