THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2014 .

3C
BUSINESS
What do you do when
you dont know the answer
to something?
Certified public ac-
countant Jim Denton be-
lieves his response to that
interview question in 1984
is what cinched the job for
him at Arledge & Associ-
ates in Edmond, where
hes built a 30-year career
in audits, commercial tax
returns and bookkeeping.
Denton showed up un-
announced at John Ar-
ledges accounting firm
and, perhaps because he
dropped the name of a
church friend who was Ar-
ledges banker, was grant-
ed an impromptu inter-
view with the owner.
If I dont know some-
thing, I go to the master
tax guide and look it up,
Denton replied.
Thats just what I
wanted to hear! boomed
Arledge, who gave Denton
his chance.
Today, Denton is ma-
naging partner and simi-
larly prods associates to
look up, in the now online
tax codes, what they dont
know. Young people of-
ten want to just ask some-
one, because it takes less
time, he said.
Arledge & Associates
employs 26 including
bookkeeping services di-
rector Mona McCool,
whos been with the firm
since it opened in July
1983. Denton expects an-
nual revenues to top $3
million this year.
From his firms 13,000-
square-foot office build-
ing at 309 N Bryant, Den-
ton, 56, sat down with The
Oklahoman on Tuesday to
talk about his life and ca-
reer. This is an edited tran-
script:
Q: Tell us about your
roots.
A: My father was from
Denison, Texas, studied
geophysics at SMU and
worked in mechanical en-
gineering for 35 years with
Conoco. He met my
mother when he was
working in Yoakum, Texas,
her hometown. I grew up
in Ponca City with two
younger brothers. Ive lost
both parents and one
brother who had Down
syndrome.
Q: What was your
thing growing up?
A: Music. I played Little
League baseball (my dad
was the coach) and some
football until ninth grade,
but music is what stuck. I
started playing bass in the
fourth grade, and played in
Putnam City High
Schools orchestra and jazz
and concert bands. I took
private lessons in high
school, and won a full
scholarship to UCO (then
Central State), where I
earned a bachelors in vo-
cal and instrumental mu-
sic education. My late fa-
ther-in-law, Coleman
Smith, was my professor
and choral director in the
mens glee club. My senior
year, Dr. Smith recruited
me to play bass for the
coed, touring group The
Tunesmiths in which his
daughter and my future
wife, Cathie, sang. Cathie
and I dated all that year,
got engaged soon after
graduation and married a
year later, in May 1981.
Q: So you started out
as a music teacher?
A: Yes. I taught two
years of high school band
at Pond Creek-Hunter,
north of Enid. I loved
teaching one-on-one and
choosing music for con-
test. But I realized I wasnt
cut out for teaching over
the long haul. It was diffi-
cult being an outsider in a
small town, and I was
nervous being in charge of
a roomful of students. I
oversaw the marching and
concert bands, but not or-
chestra, which is what I
was trained in.
Q: What led you to pur-
sue accounting?
A: Cathie suggested
looking in the employment
ads in the paper to see
what paid well. One job for
an accountant, with two
years experience, paid
$42,000 plus benefits; I
was earning $13,000 as a
teacher. Cathie said, Be
one of those (an account-
ant), and I didnt know
what one of those was.
My father who was al-
ways the smartest guy in
the room did his own
taxes, and paying someone
for professional services
was foreign to me. We
moved back to Oklahoma
City for me to pursue ac-
counting full time at Cen-
tral State, while Cathie,
whod taught in Enid,
worked full time as a sec-
retary. Throughout our
marriage, shes taught pri-
vate piano lessons, until
only recently retiring.
Q: Tell us more about
how you landed your job
with this firm.
A: Id been working as
an intern, through tax sea-
son my senior year, with
another small firm, which
I anticipated would keep
me, but was laid off right
when I graduated. It was a
rugged time. It was 84
and the oil bust, and only
three UCO accounting
graduates were hired by
big eight accounting firms.
I was handing out resumes
right and left, and making
calls eight hours a day, to
no avail. But then John Ar-
ledge took a chance on me.
He was the consummate
mentor.
Q: What are some of
the biggest lessons you
learned from John Ar-
ledge, the founder and
former chief executive of
your firm?
A: He taught us that as
professionals, we must al-
ways give our very best ef-
fort in serving our clients
and the public. Clients hire
us because were honest.
Were providing a service
on which they depend to
help improve their lives.
Its a very personal service.
Clients change firms be-
cause of people, usually
partners. Mr. Arledge also
taught us the importance
of staying in a professional
mode; that were con-
stantly representing the
firm and the accounting
profession with our ac-
tions and words, even
when were away from
work.
Q: I noticed your pic-
ture with Stephen R. Cov-
ey. Are you a fan?
