Howard Cheney:

There was some discussion on how we might be able to combine resources and really help solidify the future of the businesses. Those discussions came together with the merger that took place in 2004. First year, we operated in 2 separate locations and then in 2005, we moved into our location at Whitney Ave.

It's worked really well. We were able to combine the strengths of both practices: being local businesses, serving local clients. 

Rudy D'Agostino:

We were competitors for the longest time. We started talking about joining forces so that we could pool our resources and have even better service in our area.

Kristina Houghton:

Our 2 firms were operating in some of the same spaces but we also had different niches. For example, both firms had a lot of clients in the medical field but Meyers Brothers had a lot of clients in the nonprofit industry (so a lot of summer work), whereas Joseph Kalicka and Co. didn’t have as much summer work so that was a good fit. Joseph Kalicka and Co. had lot of work in the construction and real estate industries so it was just clear that we would be stronger together.

James Krupienski:

N/A – joined the year after merger.

Kristi Reale:

We were the 2 strongest firms in Western Mass. Instead of competing, it made more sense to join forces and be the best in the region. 

David Kalicka:

In 2003, Stuart Meyers called me and wanted to talk about a potential merger. So Ed Stambovsky and I met with Stu and Rich Chase and we decided that it had been 50 years since we’ve been competing against each other and we’d both do better if we merged. 

It’s worked great. It’s helped us to survive different challenges. We’ve been around for a long time and have been approached by several bigger firms to merge and have turned them down.