What's New?
Maxwell to Lead Community Health Foundation
9/7/2007
Health Care Heroes Award
8/17/2007
The Austin Business Journal held it's first annual Health Care Heroes Award luncheon at the Hilton Austin Hotel. Out of 34 nominees, Maxwell Locke & Ritter was the only Professional Service firm to receive an award in recognition of our wellness program and employee benefits. Here are some photos from the event - Enjoy!
April 15th Celebration
4/17/2007
In celebration of completing the April 15th deadline, we all gathered in Dale Cox's front yard this year for a third year of fun and festivities together. This year, we had a bounce house for the children, delicious Berts BBQ for dinner, and just enjoyed each other's company.
Please take a minute and look through our photographs.
Capital Area Food Bank Day of Caring
12/14/2006
On December 14th, ML&R participated in our annual holiday day of giving at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. ML&R employees worked diligently on sorting canned goods into boxes for the holiday season. The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides food to human service agencies serving people in need throughout Central Texas by receiving and storing truckloads of donated food and other grocery products.
LTEF's
9/27/2006
Lake Travis Education Foundation's annual "Fore" the Kids Golf Tournament was held on September 27th at the Hills Country Club's Flintrock Falls Course. Chris Adams, Tom Carter, Kyle Parks and Eleanora Avellan had a blast at the 4th annual 4-player scramble. This year's tournament helped LTEF raise almost $42,000!
ML&R Volleyball Team
4/27/2006
Not only do we have kickball skills, we also give our all on the volleyball court. This was our first year for a volleyball team, and everyone involved has a blast!
Please take a minute to look through these photos, from a game on April 27th!
April 15th Celebration
4/17/2006
In celebration of completing the April 15th deadline, we all gathered in Dale Cox's backyard for a second year of fun and festivities together. This year, we had Schave & Reilly, 2 vaudeville clowns as entertainment for the children, delicious Berts BBQ for dinner, and just enjoyed each other's company.
Please take a minute and look through our photographs, provided by Evergreen Studios.
Girlstart event "Expanding Your Horizons"
3/25/2006
Amy Thornhill and Julie Shah of Maxwell Locke & Ritter spent Saturday, March 25th discussing the life choices that led them to public accounting at the Girlstart sponsored event "Expanding Your Horizons."
Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) is a day-long event at the University of Texas at Austin created to show girls what it might be like to be a woman in a math, science, technology or engineering career. Approximately 200 middle school girls participated from all across Central Texas.
Amy and Julie presented a workshop titled "Takin' Care of Business" based on a video and brochure created by the AICPA. The video featured CPA's in exciting careers. Amy and Julie led the girls in a personal financial planning exercise and they even completed 1040EZ's based on a hypothetical job! Favorite quotes from the workshops were "This isn't that hard!", "This is actually kind of fun!" and "Is your job hard? Because I don't want a hard job"
Interested in learning more? Please check out:
http://www.girlstart.org
http://www.eyhnet.org
https://www.cpa2biz.com/CS2000/Products/CPA2BIZ/CPA+iPACK.htm
ML&R's Kickball Team
3/3/2006
Maxwell Locke & Ritter has kickball skills you wouldn't believe!! There's just something about grownup people running around a field throwing big red bouncy balls at one another. It's absolutely no different than it was when you were 10 ... except we were better at it then.
Please take a minute to look through our photos, which cover the season from March 3rd to April 28th, so check back for updates!
Lake Travis Education Foundation's Crystal Ball
2/25/2006
The Lake Travis Education Foundation (LTEF) was one of the first education foundations in Texas, incorporated in 1985. Since its inception, the Foundation has labored to raise money to support exemplary education in the Lake Travis Independent School District.
The volunteer Board of Directors orchestrates a variety of highly successful fundraising events throughout the year, including the annual gala and auction, the Crystal Ball, which Maxwell Locke & Ritter has been a sponsor of since 2004. Our tax partner, Steven Knebel, was caught enjoying himself in picture #5.
ML&R celebrates it's 15th Anniversary
2/23/2006
Although the firm’s roots extend over 40 years, Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP celebrated its 15th Anniversary on February 23, 2006.
As a way to thank our people for all their hard work and dedication throughout the years, we threw an anniversary party at The Alamo Drafthouse Downtown.
Some of our original employees told stories about the first year of the firm, which we followed up with a game of trivia. In the weeks leading up to our anniversary, we had each person fill out a "Personal and Professional Profile" and from this information, put together a 30 question trivia form. In the end, after some hilarious revealings, we had 4 people tie for first place!
Once the laughter and slight embarrassment died down from the trivia, we sat back, enjoyed some good food and watched "Office Space."
Article Published by Sage Software
2/7/2006
Austin Found
1/12/2006
When a group of South Austin neighbors learned that Austin was overlooked as a race site for a national organization’s treasure hunt, they seized the opportunity to make the race their own.
In May 2005, these neighbors established an all-volunteer team to plan and organize a community-centered race. At the heart of the effort were two key goals: to build bonds among the citizens of Austin and to give something back to the community. The race, held in October 2005, was a success on both counts. Planning for the event brought folks from throughout the City closer together. Maxwell Locke & Ritter was one of the sponsors of this event, with 7 people from our firm participating.
In the process Austin Found raised $10,000 in net proceeds to give back to the community, and on January 12th, Govalle Elementary School hosted a press event in which Austin Found donated this $10,000 to The Austin Project.
