Staff
John Rudisill, CPA/PFS
John Rudisill is a Colorado “native” who graduated from the University of Denver with a B.S. in Business Administration and a major in accounting. Immediately after graduation, he became a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Colorado. He is also certified in the State of Washington. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Additionally, John is one of only 3,800 CPAs in the United States to hold the credential of PFS, Personal Financial Specialist. The PFS credential is granted by the AICPA exclusively to CPAs who have demonstrated a combination of extensive tax expertise and a comprehensive knowledge of financial planning, including estate, retirement, and insurance planning, investment advisory services, company employee benefit evaluation, and areas such as risk and performance management.
John began his accounting career in his senior year at DU, as a Tax Intern for Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG). He spent the next 13 years rising to the position of Senior Audit Manager and SEC Reporting Manager in KPMG’s Denver and Albuquerque, New Mexico offices. His main areas of expertise included oil and gas, financial institution, agribusiness, and American Indian tribal accounting.
Upon leaving KPMG, John joined the senior staff of First National Bank in Albuquerque, where he served on the Executive Team as the bank’s Treasurer, as well as the Special Projects Manager of Mergers and Acquisitions and Asset/ Liability Management. He was later given responsibility for managing its Trust Department, a capacity in which he served for the following four years. When First National Bank was acquired by First Security Bank in Utah, John was asked to move to Salt Lake City to start and develop the bank’s new mutual fund company, and served on the bank’s Executive Team. John built an innovative team of people, and together they were responsible for designing and managing new mutual fund products, including one of the first profitable in-house “sweep account” products by a community bank.
When Wells Fargo Bank acquired First Security Bank, John decided not to accept a transfer to San Francisco, but instead assumed a job in Washington State as CEO and President of Financial Services Management Group (FSMG), which provided financial planning and investment advisory services to credit unions and their members. John obtained his Series 7, 66, and 24 securities licenses as well as the AICPA’s Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential.
John and his wife, Karen, are pleased to “come back home” to Colorado with their purchase of Gardner and Zeman, P.C., and even more pleased to be working with Ken Gardner, Kay Zeman and the office staff.
John and Karen have raised two children, they have extended family along the entire Front Range, and await a new addition to the Rudisill family with the birth of their first grandchild in July 2010. In his spare time, John is a “history buff” and especially loves Civil War history. He is an avid Denver Bronco fan, a power boat “captain”, an experienced boating safety inspector and a member of the United States Power Squadron. He enjoys travel, music, and time with his growing family. You can email John at john@gardnercpa.com
Ken
Gardner, CPA, CVA
Ken is a 1969 graduate of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. His experience prior to public accounting was at SMU as a grant and contract accountant, at Kraft Foods as a sales accountant, and at the City of Boulder, Colorado as a financial accountant and utilities specialist. Ken "hung out his shingle" in 1979 to form his own accounting firm, Gardner and Company, and he passed the CPA exam in 1980. He achieved the CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst) designation in 1999. He is a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants (AICPA), the Colorado Society of CPA's, and the National Association of Certified Analysts.
Ken's expertise includes business valuation, litigation support, supervision of individual, partnership and corporate tax compliance work, and consulting. He has testified in district courts in Boulder County, Jefferson County, and Adams County as a litigation support specialist. His business valuation experience includes a wide range of businesses including restaurants, home builders, professional practices, and manufacturing entities, to name a few areas of Ken's expertise.
In January of 2010, Ken sold his interests in his firm to John and Karen Rudisill, and the firm became Rudisill, Gardner and Zeman, P.C. Ken is working closely with the new owners of the firm to introduce them to the firm's clients, help John to become familiar with the needs of his clients, and assist with the transition. At RGZ, Ken maintains his role as the firm's business valuation and litigation expert, and as a valued consultant and tax expert. Although Ken wants to fully retire "someday" to spend his time fly fishing in the mountains of Colorado, he is not ready yet; he plans to work in his present capacity at Rudisill, Gardner and Zeman for the foreseeable future, taking the upmost care of client needs, just as he always has.
