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This week, Dean Flores would like to thank and recognize Al Tanju. Dean shared, “I would like to recognize Al for stepping up on multiple projects and putting forth the time, commitment, and patience as we continue to grow our practice. In the midst of all the client work, Al is very committed outside of the office where he is active in Rotary (Vinings chapter) and serves as Treasurer for the Georgia Soccer Association. On top of that, he found time to study for the CISA certification, an accreditation that is simply a requirement for what we do…..and passed the first time and scored in the top 5% of all candidates tested this year!”

Please join us in congratulating Al!

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WB’s Tax Assembly Team has a fantastic addition joining on Monday, August 11th: Pat Barton. Pat has a pretty exciting background, as he played college soccer at U.C. Irvine, played professionally in Croatia, is an Eagle Scout, and ... an aspiring naval doctor who has already received all his grant work from the U.S. Navy to move forward with his studies. You might want to get to know him before he departs after busy season! Pat joins us by way of referral from Jefferson Manners - many thanks from the firm for this introduction.

HR Reminders

HR Director Kim Hensarling wants to remind you of three key dates: 1) The deadline for the signed Employment and Confidentiality Agreement to be turned in has now passed. If you haven’t already done so, please turn yours in as soon as possible. HR will circle up to any outstanding contracts next week. 2) Supervisor/coach reviews are underway and will be complete by Friday,August 15th. And 3) The next firm update meeting will be held upstairs in the Magnolia Conference Rooms on Tuesday, August 19th.

Thank you!

WB has been a long-time winner of awards for being a great place to work - these nominations and awards are the direct result of your input. The recent surveys that circulated from Accounting Today and Atlanta Business Chronicle required very high response rates to qualify, and we knocked it out of the park with both! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Now - who’s ready for baseball?

The employee summer outing is next Thursday, August 14th! We will head out to watch the Atlanta Braves take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (game starts at 12:10 pm). HR will follow up with all attendees shortly regarding tickets and transportation.

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Smith, Gambrell & Russell is a mid-sized business law firm with which Windham Brannon has successfully partnered over many years. We have very similar client bases and among the clients our firms share and support are Multimetco, Alotech and Walle Corp., as well as numerous individuals for private client services. In addition to Business Law and Litigation, SGR’s specialty practices include Manufacturing, Technology and Intellectual Property, Sustainability, Aviation, Timberlands, International Tax, and an International Practice (with many Korean, German and European companies).

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The theme for Insights 2014 has been set: “Georgia’s on our minds!”. Save the date invitations are being mailed this week. We are excited to announce that we have confirmed the following external speakers: keynote David Cummings (Atlanta Tech Village, Founder), Doug MacGinnittie (State Revenue Commissioner), Elmer Stancil (Department of Economic Development, Community & Government Relations Manager), John Stephens (College Football Hall of Fame), Doug Shipman (National Center for Civil and Human Rights), and AJ Robinson (Central Atlanta Progress).

Denise Mummert has shared a great blog entry with us: “Corporate Tax Round-Up: Sticky Issues, 2014 Changes and Impact on CFOs”. Donna Caruso has also shared her insights via her blog entry on revenue recognition. Be sure to go online and check out their expert opinions on these impactful matters - and watch for more great info from Heidi LaMarca and again, Denise. Many thanks to all of our helpful bloggers!

Reminder - WB is up and running with the Umano app, which narrates our blog entries so you can stay up to speed from anywhere. Check out the details on that here - and share with your clients, please!

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Highlighting our excellent working relationship, the firms recently collaborated on a joint pitch to the City of Gainesville, Florida for a matter involving legal and forensic accounting issues. SGR’s pragmatic approach to assisting clients and making sure that the “meter is not always running” to better foster client communications fits perfectly with the value-added approach taken by both our firms. For more information contact Brett Lockwood, Partner, at 404-815-3674 or blockwood@sgrlaw.com.

VP of Marketing John Yeager has been appointed to the Board of Safe Kids Georgia, a non-profit organization dedicated solely to preventing unintentional childhood injury. More children ages 1 to 14 die from accidents such as motor vehicle crashes, drowning, and falls than any other cause, and they’re out to raise awareness and in turn, save children.

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Friday, August 15: Supervisor/Coach Reviews EndTuesday, August 19: Firm Update Monday, September 1: Office Closed in Observance of Labor DayThursday, November 13: Insights 2014

We'd love your input! If you would like to contribute something to the WB newsletter, please email HR.

Here are some facts about the food needs within Georgia:

• 18.9 percent of the people living in Georgia are food insecure, meaning that they don’t always know where they will find their next meal.

• 28.1 percent of Georgia children live in food insecure households. This is up from 28.3% last year and is well over one in every four Georgia children. The USDA defines food insecurity as the lack of access to adequate food resulting from the lack of money and other resources.

• Monthly allotments for food-insecure families receiving food stamps decreased beginning Nov. 1, 2013. $36 less each month for a household of four.

• 27.2 percent of Georgia’s children live in poverty – up from 26.3 % last year. The new number moves Georgia to the 6th highest childhood poverty rate in the U.S.

• 19.2 percent of Georgians are living in poverty – just slightly up from 19.1 percent reported in 2012. Poverty in Georgia increased from 12.9% in 2000 to 19.2% in 2012 – an increase of almost 1 million Georgians over the past 12 years.

• From 2000 to 2010, the number of poor individuals in the Atlanta metro suburbs more than doubled, growing by 122%.

• More than one in every ten senior citizens in Georgia is living in poverty (11.2% ) – This new number reflects a slight increase from 10.9% last year.

• As of 2014, Georgia remains one of only 4 states with minimum wage rates under the federal rate. Georgia’s minimum wage is $5.15/hour.

We appreciate your donation of $5 or more to support this cause. Remember if you would like to use your contributions to the WB Foundation as a tax deduction, please be sure to include your name with any cash donation. Please make checks out to “WB Foundation” and bring them to the reception desk on Friday. Since we will be sponsoring the same charity for the entire month, feel free to write one check and pay for all at once!

August’s Jeans Day donations will benefit The Atlanta Community Food Bank. This coincides with ACFB’s Food Fight in which we have registered to participate. We will split our office into two teams and have a friendly competition within our firm as we compete against the other participating firms in Atlanta to see who can collect the most food and/or money.