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Photo by Tracie Morris Schaefer<br />
From left: Johnathan Knofie, Debbie Brockley, David Hymel, Amy Walters, Tommy Freel and Katherine Green of LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand gather in a section of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> City Park the firm helps maintain.<br />
T H R E E - T I M E H O N O R E E<br />
LaPorte Sehrt<br />
Romig Hand<br />
When Kayla Lambert started working at<br />
LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand in January,<br />
she faced the challenge of starting a new job in<br />
a new city while dealing with the anxiety of a<br />
sick grandmother in the hospital.<br />
“You don’t want to be the person who is<br />
not at work all the time, especially when you<br />
are new,” said Lambert, a senior consultant<br />
in litigation. “But I never felt stressed out<br />
about it. The firm let me work remotely while<br />
I took the time to take care of things in the<br />
family. Knowing that the company stood<br />
behind me was really nice. This kind of thing<br />
was never allowed at other places I have<br />
worked.”<br />
Greg Romig, audit director and a senior<br />
manager in the firm, said that commitment to<br />
balance between work and family is one of the<br />
key foundations of the 63-year-old public<br />
accounting firm.<br />
“We are not just a corporation,” Romig said.<br />
“We approach our employees with an individualistic<br />
view. We appreciate the role that everyone<br />
has while they are at work.”<br />
Romig said LaPorte goes all out to make sure<br />
employees keep up with the firm’s progress<br />
and setbacks, so expectations are spelled out<br />
clearly on a regular basis.<br />
“When we hold our regular staff meetings,<br />
lots of information is brought forward so that<br />
everyone in the company knows what is going<br />
on,” Romig said. “We have expectations, but<br />
we allow for discussion.”<br />
The commitment to making sure everyone<br />
is deeply involved even extends to employees<br />
who are not officially on the payroll. As an<br />
intern working through graduate school at the<br />
University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, Jack Wiles said<br />
LaPorte never hesitated to challenge his skills.<br />
“I didn’t want a menial internship where all I<br />
did all day was print up copies and answer<br />
phones,” Wiles said. “During a previous internship<br />
at a larger company, I felt like I was just a<br />
number among thousands. There was always a<br />
more professional relationship here. When the<br />
time came for them to offer me a full-time position,<br />
it was a no-brainer.”<br />
Romig said one of the firm’s more unique<br />
aspects is that performance is weighed and<br />
measured through a 360-degree review that<br />
Nature of business: public accounting firm<br />
Where based: Metairie<br />
Employees: 135<br />
Average starting salary: $34,000 for administrative,<br />
$46,500 for accountants<br />
Median salary: $38,000 for administrative, $80,000 for<br />
accountants<br />
Average employment time: six years<br />
Benefits: health care with 75 percent coverage, dental, vision<br />
and prescription plans, 401(k) with 3 percent match, continuing<br />
education, telecommuting, flexible hours, job sharing, employee<br />
recognition program, fitness program, subsidized meals<br />
Wait time for benefits: none<br />
Paid days off: 34 to 58<br />
Web site: www.laporte.com<br />
involves all employee levels.<br />
“Ten different people evaluate one person’s<br />
performance,” Romig said. “We include everyone<br />
from upper management to the lower-level<br />
employees to people on the same level.”<br />
Some of the company’s popular perks<br />
include family nights at Zephyr Field and curbside<br />
dry cleaning services, in addition to a<br />
crawfish boil and Christmas party that involves<br />
the entire office. The firm is also active in the<br />
Young Leadership Council and initiatives to<br />
beautify City Park.<br />
“Coming from someone who did not know<br />
too many people upon arrival here, the outsidethe-office<br />
activities have been an excellent<br />
opportunity for me to get to know parts of the<br />
city better,” Lambert said. “I’ve gotten the<br />
chance to meet more new people outside of the<br />
work environment.”•<br />
— Robin Shannon<br />
December 14, 2009 27