Crowe recognizes former CEO with service award

OAK BROOK, Ill. (August 2, 2007) – Crowe Group LLP, the holding company for public accounting and consulting firm Crowe Chizek and Company LLC, recently presented its Care, Share, Invest and Grow Award to former CEO Mark Hildebrand at the firm’s 49th Annual Partner and Director Meeting in Amelia Island, Fla.

Named after Crowe's core values, the Care, Share, Invest and Grow Award recognizes individuals who have achieved excellence in one or more of the following areas: creating and realizing customer value and loyalty; supporting Crowe people and making the firm a great place to work; contributing to the firm’s professional reputation and community involvement; and growing and building the lasting value of the firm.

Hildebrand began his career with Crowe in 1973 after completing graduate school. He quickly made his way through the ranks as a member of the firm’s Systems Consulting group, where he served seven years as managing executive. Hildebrand was appointed to the firm’s Executive Committee in 1993 and served as chair of the Management Committee since its inception in 1998. He was named CEO in 1999 and served in that role until 2007, when he stepped into a new leadership position with Crowe as executive-in-charge of strategic alliances and as chair of the board of directors of Horwath International.

In Hildebrand’s eight-year term as CEO, Crowe’s number of personnel doubled and revenues grew 190 percent. Crowe also experienced great success with many profession-based awards and rankings, such as the Public Accounting Report Top 10 and Inside Public Accounting’s Best of the Best firms, as well as more than 10 best places to work rankings.
“Under Mark’s leadership this firm has grown, invested, shared and certainly cared like it never has before,” said Chuck McKenna, executive committee chairman.

Hildebrand also was a founding governing board member of the Center for Audit Quality and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Indiana CPA Society.
The Care, Share, Invest and Grow Award was created in 2000. Since then the award has been presented to 39 individuals at Crowe. Hildebrand is the only person this year to receive the award.

About Crowe Chizek and Crowe Group
Crowe Group LLP, the parent company of Crowe Chizek and Company LLC (www.crowechizek.com), is one of the top 10 public accounting and consulting firms in the United States. Under its core purpose of “Building Value with Values®,” Crowe assists clients in reaching their goals through services ranging from assurance and financial advisory to performance, risk and tax consulting. Crowe professionals provide public and private companies with thought leadership to clients in the financial services, healthcare, government, private equity sponsored, inventory based and not-for-profit industry sectors, among many others. With 21 offices and more than 2,300 personnel, Crowe has been recognized by a number of organizations as one of the country’s best places to work. Crowe serves clients worldwide as the leading independent member of Horwath International.

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Contact: Jan Lippman, 312.899.8414, jan.lippman@crowehorwath.com