Ken is married with three children and a beautiful granddaughter. He spends his personal time in the mountains, where he is a woodworker who creates handcrafted furniture and art pieces. He also enjoys swimming and running. Ken is one of approximately 70 individuals who have run all (32) of the Bolder Boulder 10K road races. He has a passion for everything Italian—he loves touring Italy every chance he gets, he is an ardent student of the Italian language, he listens to Italian music and savors fine Italian ristoranti. In fact, every morning, Ken greets his fellow co-workers and clients alike with a hearty and inviting "Buon Giorno!" In his quiet time, Ken relaxes while reading a good book or spending time with family and his dog, Tigger. You can email Ken at ken@gardnercpa.com
Kay
Zeman, CPA
Kay is a 1975 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in nutrition. After college she held positions at one of the country's first health maintenance organizations, an electric utility, and a manufacturing company before moving to Colorado in 1981. She joined Gardner and Co. (predecessor to Gardner and Zeman, P.C.) in 1982, enrolled in the masters program at the University of Colorado in 1983, and was certified in 1986. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Kay's skills are in financial statement reporting, retirement planning, and tax compliance in the income tax and payroll tax areas. She has served clients in the manufacturing, service, real estate development, and not-for- profit organizations. She has also served as treasurer for a federal level election campaign and held various positions in parent advisory groups related to public schools. For many years, Kay has been an active volunteer at the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center. There she helps participants learn horsemanship, which stimulates physical, mental, and emotional growth, allowing them to gain a sense of freedom and independence.
In January 2010, Kay and Ken made the decision to sell their accounting firm to the Rudisills, but Kay is still a vital part of the expanded firm. She has been invaluable to new owner Karen Rudisill during the firm's transition in mentoring and passing on the necessary administrative and recording duties for the firm, giving Kay more time to attend to client needs.
Kay is married with three children and one granddaughter. She loves to cook, travel, and enjoys craft projects, walking her dog, and horseback riding whenever possible.
You can email Kay at kay@gardnercpa.com.
Tracy Chamberlain, MS, CPA
Tracy joined the firm Gardner and Zeman with a Bachelors degree in accounting from Colorado State University. He went on to enhance his education by graduating from the University of Colorado at Denver with a Masters degree in accounting. Tracy was certified in 2003 but passed the CPA examination over 15 years ago. He is a member of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Tracy joined the firm with 16 years of accounting experience in the private sector. He has worked in the mortgage banking, home building, civil and environmental engineering industries. His experience ranges from managing accounting and administrative departments to managing commercial real estate. Tracy is responsible for tax preparation, special projects related to tax preparation, tax research and planning.
Tracy is a native of Colorado. A trip around the world in 1980 reinforced his desire to live in Colorado. As hard as Tracy works on behalf of his clients at RGZ, he is active and "on the go" when he is away from the office. In his spare time, he "plays hard" at several sports. You might find Tracy on the golf course, traversing a challenging mountain bike trail, or most especially, skiing the bumps of Mary Jane at Winter Park. Of course, that's when he isn't traveling to the beach with his wife or doing renovation work on their home or on his extended family's mountain cabins, or helping others solve their computer issues. Whatever Tracy does, he does with gusto and a warm smile. You can email Tracy at tracy@gardnercpa.com.
Karen Rudisill
Karen grew up in Arvada, Colorado, and graduated with a B.S. in Business from the University of Colorado, with a major in Marketing. After a 22 year “hiatus” from living in Colorado, she has come back to make Boulder her permanent home as she and her husband, John Rudisill, purchased the firm of Gardner and Zeman, P.C. in January of 2010. In the meantime, she has enjoyed the beautiful and unique opportunities of living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Salt Lake City, Utah, and most recently, she has relished her time living close to the water in Gig Harbor, a small fishing village in Washington State.
In her professional career, Karen has always been a “front line” person. She started her banking career as a teller at Silver State Savings & Loan in Denver, and later worked for Bank One. She was a Senior Personal Financial Representative at Washington Mutual Bank in Gig Harbor, WA until 2007. Throughout her adult life, Karen has also spent many hours in volunteer work for organizations large and small, formal and informal. From “official scorekeeper” and manager of her children’s softball/ baseball travel teams to her years as a docent giving gallery tours for Tacoma’s Museum of Glass or serving as Basic Boating Chairman and Instructor for the Tacoma Power Squadron, Karen loves meeting and working with people. At Rudisill, Gardner and Zeman, P.C., she is serving as Office Manager, and enjoys working alongside Patty Loitsch, our receptionist, to keep the office running smoothly for the busy CPAs in the firm.
Karen and John have a daughter and a son, and look forward to their first grandchild in July 2010. They are enthusiastic boaters and members of the United States Power Squadrons. Additionally, Karen is a stained glass artist, and enjoys other creative arts such as knitting and jewelry-making. She loves travel, reading, and gardening, but most of all, she loves spending time with her family and her beagle, Casey. You can email Karen at Karen@gardnercpa.com