PARTNERS  |  KEY PERSONNEL   PARTNERS   MICHAEL J. DIPIRO, CPA, CVA   Professional Education and History   Michael J. DiPiro is a US Navy veteran and a 1981 cum laude graduate of Central Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting.  He passed the CPA exam in November 1981 and has been the tax and small business partner in the firm of Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski, LLC since 1985.  Michael is the tax partner on all engagements and is knowledgeable in all aspects of business, estates and trusts and nonprofit tax reporting.  He has over thirty years of public accounting experience.  He has given many presentations to business, civic and professional organizations.   Michael has prepared many business and pension valuations for marital dissolutions, buy/sell issues and estate and gift tax matters.  He is a Certified Valuation Analyst and has attended numerous courses related to business valuations.  He has testified in court on tax, pension and business valuation matters in Middlesex, Hartford and Tolland counties. Professional Organizations and Activities  Member of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA), the Institute of Business Appraisers, the Connecticut Collaborative Divorce Group and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.   Chairman of the Middletown Downtown Business District (a separate taxing authority created by Statute).  Board member of the Middletown Road Race Committee and the Middletown Kiwanis Club.  Michael is the past treasurer of Nutmeg Big Brothers/Big Sisters and a past officer of the Quarry Ridge Men’s Club.  He is a past president of the Middletown Kiwanis, a board of director’s member and past treasurer of Middlesex Community Technical College Foundation. MICHAEL A. SOKOLOWSKI, CPA   General Experience Highlights As a partner in the firm of Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski, LLC, Michael is responsible for overseeing the audit and consulting services provided to nonprofit entities whose major source of funding is from the State of Connecticut Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and Department of Social Services (DSS).  Presently the vast majority of time spent by Michael is providing services to these types of entities.  With over 20 years of experience working on nonprofit organizations, he has obtained a thorough understanding of not only how these agencies work but also how important it is to have a working relationship with the funding sources in order to better service the client.  Michael spends countless hours on consulting-type services with the sole purpose of obtaining more favorable rates and/or preventing future problems.  Over the past 14 years he has managed the transition of over 40 programs (CLAs, SLAs, Day and ICF/MRs) from troubled entities to new providers. Professional Education and Firm History Michael received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Central Connecticut State University in 1987.  Prior to graduation he began working for this firm as a co-op student.  After graduation he became a staff accountant and received his CPA certificate in 1990.  He worked his way through the positions of Senior Accountant and Manager and became a partner of the firm in 1994.  Presently he is the partner-in-charge of not-for-profit entities which receive funding from DDS and DSS.   Professional Organizations and Activities  Member of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Association for Long-Term Care and Financial Managers (ALTCFM) and the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits (CAN)   Member and past president of the Exchange Club of Middletown and member of the New Britain Elks Club TERESA J. OPALACZ, CPA Professional Education and Firm History   Teresa is an experienced financial accountant with over 20 years in the auditing business serving a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit businesses from the start-up phase to the more mature business structures. A graduate of Holy Cross College, Teresa began her career with Coopers & Lybrand in their Boston office. She later moved to the Hartford office where she became a partner of that firm, and subsequently moved to PricewaterhouseCoopers where she specialized in not-for-profit, higher education, high tech, utilities and telecommunications. She left PwC in 2001 to raise her family and joined Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski, LLC performing financial consulting in technical accounting issues and financial matters.     Teresa was appointed a partner in our firm in 2010 and assumes the role of audit partner for several manufacturing and not-for-profit clients, quality control, audit compliance and staff development and education.    Professional Organizations and Activities Member of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Teresa is an active member of many boards in the local community. She has just completed her term as Chairman of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce having previously served as Treasurer for over 10 years.  She is also on the board of trustees for Mercy High School, corporator for Middlesex Hospital and formerly on the boards at United Way and United Cerebral Palsy.  She serves as an instructor at the Falcon Fraternal Club, coach of many local sports teams and is on the Education Committee of the PTO.  