National accounting chain Fiducial Business Centers has torn down its former office in east Vancouver and plans to build a larger, more professional-looking structure on the Mill Plain Boulevard site.
The two-story building will be more noticeable, fronting Mill Plain at Southeast 120th Avenue, said Bill Pound, district manager of 10 Fiducial Business Centers in the Portland-Vancouver metro area. Fiducial purchased the Vancouver office and 17 others from Columbia Turel in 2000. Since then, Fiducial has gradually switched the chain’s focus from personal income tax preparation to small-business services that include accounting, bookkeeping and tax preparation.
o What: A chain of approximately 600 global providers of accounting, bookkeeping and tax services to small businesses and individuals.
o Headquarters: New York.
o Vancouver office: 12003 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd.
o What’s new: The company plans to build a two-story office at the Vancouver site.
o What: A chain of approximately 600 global providers of accounting, bookkeeping and tax services to small businesses and individuals.
o Headquarters: New York.
o Vancouver office: 12003 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd.
o What's new: The company plans to build a two-story office at the Vancouver site.
o Regional offices: Vancouver, and in Oregon four Portland branches and offices in Beaverton, Hillsboro, McMinnville, Milwaukie and Salem.
o 2009 regional gross revenue: $2 million.
o Regional employees: 175 people.
o Regional offices: Vancouver, and in Oregon four Portland branches and offices in Beaverton, Hillsboro, McMinnville, Milwaukie and Salem.
o 2009 regional gross revenue: $2 million.
o Regional employees: 175 people.
Pound said the glass-and-stone design of the new Vancouver building is a better fit for the company’s business image.
“We wanted our surroundings to equal our professional expertise,” he said.
The new building at 12003 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd. is expected to open in January. Pound said Fiducial is spending between $2.25 million and $2.5 million to replace three buildings in the metro area, including the Vancouver office and Oregon branches in Salem and Hillsboro.
In Vancouver, Fiducial employs between three and 12 people, depending on seasonal tax cycles, Pound said. He said the Vancouver staff will occupy office space in the upper level of the 5,000-square-foot building. Ground-floor space will be available for lease to a variety of tenants.
“We would look at professional people, an attorney or even a financial company,” Pound said.
He also expects staff growth at the Vancouver Fiducial office, said Pound, who keeps a constant eye out for small — one- or two-person — accounting and tax practices as possible takeovers.
“Fiducial grows mainly through acquisition,” he said.
The Fiducial Business Centers chain is headquartered in New York. It operates 100 offices in the United States and 500 branches in Europe, South America and Asia.
Project architect for Fiducial’s Vancouver office is Wilson Associates AIA of Vancouver. General contractor is Indianapolis-based Catalyst Construction.
