Meet Our Team
We pride ourselves on delivering the personal attention, responsive communication and collaborative relationships our customers need to succeed.
Meet Our Founders
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LAWRENCE A. DEBALTZO, CPA, CGMA, CVA
Shareholder, Financial Advisor
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LISA M. MATUSZNY, CPA
Shareholder, Financial Advisor
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LOUIS V. LOPARO, CPA, CITP
Shareholder, Financial Advisor
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JAMES P. GERO, CPA, CGMA
Shareholder Emeritus
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WILLIAM WILDENHEIM, CPA
Shareholder Emeritus
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Brian Davis, CPA
Director
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Graham Blackburn, CPA
Director
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John Foster, CPA
Director
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Melissa Love, CPA
Director
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Shana Nold, CPA
Director
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Ali Chiffon
Audit Manager
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Amy Lippert, CPA
Tax Senior
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Bailee Dawson
Paraprofessional
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Cami Price, CPA, MAcc
Tax Senior
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Chris Duncan
Tax Manager
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David Baldoza, CPA
Manager
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Dina M. Collura
Senior Administrator
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Gwendolyn Timonere
Staff Accountant
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Holly Dyer
Staff Accountant
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James Chase, CPA, MT
Senior Accountant
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Jennifer DeLeva
Administrative Team Leader
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Jorge Suarez, CPA
Manager
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Kassie Armstrong
Manager
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Kevin Stedman
Manager
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Landon Straka
Senior
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Laura A. Weber
Executive Assistant/Client Services Manager
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Lynne Baranek, CPA
Staff Accountant
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Maha Kaddah, CPA
Manager
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Martha Glenn
Payroll Specialist & Bookkeeper
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Mary Kafcsak
Administrative Assistant
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Matthew Stipkovich
Senior Accountant
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Mitchell King
Staff Accountant
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Pat Lysobey, CPA
Manager
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Patty Austin
Firm Administrator
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Robert Scott
Staff Accountant
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Shefali Shah
Staff Accountant
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Tasha Arnold
Administrative Assistant & Marketing Coordinator
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Tetianna Price
Receptionist
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Thad Popchak
Staff Accountant
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Tricia Vega, CPA
Manager
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Vicki Bernardi, CPA, CGMA
Tax Manager
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Yvonne Chmielewski
Payroll Manager
JEROME J. LUCAS
Jerry has transitioned into a new role with Hobe & Lucas as an adviser to the firm and its clients.
LAWRENCE A. DEBALTZO, CPA, CGMA, CVA
Lawrence began his career as a utilities analyst more than 25 years ago, transitioning to public accounting in 1992. Lawrence lives by the philosophy that accountants are storytellers—accountants tell the story of where an individual, family or business has been.
LISA M. MATUSZNY, CPA
In her 25 plus years at Hobe & Lucas, Lisa has developed many long-term client relationships. She specializes in auditing, attestation, compliance and accounting services; focusing on a number of industries including broker dealers, investment companies and other financial service companies, not-for-profits; medical and dental groups; and professional service firms. She also has significant experience working with employee benefit plans, and clients within the construction and manufacturing industries. Lisa is also in charge of recruiting and human resources functions at the firm.
LOUIS V. LOPARO, CPA, CITP
Louis joined Hobe & Lucas in 1998. Through personalized service, he helps clients achieve their strategic, financial, and personal goals by first building effective relationships with clients through trust and dependability.
JAMES P. GERO, CPA, CGMA
Jim joined Hobe & Lucas in 1991. He is proficient in taxes, mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, and litigation support. He provides personalized services to many privately held and family-owned businesses.
WILLIAM WILDENHEIM, CPA
Bill has more than 30 years of accounting and consulting experience. He specializes in several areas, including construction accounting, manufacturing accounting, and sales and use tax consulting.
DAVID M. HOBE, CPA
Dave and high school classmate Jerry Lucas founded Hobe & Lucas in 1978 when he realized his skill set was in public accounting. Since then, he has devoted himself to the firm and its clients.
Brian Davis, CPA
Brian Davis joined Hobe & Lucas in November 1996 as a staff accountant. Over the intervening years, he has worked his way through the ranks to become a Director at the firm, overseeing Employee Benefit Plan audit services.
