Atlanta-based accounting firm expands in Chattanooga

An Atlanta-based accounting firm that opened a Chattanooga office in January has already expanded into larger facilities as it grows its presence in Chattanooga.

Windham Brannon, which was founded in 1957 and grew to become an IPA top 200 accounting firm last year from its single office in Atlanta, added an office in downtown Chattanooga in January and has outgrown that space. Chattanooga accountant Matt Stelzman, a veteran CPA and business consultant who joined Windham Brannon in the fall of 2020, said the firm relocated its new Chattanooga office over the weekend to the Somer station co-working space developed by the Society of Work in North Chattanooga.

The new office will house the nine-person Chattanooga staff at least for the next six months as the firm expects to continue to grow, Stelzman said in a telephone interview Monday.

Stelzman, the managing principal for the accounting firm in Chattanooga, said Windham Brannon has explored buying other local accounting firms in the market. But now, the accounting firm has decided to expand on its own after initially opening a local office at 651 E. Fourth St.

“We were looking to expand by acquiring another business, but there are not many accounting firms in Chattanooga and finding one that wants to sell is pretty difficult,” Stelzman said.

Stelzman is a former accounting and business consultant for both Henderson, Hutcherson & McCullough and Decosimo Corporate Finance who taught finance courses at John Brown University, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Bryan College. During the pandemic, as office work shifted to remote sites, he joined Windham Brannon and convinced the firm’s leadership last year to open an office in Chattanooga where he was building a growing business while working remotely.

Inside Public Accounting listed Windham Brannon as the 136th biggest CPA firm in the country with net revenues of nearly $32.5 million last year even before the company expanded its office footprint into Tennessee.

Heidi LaMarca, CEO and managing partner for Windham Brannon, said opening the Chattanooga office “is a natural next step” and he said the new facility “will be able to better serve the Tennessee market and provide better support for our employees.”

Windham Brannon offers a range of tax, assurance and advisory services to the Tennessee market, offering premier knowledge and technical skill to the construction, health care, manufacturing, not-for-profit, professional services, real estate, restaurants and technologies industries, LaMarca said.

“We are thrilled to already need more space here in Chattanooga,” Stelzman said in an announcement of the company’s new location. “It’s a sign of the firm’s quick positive impact here in Tennessee.”

Contact Dave Flessner at [email protected] or 423-757-6340.