Category Archives: Latest News

Commonwealth Announces New Business Development Manager- NW Indiana

NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Jennifer Simerman, Marketing Director
Commonwealth Engineers, Inc.
7256 Company Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46237
PHONE:  317-888-1177  FAX:  317-887-8641      E-MAIL: cei@contactcei.com
COMMONWEALTH ENGINEERS, INC.
WELCOMES NEW EMPLOYEE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – February 15, 2019
Commonwealth Engineers, Inc. (Commonwealth) is proud to announce and welcome Northwest Indiana Business Development Manager – Ms. Lauren Varga.
Lauren’s primary responsibility will be spearheading Commonwealth’s efforts in the new Crown Point Regional Office, and to create and maintain client relationships in Northwest and North Central Indiana.
Prior to joining Commonwealth, Ms. Varga served as the regional director and primary point of contact for stakeholders and elected officials in fourteen counties in northern Indiana. She also has past experience as a legislative correspondent in Washington D.C.
Lauren holds a master’s degree in Public Policy with an emphasis in U.S. Government Institutions and Policy Management from George Mason University.
We are pleased to have Lauren on board and look forward to a prosperous partnership.

Umbaugh announces partnership

January 9, 2019

We have great news. Umbaugh is pleased to announce our intention to join with Springsted Inc. in (Springsted) and Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (Baker Tilly) to become one of the strongest municipal advisory and public finance practices in the business.

As you know, Umbaugh has been recognized as one of the fastest growing CPA firms in the nation.  We are always looking for ways to improve our services, provide greater value to you and deepen our relationship. This strategic combination with Springsted and Baker Tilly brings together what we believe to be a unique set of resources to become a premiere municipal advisory practice. We remain dedicated to the public sector, serving state and local governmental units, public schools, utilities and non-profit organizations and most of all, continue our dedication to you, our loyal clients.

Springsted is based in Minneapolis and has a long and well-respected record in public finance and projects for public and non-profit organizations. Springsted’s public finance services include municipal finance and post-issuance compliance, operational finance, investment, housing and economic development services. Human capital services include executive recruitment, management consulting, compensation consulting and community surveys.

Baker Tilly is the 15th largest CPA firm in the United States.  They have a strong public sector practice with a team of 220 professionals serving nearly 1,000 government clients. Additionally, Baker Tilly’s industry concentration complements its public sector specialization, particularly in housing, economic development, higher education and healthcare. Baker Tilly provides audit and advisory services to the public sector, including financial forecasting, TIF projections, consolidations and shared services, forensics and expert witness services, enterprise resource planning, process and efficiency analysis, and internal controls reviews and recommendations.

What does this mean for you?

Things will be the same – just better! Your Umbaugh client service team remains the same and you can count on us to continue providing the same level of service you expect. We can now leverage broader resources and expanded capabilities to serve you better.  Moreover, there are no anticipated increases in fees as a result of this combination.  Springsted and Baker Tilly both have very talented teams that will now join with our Umbaugh team. Together we are excited to help you seize new opportunities and solve your most pressing problems.

What about location and contact information?

Our office locations and phone numbers in Indianapolis, Mishawaka, Lansing and Columbus remain the same. Our email addresses will eventually change; however, when this occurs any messages sent to our former email addresses will automatically forward.

When is this happening?

We expect the combination to be effective in the first quarter of this year. After a transition period, the combined firm will be known as Baker Tilly. As we transition, you will see our new Baker Tilly name and logo in communications with you. Bakertilly.com  will be our new online home.

What’s next?

We know this is big news and merits more information. We are attempting to reach out to as many of our clients and colleagues as time allows.  As always, please contact us with any questions or concerns.

We value the trust you place in us as we transition to become Baker Tilly.  We are very proud of our 68-year history and excited to build upon it going forward.  Please join us in celebration!

OCRA Announcement; Indiana Communities Collaborating

Rural Indiana communities recognized for collaboration

STATEHOUSE (Jan. 9, 2019) – Today, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs recognized more than 70 rural Indiana communities who collaboratively shaped and executed their vision for their communities in 2018.

“By working together, these communities provided unique and impressive changes to their local parks, walkways, main streets and economic developments,” Crouch said. “In partnership with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, local leaders were able to utilize state funding to incorporate the plans to further their community development.”

Crouch said more than $41 million was provided by local communities and was combined with $22 million from OCRA. These funds were used to complete quality of place improvements like water system enhancements, new public facilities, revitalizing main streets, restoring historic buildings and enhancing downtowns.

“Today is a great day to celebrate all the successes, collaborative efforts and planning our Hoosier communities have achieved this past year,” said Jodi Golden, OCRA executive director. “Our office was fortunate to help make our rural cities, towns and counties better places to live, work and play. I’m excited to see how the communities will continue to grow this funding.”

The 2018 awards ceremony marks OCRA’s 13th anniversary and state legislators, mayors, local elected officials, grant administrators, community development organizations, community partners and businesses were present at the celebration.