Graham Blackburn, CPA
Graham joined Hobe and Lucas in 2010 and has demonstrated a uniquely high tolerance for spreadsheets. Now he utilizes varied industry experience to provide businesses with effective and simple solutions.
John Foster, CPA
John is a Tax Director and leads our tax department. He joined Hobe & Lucas in 1997 and has years of experience in both corporate and individual taxes. John serves a variety of small businesses and individuals, helping them with tax planning and compliance.
Melissa Love, CPA
Melissa began her career with Hobe & Lucas in 2005. She prides herself in providing quality tax preparation, accounting and consulting services to closely-held businesses and their owners.
Shana Nold, CPA
Shana Nold joined Hobe & Lucas in September 2017 and serves as a Manager in the Audit department. She began her accounting career as an auditor at a Big Four accounting firm in Cleveland, which was followed by financial planning and accounting management experience in private industry.
Ali Chiffon
She works with a broad range of clients providing audits, reviews, compilations, attest, and compliance work. Ali is also active on several professional committees within Hobe & Lucas.
Amy Lippert, CPA
Amy has experience in public accounting and internal audit. She currently provides tax preparation and planning to individuals and businesses.
Bailee Dawson
Bailee joined Hobe & Lucas in January 2023 as an intern, where she quickly showcased her talent and dedication. Through her hard work and commitment, she developed a wide range of skills that led to her being hired on as a paraprofessional.
Cami Price, CPA, MAcc
Cami Price initially joined Hobe & Lucas in January 2020 as an intern. After briefly leaving for an industry opportunity, she rejoined the team in January 2024 to take on her new role as a Tax Senior.
Chris Duncan
Chris joined Hobe and Lucas in January of 2022. He has over twenty years of public accounting experience working at the national, regional, and local firm level.
David Baldoza, CPA
Dave joined Hobe & Lucas in 2019, bringing nearly thirty years of experience to his role. He works closely with small businesses, non-profits, and individual clients, advising them on a range of critical matters.
Dina M. Collura
Dina joined Hobe & Lucas in December 1993 and currently serves as a Senior Administrator. In this role, her responsibilities encompass processing tax returns, typing and formatting financial documents, scanning, e-filing, and preparing letters, memos, and correspondence for partners and staff.
Gwendolyn Timonere
Gwendolyn joined the Hobe & Lucas team in 2022. She has almost 10 years of accounting experience.
Holly Dyer
Holly began her journey at Hobe & Lucas as an intern in January 2024. She transitioned to a full-time staff accountant position by May 2024, shortly after earning her bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Akron. Holly's area of expertise lies in tax accounting, where she is entrusted with the crucial tasks of preparing and completing both individual and business tax returns.
James Chase, CPA, MT
Jim has over 25 years of accounting knowledge and experience specializing in audits and tax services of small to medium sized businesses.
Jennifer DeLeva
Jennifer joined Hobe & Lucas in October 2020 as the Administrative Team Leader. In this role, she efficiently manages the processing operations for all business, personal, and various federal, state, and local tax return filings.
Jorge Suarez, CPA
Jorge handles accounting, tax and other services for clients of varying size and complexity, mostly in manufacturing, construction and retail. He has been in public accounting since 1996.
Kassie Armstrong
Works with a variety of clients in several areas including but not limited to construction, not-for-profits, and professional services. Provides a wide array of tax services to individuals, businesses, trusts, and tax exempt entities.
Kevin Stedman
Kevin joined Hobe & Lucas in 2002. He works on domestic and international tax matters for closely-held and public companies, ranging from startups to companies with more than $1 billion in revenue.
Landon Straka
Landon Straka joined Hobe & Lucas in September 2022 as a Staff Accountant and was quickly promoted to Senior Accountant in June 2023. His attention focuses mainly on a wide range of tax preparation for individuals, partnerships, S corporations, C corporations, and the occasional estate, nonprofit, and trust.
Laura A. Weber
Laura Weber joined Hobe & Lucas in February of 2024 as Executive Assistant/Client Services Manager. As a well-seasoned administrative professional, she provides comprehensive executive support to the managing partner and offers expertise in process and project management.
