Ozarks Profile

President, Hlavacek, Morris & McIntyre PC, Certified Public Accountants, 1200 E. Woodhurst Dr., S-100. The firm provides accounting and payroll services to businesses and individuals throughout the Ozarks. Hlavacek founded the firm in 1977 with the help of "a few supportive clients." The firm has grown to include two additional stockholders, two other full-time CPAs on staff and "the best secretarial staff in Springfield," Hlavacek said. The firm started in downtown Springfield in the old Park Central Towers building, moved south to National Street near St. John's Health Center in 1979 and then to Woodhurst Office Park, where the company designed and built its own building. Hlavacek is a member of the AICPA and MSCPA, where he currently serves on the Peer Review Executive Committee. He is the past chairman of the West Side Report Acceptance Committee. He is also treasurer of the Pre-College Programs for gifted children on the Drury College campus, past president of the Ozark Empire Kiwanis Club, past board member and treasurer of Twin Oaks Country Club, secretary-treasurer of Woodhurst Condominium Office Park Association, past treasurer of the Child Advocacy Center and an elder and former president of the Board of Trustees at First and Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Age: 50.

No. of years in Springfield/area: Moved to Springfield from St. Louis in 1972.

Education: Attended grade school and high school in his hometown of Eldon (home of the Mustangs). Graduated from high school in 1965 and entered the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration, with a major in accounting, in May of 1969.

Early career: "My interest in accounting was sparked in junior high school by a Boy Scout leader who was a prominent local accountant," Hlavacek said. After graduating from college, he joined the audit department in the St. Louis office of Ernst & Ernst, one of the largest international accounting firms in the world. "My training and experience there was invaluable," Hlavacek said. After three years and promotion to senior accountant, Hlavacek and his wife decided to move their family to Springfield with hopes of reducing Hlavacek's travel and bringing the family "to a community where we could raise our children in a comfortable atmosphere," he said. After five years with the audit department of another national CPA firm located in Springfield, Hlavacek "fulfilled a lifelong dream to begin my own CPA firm, setting the tone for the types of services I wanted to provide for my clients," he said.

Current projects: "From Jan. 1 to April 15, we will participate in what we call tax season. Due to the massive volume of work created by the Internal Revenue Service, most income tax filings for individuals and businesses fall during this period. You can usually find us working in the evenings and on weekends trying to meet the deadlines," Hlavacek said.

Management philosophy: The firm provides service and expertise in the fields of accounting and tax to clients. To do that adequately, Hlavacek said, he has always tried to surround himself with competent individuals who understand that service means providing what clients want in a competent and professional manner. "Teamwork within our office and personal service to our clients is our primary goal. In addition, trying to balance the importance of our families with our hectic work schedule is a key factor in keeping our quality staff. Flex-time for employees to participate in family activities is essential to keeping all of us from burning out in a very stressful business," Hlavacek said.

Spare-time pursuits: Hlavacek plays golf and also loves to ski in Colorado. His other pursuits include traveling with family and friends to new and unusual places, hiking at the Nature Center with his wife and running at the downtown YMCA with his friends.

Family data: His wife, Marcia is a kindergarten teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School and the two have three sons, all graduates of Kickapoo High School. Nick, 27 is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and is married and living in Cheyenne, Wyo. Tony, 24, is in his second year of medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Chris, 21, is in his junior year at Texas Christian University.

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