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Larry Kean

Secretary & Treasurer/CFO
A & A Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Wauwatosa, WI

 

Larry Kean faced lots of life-changing events during his years at Marquette University. He met the girl of his dreams, he fell in love with Marquette basketball and he decided to become a CPA.

But even before he started college, Larry had an interest in accounting. In high school, his mom’s family ran a small manufacturing business in Chicago where he spent time working in the office doing bookkeeping. There he got a “taste of operating a business and the desire to work in a business environment.” He felt then that “accounting would be a good foundation for a business career.”

He was definitely right.

Larry spent about 10 years at various companies before joining A&A Manufacturing Co., Inc. as the Chief Financial Officer in 1984. In the time he has been with A&A, he’s helped the company grow “from 100 employees to about 380 with sales rising from $13 million per year to $65 million per year.”

Not too shabby for someone who used to work for $1 an hour cleaning a restaurant.

Along the way, Larry married his college girlfriend and he still enjoys cheering on the Golden Eagles basketball team. Plus, he’s helped increase his company’s revenue five times from what it was when he started.

“I love serving as the Chief Financial Officer of a thriving small business, working with talented sales, engineering and manufacturing people to make the company successful for its owners and employees,” Larry says. “It is a very good feeling knowing that hundreds of employees and their families have benefited from our joint efforts and accomplishments.”

Larry gives a lot of the credit for his success to his decision to become a CPA. “An accounting degree and a CPA certificate make the best foundation for a business career, whichever type of position you pursue,” he says. “The CPA credential tells the world you have mastered that knowledge and can build from there with the sky being the limit.”

And even though he figured it out as he went along, Larry knows that “everyone has anxieties and self-doubts through high school, college and while finding themselves in their careers.” But don’t worry, “it'll turn out alright,” he says. Trust him. He knows from experience.

Got questions of your own? Ask a CPA.