The familiar accounting firm, Kennedy and Coe, founded in Kansas in 1932, has merged with a California firm, Matson and Isom, to create K-Coe Isom, pronounced Kay-Koh-Eye-Sum. The merger and new name became effective Jan. 1.

K-Coe Isom ranks about 50^th in size in the U.S. with $56.3 million in annual revenue and 360 employees.

It is a national leader as consultants and CPAs in food and agriculture and serves clients both in the U.S. and abroad from 17 offices across country.

There is no central headquarters office. The board, CEO, and leadership team collaborate from across the multiple states they reside in. Operations are centralized with the leadership team.

AG ROOTS: "We first explored merging because Kennedy and Coe and Matson and Isom both originated in rural communities in Kansas and Northern California, respectively, where agriculture and food production were, and still are, predominant," explains Jeff Wald, K•Coe Isom's CEO in a press release about the merger. "Food and ag makes up about two-thirds of our business. Our firms came together because we shared a single vision: to positively impact the future of farming and food production in America."

"We first explored merging because Kennedy and Coe and Matson and Isom both originated in rural communities in Kansas and Northern California, respectively, where agriculture and food production were, and still are, predominant," explains Jeff Wald, K·Coe Isom's CEO in a press release about the merger. "Food and ag makes up about two-thirds of our business. Our firms came together because we shared a single vision: to positively impact the future of farming and food production in America."

K·Coe Isom works with producers, input suppliers, processors, packagers, distributors, biofuel manufacturers, equipment dealerships, landowners, lenders, and agencies and policy organizations that support the industry.

The firm also has strong regional presence in community banks, construction, real estate and development, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and technology.

K·Coe Isom's governing board consists of seven people (a mix from Matson and Kennedy) to whom the CEO reports. The firm's CEO is Jeff Wald, former CEO of Kennedy and Coe since 2013. Wald, age 42, operates from Loveland, Colo. Matson and Isom's former managing director Jim Holt remains with the firm.

Kennedy and Coe began in 1932 in Kansas as M.J. Kennedy and Company, becoming Kennedy and Coe in 1940 and spreading steadily across the Midwestern states. The firm moved into the Mississippi Delta, Wyoming, and Washington, DC in 2013, with its acquisition of Vela Environmental and AgKnowledge, expanding the offerings to include proactive policy and legislative involvement, sustainability and resource planning, and detailed profit-margin management at the crop and acre level. The firm ranked in the nation's Top 100 firms with its pre-merger size of 249 people, including 37 principals.

Matson and Isom began in 1955 in California as Robert M. Matson, CPA and became Matson and Isom in 1962, shortly after Howard Isom joined. The firm was already the largest CPA firm north of Sacramento, and one of Chico's largest employers. The firm expanded its presence into Redding in 1989, and into Yuba City and Colusa in the last five years. The firm ranked in the nation's Top 200 at its pre-merger size of 111 people, including 23 principals.