Austin Found’s Community Advisory Board selected The Austin Project because of its track record in effectively delivering value where needed in Austin's school system. Money donated by Austin Found will be used to supplement The Austin Project's Step Into Reading Program. This program provides, low-income schools, with books to help young children become proficient readers by the end of third grade. The Austin Project has found that one of the biggest barriers to reading is the lack of books at the appropriate reading level. There is also a particular shortage of non-fiction bi-lingual books. Through a relationship with Hartcourt Achieve, The Austin Project is able to purchase books at half price. "By partnering with The Austin Project, Austin Found can leverage its $10,000 into $20,000 worth of resources for Austin's school children," said Kyle DeHaas, President of Austin Found.
Adams Merger / New Partner Announcement
1/1/2006
We wanted to share with you several exciting developments at our firm.
We are extremely pleased to announce our merger with Chris H. J. Adams’ CPA practice effective January 1, 2006. Chris H. J. Adams will join our firm as a tax partner and Elizabeth Donaldson will become an associate in our firm. Chris’ practice is a well-rounded client base, with a particular concentration in Austin’s emerging film and entertainment industries. Please join me in welcoming Chris and Elizabeth to our firm.
We are also pleased to announce and welcome Kyle Parks and Stuart Vick Smith to the Partnership of Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP. Kyle and Stuart have made significant contributions to the Firm and we look forward to working with them in the future. Please join me in congratulating Kyle and Stuart on achieving this milestone in their careers.
Capital Area Food Bank Day of Giving 2005
12/15/2005
On December 15th, ML&R participated in our annual holiday day of giving at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. We worked diligently on boxing up pre-packaged goods for families to use during the holiday season. Please take a second to check out our dedicated employees in the act!
Golf Clinic
12/15/2005
After a great morning at the Capital Area Food Bank, AJ Zimmerhanzel and Ashlee Martin (our firm's resident golf experts) gave a small group of us a little lesson in golf. Check out our people getting into the swing of things!
Wrapping Party 2005
12/2/2005
Maxwell Locke & Ritter adopted a family for the holidays, providing them with toys and clothes for the holiday season. Our Audit Department got together and had a wrapping party to celebrate and get all the presents neatly wrapped and ready to rip open.
Open House
9/20/2005
In honor of the move we made in June, we held an open house celebration for clients and friends of the firm. After receiving a tour of our new space, our guests retreated to the Frost Tower Conference Center, where we held a reception with drinks and hors' dourves.
It was a wonderful evening and we had a fabulous time sharing our new space with the ones that matter to us most.
Please take a minute to look through the photographs of the nights festivities, courtesy of Evergreen Studios.
Company Picnic
8/13/2005
Every year, we get all our spouses and families together for a huge picnic. This year, the picnic was at Shady Springs. We had a pavillion, a swimming pool, mini-golf, volleyball, horseshoes, swings, and even a moonwalk and pony rides for the kids.
I have attached some pictures of the kids enjoying themselves!
ML&R We Crazy? Softball Team
7/1/2005
It was hard to shake off the paparazzi following the final inning of a great season! We won second place in our division and had a blast doing it!
Best Places to Work in Central Texas
6/17/2005
Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP came in 3rd place in the "Medium Companies" category this year in Austin Business Journal's "Best Places to Work in Central Texas." Winning companies were invited to attend a special luncheon and awards presentation at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Austin to celebrate the 50 winning Central Texas companies. Companies are selected based on employee feedback from confidential surveys conducted, in which each ranked work aspects like climate, team atmosphere, benefits, and the level to which they were engaged in their job.
Magic 95.5 Golf Tournament
6/6/2005
ML&R Personnel Solutions sponsored a team of at the Magic 95.5 golf tournament on June 6, 2005. The golf tournament was co-sponsored by Majic 95.5, the Executive Women's Golf Association and Barton Creek Country Club, and proceeds went to First Tee of Austin to assist at-risk teenage girls. It was a 4 Person Scramble Golf Tournament, and our team members were Steve Knebel and Mark Wey teaming up with two other gentlemen from a fellow tournament sponsor.
Four babies at one time!
5/26/2005
We had four pregnancies at one time in our office this spring! Heather White, Meg Youngblood, Sharon Smith, and Mike Hoover's wife Bridget. We threw a baby shower on May 26th for the ladies in our office, and here are the beautiful pictures of them opening presents and having fun!
April 15th Celebration!
4/15/2005
In celebration of completing the April 15th deadline, we all gathered in Dale Cox's backyard for a little fun. We pulled out the toys, iced down the drinks, ate some fajitas and had a lovely evening getting to see our families and relax around one another.
Please take a minute and look through our photographs, provided by Evergreen Studios.
ML&R Christmas Party
12/14/2004
We held our annual Christmas party on December 14th at Z-Tejas on 6th Street. ML&R employees and spouses shared in a happy hour with Mexican themed hor d'oeurves before sitting down to delicious dinner. We talked, we laughed, and all in all, we had a wonderful time sharing our holiday spirit with one another.
Please take a minute to peruse our party pictures!
Capital Area Food Bank Day of Giving
12/9/2004
On December 9th, ML&R participated in our annual holiday day of giving at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. ML&R employees worked diligently on sorting tangerines into bags for the holiday season. The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides food to human service agencies serving people in need throughout Central Texas by receiving and storing truckloads of donated food and other grocery products.
Please take a second to check out the pictures of our workers in action!
