Team
For over 150 years, the business of the Vann family has been business. We pride ourselves on our diverse skill sets, practical advice and our ability to guide our clients through any business challenge.
Kevin B. Vann
Kevin Vann is the Founder and Chairman of the Vann Group. With over 30 years of experience, ask anyone who knows him and they’ll tell you, “Kevin knows business.” Kevin has owned and operated several successful accounting, consulting and advisory service firms in the Western Massachusetts area. Additionally, he has partnered and joint ventured with individuals and investor groups that have acquired operating businesses and real estate ventures.
For decades, he has represented clients in his capacity as an accountant and tax advisor. His business advisory and consulting services are well known and his clients consider him to be a leader in the area of business innovation and creativity. He has been a team leader and key negotiator for acquisitions and mergers with concentrations in real estate, manufacturing, transportation, retail, service groups and food service businesses. Most importantly, Kevin has a gift for identifying business opportunities and for steering clients around risks and onto the path of rewards.
Finally, Kevin is as serious about the community as he is about business. He is active in several area civic and non-profit organizations as both a fundraiser and volunteer. The thrust of his non-profit activities has been related to benefiting children and to cancer related programs.
Michael K. Vann
Driven by a passion that is fueled by helping companies understand the approach of transforming from what is to what can be achieved, Mike has a knack for redefining and challenging commonly held perceptions and creating a strategy to achieve success. He is known by his colleagues and his clients alike for his ability to ask the right questions and bring focus to the issues that are critical to the development and execution of a successful business strategy. A graduate of George Mason University, Mike is responsible for driving the day-to-day activities of the firm. He serves as the trusted advisor to several of the firm’s key clients and is actively involved in a number of charitable and community organizations.
Nick Carella, EA
Few accountants see the big picture of business like Nick Carella. First he handles the numbers with meticulous detail. Then, with complete command of the financials and tax implications, he looks at the whole business and focuses on helping his clients be successful. Specializing in business start ups, acquisitions, construction bond financing and crisis and turnaround management; Nick combines his business insight and accounting and tax expertise to provide his clients with sound and practical advice. Upon graduation from Central Connecticut University, Nick spent ten years serving clients in a Connecticut-based accounting, tax and audit firm. He was recruited to join Dufault, Vann & Company, a Vann Group Company, in 1998 and was named Principal in 2008.
Tom Lippie
Tom Lippie is the founder of Client First Associates, a Vann Group Company. With decades of experience in organizational design, leadership development, strategic planning, training and even as a hostage negotiator in the New York Correctional system; Tom is a master at enabling people to work together toward shared goals with clarity and energy. He has spearheaded organizational initiatives at all levels for countless businesses and non-profits and has a reputation among current and former clients as a craftsman in the field. With so much experience and insight about roles, responsibilities, skills and abilities; Tom has also created a unique and highly successful hiring model and recruiting service offering which he now leads for the Vann Group. Tom is a graduate of Siena College and attended Albany Law School.
John D'Angelo
John, a lifelong accountant, has had a diverse background switching careers to adapt to the ever changing economic climate. He has been a Controller and CFO for several firms in the printing, design and architecturial fields as well as a tax specialist in public accounting. He has the ability to look at trends, growth patterns in industry, and plan for financial security. John has a solid background in business, obtaining his MBA from the University of Connecticut and a Masters in Accounting and Taxation from the University of Hartford. John is continuing he passion for public accounting at Dufault, Vann & Carella by using the skills he has obtained in business to help small and mid-sized business owners plan for their financial security by growing their businesses. John has been with the firm since 2009.
Brendan Brown
As Vice President of New Business Development, Brendan Brown leverages his unique business perspective to cultivate creative sales, marketing and product development strategies in order to communicate the Vann Group's value proposition for small/mid-size businesses and drive growth for all of The Vann Group companies. Before settling into Western Massachusetts to raise his young family, Brendan traveled the world as a recording artist, selling over 100,000 records and was directly responsible for coordinating business, financial and tour management efforts, developing online and direct to consumer marketing strategies and overseeing the group’s digital and physical content distribution and merchandising efforts. More recently, Brendan co-founded SpinTunnel (a new media marketing firm) which has secured clients such as Warner Brothers and Sony to write, implement and manage interactive online marketing campaigns. This experience, paired with a notable Business to Business sales career, makes Brendan a valuable addition to The Vann Group.
Daniel J. Yacuzzo
Dan has been working in the restaurant and hospitality industry since he was a student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in the early 1970’s. Upon graduation, he moved rapidly through progressively responsible restaurant management positions until pursuing his first co-ownership opportunity with New Seabury Corporation to develop and operate two new restaurants on Cape Cod. In 1985, he and his wife and partner, Gail Yacuzzo and two other partners (who were soon bought out) opened what Western Massachusetts now knows as the Eastside Grill, one of the region’s most successful restaurants. For more than 20 years, while operating the Eastside Grill, Dan also promoted the restaurant industry in the Northampton Area, founding the Taste of Northampton and Northampton Restaurant Week. With other restaurateurs seeking Dan’s advice, he has assisted countless other restaurant and hospitality related businesses to formalize and systematize procedures. Upon selling the Eastside Grill in 2008, Dan joined the Vann Group to lead our restaurant and hospitality consulting offering.
John Carella
John Carella knows commercial construction and buildings - any project, any building - inside and out. After a number of years in banking and insurance, and with a full appreciation for the risks and rewards associated with commercial property assets, he decided to pursue a career in construction and property management working for one of the world’s largest commercial construction and property management companies. Today, few people other than John can say that they thoroughly enjoy the complexities and details of large construction projects and building systems and operations. As far as John is concerned, the more difficult and sensitive the building environment, the more exciting it is. John is a graduate of the University of Connecticut.
David Pollard
David Pollard brings over twenty years of executive recruitment experience to The Vann Group. David's first assignment with The Vann Group was to direct the launch of a new start-up company, Hire EQ. Before joining Hire EQ, David served as President and CEO of TalentFusion, an industry leading Recruitment Process Outsourcing company that serves Global Fortune 500 organizations. Prior to TalentFusion, he served as Vice President of Global Recruiting for Keane, a $1 billion IT Outsourcing company based in Boston. While with Keane, David managed all worldwide recruitment activities with an organization of over 250 recruitment professionals that hired over 5000 IT professionals per year. David is a managing partner with Hire EQ and is responsible for business development as well as overall service delivery and operations. David graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Westfield State College.