Beth Kieffer Leonard and Stacie G. Usem Among 2012 Top Women in Finance

Oct. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP is pleased to announce that Beth Kieffer Leonard, managing partner, and Stacie G. Usem, partner, have been selected by Finance & Commerce as 2012 Top Women in Finance. This is Finance & Commerce’s 12th year honoring women who are making outstanding contributions to their professions and communities in Minnesota. Leonard and Usem will be honored by Finance & Commerce on November 1 at a dinner and awards presentation at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.  

Beth Kieffer Leonard is managing partner of Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, a Minneapolis-based audit, tax and consulting firm. Leonard is one of the few women managing partners in the accounting industry nationwide. “Since joining Lurie Besikof Lapidus in 1984, Beth has advocated passionately on behalf of her clients, especially women who have traditionally been excluded from financing and access to capital avenues,” said Wendy Frame, Lurie Besikof Lapidus partner. “She has also helped pave the way to partnership for other women professionals at Lurie Besikof Lapidus.” Leonard is well known in the Twin Cities as a business and civic leader. She was instrumental in co-founding and expanding the Women’s Business Development Center-Minnesota, and is deeply involved in sponsoring and supporting the Women Presidents’ Organization. She further serves on numerous community nonprofit boards.

Stacie Usem, who began her career with Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company in 1989, joined the partnership in 2000. Usem focuses her practice on services to entrepreneurial companies. She is active in the Women’s Health Leadership Trust, the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and the Minnesota Medical Group Management Association, among other organizations. “Stacie is more than an outstanding financial professional,” said Robin Kocina, co-owner and chief operating officer of Kocina Marketing & Branding Companies. “Stacie is a leader who deserves recognition for her dedication to enriching the lives of people in our community. Her tireless involvement in many different local nonprofit organizations as a mentor, a board member and a friend is inspiring.”

Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP (http://www.lblco.com/) is a leading Twin Cities CPA firm providing audit, tax and consulting services to companies and individuals. Founded in 1940, the firm today has 130 employees. Lurie Besikof Lapidus is a founding member of the Leading Edge Alliance, the second largest international association of independent CPA firms with more than 180 firms in 100 countries.