CHRISTOPHER B. CONLEY, CPA Professional Education and History   Christopher is a 2004 magna cum laude graduate of Central Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. He is a 2006 graduate from the University of Hartford with a Masters of Science in Accounting and Taxation (MSAT). Christopher joined the firm as a co-op student while pursuing his Bachelor’s Degree and became a full time accountant upon graduation. Christopher has over 7 years of public accounting experience and became a partner in January 2012.   Christopher has experience in the preparation of individual and business income tax returns of all kinds. He also has experience with the preparation of estate and trust returns and probate accountings. He is the tax partner on all not-for-profit engagements.  Christopher also has experience in the preparation of compiled, reviewed and audited financial statements of for-profit and not-for-profit entities as well as employee benefit plans.   Professional Organizations and Activities  Member of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) President of the Kiwanis Club of Middletown, Member of the Advisory Board of the Middletown Salvation Army and Treasurer of the Central Connecticut Business and Estate Planning Council (CCBEPC)  WELLES R. GUILMARTIN, CPA, EMERITUS Education Graduated from Lehigh University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting.   Professional Experience   Employed at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. from 1969 to 1972. Passed the CPA exam in May 1972, began Welles R. Guilmartin, CPA on October 1, 1972. The firm has grown and is now recognized as Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski, LLC (GDS). The firm began as a general practice firm but instituted a local government and tax-exempt business section in 1976. The firm concentrates its efforts on commercial and tax-exempt organizations, including group homes and charitable organizations.      His areas of expertise include not-for-profits, including State and Federal audits.  He also performs business valuations, executive compensation, internal controls and management controls in addition to his audit responsibilities. This expertise started in the late 1970's when several community projects were founded by Wesleyan University. It was apparent that there was a strong need to have an accountant locally who could assist nonprofit agencies meet their needs of the community. This lead to assisting support organizations, such as banks, to understand the unique accounting issues of nonprofit organizations. In the early 1980's, State and Federal grantors began to rely on CPA’s to audit their programs. As agencies became multi-funded from several granting sources, it became necessary to rethink how nonprofits were audited. By the 1990's this appeared as the Single Audit Act.  Welles has been involved in not only teaching our clients but through professional organizations, agencies in general and other CPA’s, to understand the guidance as it changes through the years.   Accounting Experience Outside the Firm   Welles has been the Treasurer of two churches, the local Visiting Nurse Association, the local Industrial Development Agency (INFORM) and the Middletown Downtown Business District (a separate taxing authority created by Statute).  He has also served as President of the Middletown Rotary Club and Middletown Youth Soccer Association.   Welles has been named to several investment committees and currently serves on the investment committees for the Middlesex United Way and the Middletown Historic Society.  He holds several licenses to sell investment products, however he is not active in that business.   One has to also give back to one’s profession and over the years Welles has taught several courses for the Connecticut Society of CPA’s primarily related to Single Audits and Governmental Auditing Standards.   Welles has served on the local municipal building committee, the local search committee for key employees of the city, and had worked on what was then termed the North End Task Force which established a menu of actions required to clean up the blighted areas of Middletown. That document is still the basis for many of the decisions made by the City of Middletown today.  He has also served on committees to hire key personnel for the City’s School system.   Welles is also a member of professional organizations. In the past, he has served on several committees for the Connecticut Society for Certified Public Accountants including the committees for State and Local Government, Nonprofit, State Corporate Tax and CAAS. Nationally, Welles was placed on the initial American Institutes Upward Mobility for Women, a committee established to educate firms nationwide on the issues affecting the retention of women in the profession.   For the above efforts Welles has received recognition as follows: In 2002 he was chosen as the Accountant Advocate of the year by the Small Business Administration, he has been the only accountant that has concentrated in not-for-profit organizations receiving the award.  In 2004 he was named the Distinguished Citizen by the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. This award means a lot to him because he was selected out of a pool of 200 applicants of many people he truly respects as business leaders in the area. The Chamber has over 2,000 business members and to be given such an award was overwhelming.  Activities and other interests  Golf, racquet ball, tennis, reading and working outdoors.

