Bringing it all together – tracking the M&A component of our growth plan and the great people, partners and capabilities it has brought us

Entering my seventh year as Chief Growth Officer at Wipfli, I’ve been fortunate to play a role in leading our organization into the future.?Through our ongoing transformation, we’re continually strengthening our ability to closely partner with our clients and provide them with access to dynamic innovation to help them succeed.?

I’ve written in the past about the importance of attracting and retaining great people and building long-lasting relationships. Wipfli’s success and our outlook are directly tied to the nearly 3,000 associates who represent our firm and give our clients a leg up in pursuing their business plans in this very competitive and continually changing environment.

No doubt, one of the core reasons we’ve been able to increasingly attract these talented professionals relates to our outward mindset culture and pursuit of like-minded people – those with curiosity, ingenuity and a genuine interest in helping companies to succeed. Highly targeted M&A has played a role in this process – and we’ve reached a point where the benefits we’ve reaped from the firms and people who have joined us over the past several years are becoming increasingly visible.?

Consider that since 2015, we’ve completed over 25 acquisitions that have brought us great people, strengthened our industry alignment and service offerings and expanded our geographic reach. With our additions in Chicago and Missouri, we have solidified our Midwest presence, and by welcoming firms across a diverse range of states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, we are on our way to becoming a national firm.

By design, these associates have joined Wipfli with a complementary mix of skillsets and capabilities that have strengthened our overall product and consultative offerings.?In turn, we’ve provided these professionals with greater resources to build on what they do best, which is naturally helping Wipfli to grow.?

For example, our recent acquisition of ApostleTech, a leader in customer relationship management (CRM) implementations, brings to Wipfli its proven experience in integrating sales, service, marketing and IT primarily for the construction and homebuilding industries. At the same time, Wipfli offers ApostleTech’s clients the benefits of expanded services that help businesses improve operational performance, transform their digital capabilities, optimize finances, meet compliance regulations and drive decisions with data and analytics.

Our recent acquisition of the Oliver Group is another great example. They joined Wipfli with over 30 years of experience in leadership development, team coaching and people insights. They’re expanding our organizational performance offerings and client footprint. Together, we now have one of the largest Predictive Index? practices in the country. ?Predictive Index is a powerful tool that relies on data to measure what motivates and drives people so we can help clients drive tangible change through optimized teams.

Earlier last year, we also welcomed the teams from Solve100 and Waypoint. They added a combined 25 years of experience in data analytics and application development to our firm. ?Their proven technical prowess supports Wipfli by helping our clients make data-driven decisions and realize untapped potential in their businesses. They’ve further strengthened Wipfli’s culture of using creativity, discipline and proven processes to deliver results today, while anticipating tomorrow’s demands.

These are just three examples of how the M&A component of our growth plan has enabled us to add great talent, expand our footprint and develop new capabilities. In turn, we’re better addressing the specific issues facing each of our clients within this dynamic macro-environment and giving them access to the kinds of innovation and solutions to navigate the micro-economic challenges.?

Wipfli isn’t just getting bigger.?We’re getting better. Our dynamic M&A plan is part of our firm’s outward mindset and focus on attracting like-minded professionals to collaborate in taking on new challenges, supporting business opportunities and executing on the firm’s vision. We’re committed to elevating our profession, staying ahead of the innovation curve and better serving every one of our clients, so they can succeed in this complex and evolving world.