Longtime accountant merges with larger firm

RIO RANCHO — Nagel Certified Public Accountants merged with Kansas company, Swindoll Janzen Hawk and Lloyd CPA, and celebrated the change June 18 at the Grande Boulevard location after the official merger in November.

Roger Nagel, an accountant with more than four decades of experience, talked about the necessary but welcome change at a ribbon cutting, saying he is excited about the future.

“We’ve enjoyed coming to Rio Rancho. We came up here in 2010. I’ve been in this Metroplex doing business 46 years. I’ll start my 47th year next year, and we’ve seen a lot of growth, a lot of change,” Nagel said.

He pointed to a 1980 map of the city of Rio Rancho and asked people to compare it to the city today for reference.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth, brought a few employers to town, enjoyed a lot of business right here in Rio Rancho. The truth of the matter is there’s strength and unity, and there’s a lot more capacity in a combined group like ours. We were finding it difficult to keep up with demand with the people that we had and the systems that we had,” Nagel added.

He said the group has an ability to offer more things to the community than “we ever possibly could have in a sustainable fashion on our own.”

SJHL’s Managing partner Chet Buchman stated in a November press release the company is “excited about the opportunities this will create for our team and our clients.”

“Our goal is to work with clients in a different capacity; our passion lies in helping clients get from where they are to where they want to be,” he said in the release.

Nagel said SJHL has been his preferred partner since he and Buchman first met. Both say they look forward to the future in the release.

One question Nagel faced head on was what his involvement would look like going forward. For one thing, his name will not be added to SJHL.

“My intention and my agreement is to continue to practice for quite a while. I don’t intend to stop. I do intend to slow down. I have committed a 12-month cycle on the beginning of this transaction, which ends in November,” he said.

While the intention is to ease up on work life, Nagel stated he enjoys the work.

“I enjoy helping people and their businesses. So my comment has been if it’s still fun, and I’m still productive in helping people, why would I want to slow down?” Nagel said at the ribbon cutting.

Following the merger, SJHL will have five locations in Kansas and one location in New Mexico. The combined firm will consist of more than 100 team members across the six locations with a wide variety of services and expertise, according to the release.

For more information, visit sjhl.com.