KEY PERSONNEL     Rebecca Blazejowski, CPA, Manager Becky graduated from Wake Forest University with a Masters in Accounting and began her career at the former Arthur Andersen’s Hartford office auditing both nonprofit and for-profit clients. She left Arthur Andersen to work for the international DMR (now DDS) funded organization, Bethphage (now Mosaic), as their Finance Director in their Connecticut operations. She then moved on to become Finance Director of Hispanic Health Council, a research and service organization serving the Hispanic population in Hartford, that is both Federally and State funded. She decided that she wanted to return to public accounting and joined GDS where her time is entirely devoted to the audits of not-for-profit organizations. Becky is a member of the CSCPA and has served on its Board of Directors. Becky is currently the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for a mid-sized DDS funded agency, servicing her home town, Wallingford, CT. (14 years as a CPA) Michael Kovaleski, CPA, Supervisor Mike is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University.  He went directly to work with a construction firm before joining GDS in 1989.  Mike works on a variety of small business and individual tax clients.  He also performs audits and has become one of our specialists in the audits of group homes.  More importantly, he is our expert on the preparation of the Cost Reports for the Department of Developmental Services and Social Services.  This report defines the future rates established by DSS and the amount of funding to be returned to DDS.  Approximately one half of our clients are DSS/DDS funded.  (17 years as a CPA) Robert Fabricant, CPA, Supervisor Bob graduated from Central Connecticut State University and began his public accounting career with a tax oriented CPA firm in Southern Connecticut, and subsequently moved on to the large regional firm of Kostin, Ruffleess & Co.  He then became the controller of a large auto parts company but decided to return to public accounting in 1996 when he joined GDS.  Bob’s experience and expertise includes small business and individual tax preparation and performing audits of State and Federally funded nonprofits, commercial audits and audits of employee benefit plans.  Additionally, Bob has been designated as the firm specialist in the employee benefit plan area.  (28 years as a CPA) Angela Barone, CPA, Supervisor Angela graduated cum laude from Bryant University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Accounting and from the University of Connecticut with a Masters of Accounting with a concentration in Assurance Services. Angela started her career as a co-op student in 1999 working on both audits and taxes until 2005 where she worked as an internal auditor at The Hartford Financial Services Group on the corporate internal audit team. She later returned to GDS in 2008 and is working on various audit engagements. Angela is also pursuing her certification as a Certified Internal Auditor. (8 years as a CPA)    Katie Rouillard, CPA, Supervisor Katie received her Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2002 and her Masters of Business Administration from Central Connecticut State University in 2005. She began her career at a small CPA firm in Glastonbury that concentrated on nonprofit and municipal clients. She then moved onto the large regional CPA firm of Blum Shapiro. She left Blum Shapiro to work as the Finance Director at a small nonprofit school and decided to return to public accounting in 2009 when she joined GDS. Katie’s experience includes performing audits of nonprofit organizations including those that are State and Federally funded, audits of municipalities and also nonprofit tax return preparation. (6 years as a CPA) Gregory MacLeod, CPA, Supervisor Greg graduated from Southern Connecticut State University and has been working in public accounting for over 8 years for firms of varying sizes, including Whittlesey and Hadley, P.C., UHY LLP, Weinstein and Anastasio.  Greg brought the nonprofit experience and expertise he gained during that time to GDS in 2011.  Greg is currently the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for a private foundation, the Greater Hartford Jaycees Foundation, in Hartford, CT.  Greg is also a member of the Connecticut Society of CPA’s (CSCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).  (3 years as a CPA)   Pamela Grassi, Senior Pamela received her Bachelors of Science in Accounting from St. Leo University.  She also has her Masters of Business Administration from Benedictine University.  Pamela is originally from Chicago where she began her work in the brokerage industry eventually working in manufacturing.  In Chicago, she then changed to public accounting where she worked with businesses in construction, landscaping, manufacturing, legal and service industries.  Pamela brought with her 15 years of experience in accounting, tax services and business consulting.  She also has extensive knowledge of accounting software and is a Certified QuickBooks Instructor.  At GDS, she works with small businesses performing consulting and tax services along with a strong focus on nonprofit tax.   John Todaro, Senior Jack graduated cum laude from Central Connecticut State University with a Bachelors of Science in Accounting in 2008.  He began his career as an intern at the large regional CPA firm, Blum Shapiro in 2007 and upon graduation was hired as a staff accountant at Blum Shapiro in June 2008.  He left Blum Shapiro in 2010 to join GDS.  Jack's experience includes performing audits of nonprofit organizations including those that are State and Federally funded as well as performing audit and attestation services for municipalities, independent schools, manufacturing entities, employee benefit plans and auto dealerships.  Jack has completed the CPA exam and is pursuing the completion of his 150 hour requirement to attain licensure. Jatin Patel, Senior Jatin attended the University of Connecticut and began his career at GDS upon graduation in 2006.  Within a year at GDS, he gained experience with individual tax returns, bookkeeping for clients and auditing both nonprofit organizations and other corporations. Jatin handles a variety of IRS tax matters and is currently studying for the CPA exam. Allison Gagnon, Senior Allison graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a Bachelors of Science in Accounting in December 2008. She started as a co-op student at GDS in May 2008 and transitioned to full-time staff in January 2009. Allison has since completed her graduate degree, Masters of Business Administration, in December 2010, from Southern Connecticut State University, and is in the midst of completing the CPA exam. Allison is also a member of the Connecticut Society of CPA’s (CSCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)   Jessica Standley, Senior Jessica graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelors of Science in Finance in May 2009. She started her career in the accounting field in July 2007 with Riella & Lepak, in Colchester, working with a variety of individual and business clients. She left the firm in December 2011 to gain auditing and additional tax experience at GDS. Jessica is currently working towards her graduate degree, Masters of Accountancy, from the University of Connecticut.