Mike Vergo, Office Managing Partner – Jacksonville, RSM
In an interview with Invest:, Mike Vergo, Jacksonville office managing partner of professional services firm RSM, talked about establishing and growing RSM in the region. “As the leading firm to the middle market, our vision is to be known globally for delivering innovative solutions, lasting value and confidence. Our purpose is to instill confidence in a world of change. We do this through our strategy and our culture, which is a powerful competitive advantage that differentiates RSM from local competitors and the big four. Our focus on middle market companies places us strongly throughout the globe,” he said.
How did RSM establish itself in Jacksonville and why is the city a good fit for the firm?
Our market research showed that while Jacksonville was represented by the nation’s largest firms and some local or regional ones, no one was focused on middle-market companies. That is where we saw Jacksonville’s potential and decided to open RSM. As the leading firm to the middle market, our vision is to be known globally for delivering innovative solutions, lasting value and confidence. Our purpose is to instill confidence in a world of change. We do this through our strategy and our culture, which is a powerful competitive advantage that differentiates RSM from local competitors and the big four. Our focus on middle market companies places us strongly throughout the globe. By focusing on serving this critical segment of the market we have been able to achieve faster growth than local or regional firms in the market.
Jacksonville overall did well with COVID, and one of the things that we saw coming out of it was a lot of transfers of money into Florida. Also, employees from other markets found the standard of living in Florida better than what they were seeing elsewhere. In Jacksonville, we had a lot of success hiring people, both externally as well as with transfers internally from across the firm with individuals relocating to Jacksonville. As the City of Jacksonville continues to invest in city development and the potential development of the new Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium, the abundance of green spaces, waterways and beaches Jacksonville is getting national attention as a great city to live in. There is a lot of excitement around this, and these are all movements in the right direction.
We are excited about the growth of Jacksonville and RSM and the numerous projects going on. The lifestyle here is still unparalleled. It isn’t crowded, it’s laidback, and has beautiful waterways and beaches. We want to continue to focus on that advantage. I feel like the city is not looking to grow at all costs, but appropriate growth that allows us to move at a responsible pace.
One challenge I think Jacksonville is facing is that the cost of living has significantly increased in relation to home values and rents. That is important as we look at appropriately compensating our employees so they can live here. In that regard, there has been a little bit of a slowdown, and some home prices have moderated. There has been a great deal of demand and a lot of building here in single and multifamily homes. That has created some breathing space for future buyers or renters.
How is recruitment through colleges and local social media working in regard to retaining and hiring new employees?
We have a nationally driven strategic recruiting platform, where we have dedicated recruiters. But we also align with people on the client service side who partner with our recruiters including myself. I lead the Florida State University recruiting team, and we have hired 1,000 students from that institution. The recruiting environment has certainly changed. There is a lot more one-on-one interaction and mixed recruiting, with online connectivity, but there is also still a lot of in-person recruiting. Last year, we were fortunate that Florida State ended up being our most successful recruiting school compared to any other university in the country, and we hired more students from FSU placing these individuals in the firm across our 89 locations in the U.S. That demonstrates that there is a good connection, and students understand our value proposition, which is good for our middle-market spot in the industry.
What trends, industries, or sub sectors are leading Jacksonville into the future in terms of growth, and how is RSM using technology to stay one step ahead?
Jacksonville’s top industries representing the middle market span across banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics. We are seeing increases in both fintech and technology companies as they serve many of these top industries in the market. Jacksonville continues to have logistical advantages, with easy access to intersecting interstates, making it easy to move product north or south as well as a busy port. In addition, we are also seeing growth in construction, transportation and industrials.
As for RSM, we are rapidly deploying technology to be more efficient in our client work and for our clients to drive revenue and reduce risk through digital transformation of their systems. Our firm has a vision to become a digital firm, and we feel we are leading the accounting industry in ways to use technology to bring our vision to life. This digital transformation has been a large focus of our senior leadership, and how we can deliver more value to clients, so they can alter their cost paradigm or how they reach their market/customers with agility and speed. A key benefit that digital transformation has when replacing legacy infrastructure is that it helps keep up with today’s rapid pace of change.
