"It's not about me, but the people and the clients."

If there is a phrase that defines Schechter Dokken Kanter CPAs, this is it. At our forming in 1990, the leaders of SDK declared that ours would be a firm that strives to know each and every client on a personal level, and that we would apply our intense technical training and background to each client's situation.

Today, when we look back, we take pride in how adherence to that vision of being a firm of integrity of practice and authenticity of relationships has allowed us and those we serve to succeed. We are heartened by the fact that we have attracted and now encourage a new generation of accounting professionals who recognize and share our sense that by always doing the right thing for the client, we assure the future and continuity of the firm.

What will we look like 20 years from now? We do not know. Perhaps, as partner Chuck Selcer muses, the firm will still "be at the same address, but have more rooms -- maybe all of the 16th floor, and the 15th, too." Certainly, we hope the firm will, as partner Bill Belvedere observes, "always draw on the past, so that we project our strengths into the future."

But as partner Joe Kenyon reflects, "When we turn this practice over to younger people, we want them to have all the benefits of the firm's history. To do that we have to be playing our A-game today. That's what will ensure the future."

Thank you for being part of the SDK legacy.