THE STORY BEHIND ABDO, EICK & MEYERS – CHAPTER 6: A SEASON OF GROWTH
October 30, 2013
Joe continued to add clients to his burgeoning practice while holding fast to his commitment to quality, honest service. Soon he realized it was time to expand.
The first expansion of JM Abdo & Company was an office in New Ulm, a small community just west of Mankato. There, Andy Biebl worked for Joe, and Joe sold the office to him after a couple of years. They worked out a payment plan in which Andy would repay Joe over 10 years. Andy never missed a payment—and grew a very successful tax practice.
By 1973, Joe’s son Jay had graduated from Mankato State University and decided to join the firm. It wasn’t long before Jay, along with his friend and fellow student Gerry Eick, started a very successful period of growth.
Jay and Gerry were a great team: Jay brought business in the door and Gerry made sure the firm delivered great service. Gerry and Jay become active in the community and held leadership roles in many organizations, including the Mankato Chamber of Commerce. It’s safe to say their community involvement was a big part of the firm’s success in the 1970s.
In 1976, Joe and Jay decided to expand the firm to Owatonna. (See the story titled “Growing the Firm in New Places.”) So Jay moved to Owatonna, a quaint city located halfway between Rochester and Mankato, and opened a branch office. He quickly grew the practice: by 1980 he employed 15 people!
About that time Jay had the vision to open an office in the Twin Cities to better serve his growing base of clients in the metro area. In 1982 his vision became a reality: the firm established an office in Bloomington.
The branch office in Owatonna remained open until the firm it to its manager in the mid-1990s. (The majority of the clients were retained to the Twin Cities location.)
JM Abdo & Company, now known as Abdo, Abdo & Eick, had come a long way…