A: I am. His 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People
has been one of the most
influential books to me,
along with Good to
Great by Jim Collins and
True Professionalism by
David Maister. Im cur-
rently reading The Ele-
ments of Persuasion by
Richard Maxwell. Its
about the art of storytell-
ing in our businesses.
World-class leaders know
how to tell a story from the
inside out. This book de-
tails what makes a great
business story. I just fin-
ished Boundaries for
Leaders: Results, Rela-
tionships, and Being Ri-
diculously In Charge by
Henry Cloud. Its about
having the discipline to
determine what the main
thing is, and deciding what
you will allow and not al-
low in your business.
EXECUTIVE Q&A WITH JAMES S. JIM DENTON
Former high school band teacher
finds niche in public accounting
Tax director Jim Porter, tax specialist Shannon Lavicky and Jim Denton, managing partner at Arledge & Associates, an Edmond CPA firm
look over some papers.
PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
PERSONALLY SPEAKING
Position: Arledge & Associates P.C., managing
partner
Birth date and hometown: Feb. 4, 1958; Ponca
City
Family: Wife Cathie (they celebrated their 33rd
wedding anniversary in May) and daughter Abby
Bruce of Edmond
Residence: Edmonds Turtle Creek addition
Education: University of Central Oklahoma,
bachelors in accounting and bachelors in music
education
Church: Crossings Community Church
Professional involvement: Edmond Area Cham-
ber of Commerce and Oklahoma Venture Forum
For fun: He and Cathie sing in the Canterbury
Choral Society, hold season Thunder tickets and
follow the band and orchestra of Western Heights
High School where their daughter and son-in-law
teach music education
BUSINESS WRITER
Paula
Burkes
pburkes@
opubco.com
Oklahomas strong
community-banking
background is a big reason
why the state was ranked
the third-best state for af-
fordable banking, accord-
ing to GOBankingRates
.com.
The Websites study,
which looked at credit
unions and banks in all 50
states and the District of
Columbia, identified the
10 Best and Worst Places
for Affordable Banking.
Key factors evaluated
included minimum bal-
ance requirements, annual
percentage yields, as well
as average fees and
monthly charges for de-
posit accounts.
The study also looked at
the number of financial
institutions available to
state residents, because
accessibility plays into af-
fordability quite closely,
said Jennifer Calonia, GO-
BankingRates senior edi-
tor.
Easy access to a banks
ATM network as well as
the ability to work directly
with bank representatives
in a branch or to talk to a
lender contribute to a cus-
tomers overall knowledge
and the ability to keep fees
low, Calonia said.
The most competitive
states with affordable
banking were concentrat-
ed mainly in the Midwest
and South, with the ex-
ception of Massachusetts
and Rhode Island in the
Northeast.
Arkansas and Iowa were
the top ranked states.
According to the study,
Oklahoma banks and
credit unions are consum-
er friendly when it comes
to fees and charges.
Consumer friendly
The primary reason, I
believe, is that Oklahoma
is predominantly a com-
munity bank state, which
means that the banks that
operate here really operate
on the basis of the rela-
tionship with the custom-
er rather than treating
customers as an objective
series of numbers, said
Roger Beverage, president
and CEO of the Oklahoma
Bankers Association. And
that is big. You get to know
your customer.
Many bankers within
the state also have sur-
vived downturns over the
last several years. They
didnt get caught up in real
estate problems during the
Great Recession, and they
have been laser focused on
the survival of their cus-
tomers and communities,
he said.
If the customer doesnt
survive, then the bank los-
es and the community los-
es, Beverage added.
Calonia agreed that Ok-
lahoma is nearly unique in
the states large market
share of community
banks, as opposed to out-
of-state banks.
I found about 76 per-
cent or so of the market
share is attributed to com-
munity banks, whether on
a larger or smaller scale,
she added.
Community banks are
invested in their local
communities, putting
funds back into the com-
munities they serve and
offering quality products
to residents, Calonia said.
They are able to offer com-
petitive products, she said.
According to the study,
Oklahoma ranked second
best for fees associated
with checks that are re-
turned because of insuffi-
cient funds.
Oklahomas average fee
for returned checks that
dont have sufficient funds
is $27 compared to $33 in
Arizona, the worst state
for affordable banking, ac-
cording to the study.
Oklahomas average
checking annual percent-
age yield is 0.380 percent
on an average checking
minimum balance re-
quirement of $2,275.
The states average sav-
ings annual percentage
yield is 0.149 percent on an
average savings minimum
balance requirement of
$884.
Oklahoma has an aver-
age monthly maintenance
fee of $4 for savings ac-
counts and $9 for checking
accounts of all types, ac-
cording to the study.
Website ranks OK banks, credit unions as affordable
BY LAURIE WINSLOW
Tulsa World
laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com
If the customer doesnt survive, then
the bank loses and the community
loses.
ROGER BEVERAGE
PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE
OKLAHOMA BANKERS ASSOCIATION