HORNE taps Joe Havens as new leader as partner-run firm celebrates 50th year [Mississippi Business Journal, The (MS)]

HORNE CPAs & Business Advisors started life as a tiny Laurel firm whose founder saw vast changes in the funding of hospitals on the horizon.

They'll need specialized accounting, William F. Horne Sr. predicted, and plotted a strategy to put a HORNE office within an hour-and-a-half drive of every hospital in Mississippi.

His calculation a half-century ago led to what is today Mississippi's 54th largest private company with annual sales of nearly $46 million and offices in five states.

HORNE CPAs & Business Advisors turns 50 this year. On May 3, the firm will mark another milestone by formally handing leadership of the partnership over to Joe D. Havens.</p>

Known as "Joey" around the firm's Highland Colony headquarters, Havens replaces Hugh J. Parker, who at 63 is retiring after nine years as executive partner. The approximately three-dozen partners who guide the firm selected the 54-year-old Havens more than two years ago, Parker said.

"For over two years we've been working on this transition plan. We're not going to miss a beat."

The two executives like to call the forthcoming transition "just another day of progress."

A University of Mississippi graduate, Havens started out in a cubby hole-sized office in HORNE's Grenada building in 1984 and became a partner at 30.

Roy Ward, HORNE president and CEO from 1977 to 2003, said Havens caught his attention early on through his aptitude and work ethic.

What especially struck Ward, though, was Havens' desire to go for the top, to not settle for safe and secure secondary roles.

"I remember asking him what his long-term goals were. He said, 'I want to fill your shoes one of these days.' "

That stuck, Ward said, because "at that time not too many people wanted to do that."

Havens' first big step up the leadership ladder came in the early 1990s when Ward persuaded him to take over the Hattiesburg office.

"He did a great job there," Ward said.

"Joey's leadership positions over the years have sharpened him for the leadership position he is about to assume.

"It's been delightful to watch as he progressed over the years."

Larry Welborn, who retired last August after 40 years as partner, said Havens is taking over a firm "well-positioned " for substantial growth.

He said he is pleased with how the change in leadership has unfolded. "The transition we're going through with the executive position is really going well," said Welborn, who signed on with HORNE in Laurel in 1971 just out of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Havens acknowledges that a key challenge is carrying on the firm's success in getting an early bead on growth sectors and going after the new business growing within them.

Parker, the outgoing executive partner, likened the anticipatory ability to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky's belief that a great hockey player is not concerned about where the puck is. "He is concerned about where the puck is going to be," Parker said.

"That is really our philosophy."

Parker won't be leaving Havens a crystal ball. Instead, Havens said Parker will hand him a 40o-member-plus firm that is flexible, resourceful and willing to go looking for challenges.

"We have the talent that allows us to stay on top of the changes that are occurring and to be anticipatory to the changes that will occur."

William Horne Sr. set a high-bar on the vision front by anticipating the arrival of Medicare in the mid-1960s and positioning his young firm to be specialists in that field.

Havens said the energy sector might just give him an opportunity to carve a similar niche. "Certainly, energy is going to be big in the future," he said. "It is big now."

Oil and gas, renewables, biofuels - Mississippi will be part of the growth in all of them, Havens said. "We see Mississippi as being a corridor for energy companies and lots of investment occurring."

And with that investment will come regulations, something HORNE can help the energy companies navigate the financial side of, predicted Parker, who will serve in an "of-counsel" capacity for the firm after May 3.

"This is what Bill Horne did, seeing where growth is going. He made a calculated judgment about what to do. And that's our legacy today."

More on HORNE

HISTORY:

Founded October 11962

TEAM MEMBERS AND FOOTPRINT:

39 partners in 12 offices

More than 400 team members delivering to clients across the nation

OFFICE LOCATIONS:

Alabama - Mobile; Louisiana - Baton Rouge; Mississippi - Biloxi/Gulfport, Grenada, Hattiesburg, Ridgeland and Lucedale; Tennessee - Jackson, Memphis and Nashville ; Texas - Austin, Houston

FOCUS AREAS:

Construction, disaster recovery, financial institutions, franchise, health care, SEC, private equity and related enterprises, HORNE Wealth Advisors

KEY SERVICES: Assurance, business advisory and accounting, disaster recovery management and governmental grant compliance, fraud, forensic and litigation services, traditional tax services - consulting, compliance and controversy, valuation