Lynne Baranek, CPA
Lynne Baranek, CPA, joined Hobe & Lucas in 2021 and serves as a staff accountant in the tax department. She specializes in working with real estate partnerships, single-member LLCs, and individual tax returns, providing expert guidance to clients in these areas.
Maha Kaddah, CPA
Maha joined Hobe & Lucas in 2000. She provides professional services in the areas of accounting, financial statements, attest services, payroll compliance, and tax return preparation to a variety of closely held businesses.
Martha Glenn
Martha has worked in Accounting for over 10 years. Her specialties include Bookkeeping, Payroll and Tax. She is certified in Payroll Processing and Tax Preparation. When she is not studying to sit for the CPA exam she enjoys homeschooling her two toddlers. Martha is a problem solver who enjoys helping clients achieve their financial goals while treating them with dignity and respect.
Mary Kafcsak
Mary joined the Hobe & Lucas team in October of 2022. Administrative/Management has been a passion for 25+ years. Her duties include all forms of administrative support for the admin team. Outside the office, Mary enjoys spending time with her children, family & friends. She also enjoys a creative outlet via videography, cooking and traveling the world.
Matthew Stipkovich
Matt joined Hobe & Lucas in July 2024 as a Senior Accountant in the firm’s audit practice. He began his career in January 2021 with another firm, and after gaining experience and obtaining his CPA license, Matt moved to the Cleveland area to start with Hobe & Lucas.
Mitchell King
Mitchell King joined Hobe & Lucas as a Staff Accountant, bringing experience primarily in tax, with a focus on state and local taxes. He is excited to contribute to the team and enhance the firm’s tax services.
Pat Lysobey, CPA
Patrick is a senior tax executive with twenty-six years of tax and accounting experience, and strong technical and communication skills. He has extensive knowledge of current tax laws and is adept at recognizing and developing new planning strategies in response to changes in the law.
Patty Austin
Patty Austin has served as Firm Administrator at Hobe & Lucas since June 2017. She has a proven track record of transforming disorganized environments into efficient operations. Patty excels in refining administrative processes to enhance accuracy and efficiency.
Robert Scott
Rob joined the Hobe & Lucas team in September 2023. He has an education in accounting with a tax concentration. His focus is on tax preparation for individuals and he continues to gain experience in other accounting areas.
Shefali Shah
Shefali joined Hobe & Lucas in July 2024 as a Staff Accountant focusing on the audit practice, after graduating from Case Western Reserve University.
Tasha Arnold
Tasha Arnold joined Hobe & Lucas in January 2021 and plays a dual role in the administrative department as an Administrative Assistant and Marketing Coordinator.
Tetianna Price
Tetianna Price joined Hobe & Lucas in April 2024, right at the height of tax season. Though new to the tax world, she has embraced this career path and enjoys the opportunities it brings.
Thad Popchak
Thad has been working with an extensive range of clients since 1998, providing tax, attest and accounting services.
Tricia Vega, CPA
Tricia Vega joined Hobe & Lucas in 2020, bringing over 20 years of experience in public accounting from her work with regional and national firms. In her role, she serves both individual and business clients across various industries, providing them with technical expertise in accounting, tax planning, and tax compliance.
Vicki Bernardi, CPA, CGMA
Vicki joined Hobe and Lucas in 2008 as a manager in the firm’s Tax Department. She has been in public accounting for more than 30 years, and she is a published author in The Journal of Accountancy.
Yvonne Chmielewski
Yvonne Chmielewski is the Payroll Manager for GreenSmart Payroll Solutions, LLC (Hobe & Lucas’s affiliated payroll company). She brings over 20 years of professional experience to her role, having joined Hobe & Lucas as a crucial member of the Support Staff team.
Hobe & Lucas Certified Public Accountants, Inc. is a full-service accounting and business consulting firm dedicated to providing clients with exceptional value.
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Investment advisory services are offered through Avantax Planning PartnersSM. Commission-based brokerage services are offered through Avantax Investment ServicesSM, Member FINRA, SIPC. Insurance services offered through licensed agents of Avantax Planning Partners. 3200 Olympus Blvd., Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75019. The Avantax entities are independent of and unrelated to Hobe & Lucas Certified Public Accountants, Inc.
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