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Right from the Start
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By Kevin Kipp
James G. Castellano
Managing Partner
Rubin, Brown, Gornstein & Co.
James Castellano’s dad was the Jimmy in Jimmy & Andy’s.
That’s precisely proper punctuation for the plural possessive. Of
course, you’d expect no less, even at one of the city’s classic,
if unassuming, taverns. Back then, they did things right.
Well, Jimmy must’ve passed it on to James. The younger one has been
doing things right at Rubin, Brown, Gornstein & Co. since 1973.
That’s when he graduated from Rockhurst College, the second Jesuit
institution for which he played soccer in his then young life.
“I started at RBG on May 29,” Castellano says. “It was my first
job. I was impressed with the people and the work they did.”
They were impressed with him, too. He has run RBG since rising to
managing partner in 1989.
Also in 1973, Castellano married Karen Clark. It was another instance
of saving the best for first. “We met as infants,” Castellano explains.
“Our parents lived across the street on Norma Court in South St.
Louis. Her dad worked for the railroad. They left St. Louis for
awhile, and came back when she was in high school.”
St. Elizabeth, if you must know.
The Castellanos have two daughters. Ann, 25, works at Busch Creative.
Cori, 23, “just completed a master’s in accounting from Mizzou,
took her CPA exam and will go to work for PriceWaterhouseCoopers,”
he says.
And how does it feel to have your own go work for THEM? “Proud,”
Castellano answers without hesitation. “It’s a great firm.”
It helps that the firms aren’t locked in death match competition.
There’s some overlap. But, Castellano explains, “the national firms
are worldwide, global. They largely serve publicly held companies
doing business globally. Our niche is closely held, owner-managed,
entrepreneurial companies.”
Besides, Castellano is vice chairman of the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants. Its 330,000 CPA-members are both competitor
and constituent.
Castellano will take the reins as chairman later this year. He’ll
be the first Missourian to head up what for lawyers would be the
ABA, or for docs would be the AMA.
“It’s an honor and privilege to lead an organization this large
and play a leadership role in shaping its direction,” he says.
Besides his long involvement with the AICPA, Castellano has been
a member of a couple of small business-oriented committees of the
Financial Accounting Standards Board, and has been a director of
Summit International Associates, an international organization of
accounting firms.
He is proud of his profession like he is of his daughters. “The
accounting profession in the U.S. is one of the most respected institutions
in the world,” he says. “It plays an integral part now in auditing
standards globally [especially since the Asian financial crisis
rattled markets a few years back]. It has the potential to touch
so many organizations and to impact commerce worldwide.”
Castellano also sees his profession expanding its scope. “CPAs have
moved beyond accounting, tax and audit services. We have been increasing
our emphasis on strategic business and technology consulting services,
to help organizations compete in challenging environments.”
At RBG, the largest locally owned accounting and consulting firm
in St. Louis, CPA-consultants help clients with everything from
benefits and staffing to succession planning, ESOPs, mergers and
acquisitions. Their technology consulting can touch on anything
from accounting and financial systems to sales management and customer
relations management software.
“We’re really a CPA-slash-professional services firm,” Castellano
summarizes. “Our mission is to help our clients improve their financial
positions and operations.”
If Castellano’s leadership in professional societies underscores
his credentials and capabilities, what do his civic and charity
work say about his virtues and commitments?
He chairs Fontbonne College’s Regents. He was treasurer for the
Clayton Chamber of Commerce. He now serves on the Archdiocese of
St. Louis budget committee, the board of the SSM Cardinal Glennon
Childrens’ Hospital foundation, and co-chairs the Bob Costas Gala
for Glennon’s Costas Cancer Center.
Jim Orsund, executive VP for the board of governors at Cardinal
Glennon, says, “Volunteerism is above and beyond the job, and we’re
grateful when someone is willing to help. But the skills of some
excellent managers don’t always transfer to skills as volunteers.”
Castellano makes it look easy, Orsund says. “He serves on the finance
and investment committee, and he brings the same attention to detail
and strong people skills to this work as he does to his bread and
butter job.”
Orsund says that Castellano has been in on the Costas Gala from
day one. The event has raised more than $10 million, he says, a
lot of it thanks to “Jim’s willingness to do a job very few of us
want, but one in which he excels. He’s in charge of the corporate
sponsorship. I think he views it as a higher calling to offer his
business peers the opportunity to do the right thing for the kids.”
Just how Jimmy would like it.
Kevin Kipp runs Bubble Communications, a creative services and
community relations firm in St. Charles. |
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