RubinBrown: One Firm, A Tradition of Trust

Founders’ Values & Vision for One-Firm Culture

additional income by helping Mahlon part-time while building his own practice. Within a couple of years Mahlon and Harvey formalized their partnership, and Sidney Gornstein joined soon after. In its first year in 1957, the firm of Rubin Brown & Gornstein (RBG) recorded revenue of $13,000. The early years were tough but invigorating. All of the founders’ wives helped out during tax season, and each year, the firm was more profitable than the year before. Business was steady thanks to many friends, relatives and word-of-mouth referrals. While Mahlon tapped into his network of contacts in East St. Louis who owned small family businesses, Harvey became actively involved in a number of local Jewish organizations where he was able to make new connections. Serving small, independent and family-owned businesses sustained the firm and its growth for several decades.

Until the late 1970s, most of today’s commonplace marketing practices were forbidden by professional ethics. Consequently, Harvey and Mahlon pursued a networking strategy, becoming actively involved in the St. Louis community and the profession. In 1969, RBG was the only St. Louis firm accepted as a member of CPA Associates, a nationwide organization of small, local firms. Membership in CPA Associates exposed the firm to new ideas and different ways of doing business. It opened their

MAHLON AND MAURINE RUBIN, HARVEY AND EDITH BROWN

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