Summary: [00:00:03]<br> John Langan: When Don was tasked with leading CLA’s Higher Ed practice way back in 1999, we had all of three clients, who quite frankly did not even like the firm. They said we didn’t know their industry, we didn’t know them, and our audit work was purely technical. Don set about changing that, and the rest is, as they say, history.<br> You’ll love his funny and insightful stories about how to build true industry specialization through a commitment to knowing and helping our clients and how in higher ed, it has built a national $20 million practice that continues to provide opportunities for our clients and our people.<br> [00:00:54]<br> John Richter: Welcome, CLA family. This is the next edition of “Industry Forward,” a podcast designed to tell stories behind the CLA promise. The focus of “Industry Forward” is of course industry specialization, one of our core beliefs, strategic advantages, and drivers of our business. Today, I have with me Don Loberg, who leads our higher ed practice. Looking forward to hearing his story. Before we do that, let’s just some quick reminders about industry specialization.<br> [00:01:24]<br> It’s not about doing our work and specializing in the industry; it’s about immersing ourselves in the industry. I know that’s the story you’re gonna hear here, and it’s a belief that if we specialize, we’ll be better equipped to fulfill the CLA promise, create more opportunities, because we’ll know our clients better and naturally help them. So, without further ado, I want to introduce to you Don and allow him to tell his story. Why don’t we just start at the beginning, and why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?<br> [00:01:54]<br> Don Loberg: Sure. Well, I graduated from the University of Minnesota with an accounting degree. And I started off thinking, you know, going into SEC was the way to go. That’s how you made your money. And when we were in college, that’s what the professors told you. So when I left, I was looking for that firm. I landed at a national firm, and they picked me up. And they did some SEC, but they did pretty much everything. So when I started, I’m tellin’ ya, it was crazy.<br> [00:02:24]<br> In the first year I counted up, I did audits of 15 different industries. Unfortunately, the work that we did just was not good. I mean, I–and I could tell just from what we were doing. Just everybody was doing everything. And unfortunately for me, two years into my career, that firm ceased to exist. Why? They got sued because they didn’t do their job. They didn’t know–they didn’t know the industries.<br> [00:02:52]<br> So I left that firm. I was lucky enough my father was a CPA as well, so I’m a second generation CPA. And he picked me up in a small firm, and he gave me a small taste of what non-profit auditing could be. But I was still doing for-profits and ESOPS and all sorts of things. But I kinda gravitated towards the non-profit world a little bit and enjoyed it.<br> [00:03:16]<br> Flash forward, my father was retiring, and he asked if I wanted to take the firm, and I said, “I’m not ready for this. I’m not partner material.”<br> [00:03:23]<br> John: How many years of experience did you have at that point?<br> [00:03:26]<br> Don: I had five years’ experience. So I’m sitting here with five years’ experience, and my father is saying, “I’ll give you the business.” And I said, “I’m–I’m not ready. I don’t even know if I want to do this my whole life.” And we found LarsonAllen, now a CLA, emerged in. So we merged in, and they asked, “Can you do some for-profit stuff, and can you do some non-profit stuff?” And I said, “Sure, I’ll do my best.
