Growth as
one firm
With the firm reunited, ownership restored and partners fully invested—financially and personally—RSM was positioned to generate growth not only through transactions, but also from within.
During this era, an engaged and aligned partner group drove tremendous organic growth supported by strategic mergers and acquisitions. Deals like Cole + Reed in Oklahoma, Battelle Rippe Kingston in Ohio, Sellers Richardson Holman & West in Alabama, Margolis Phipps & Wright in Texas, Junction Solutions, Explore Consulting and more brought new markets, new talent and deeper consulting capabilities to RSM.
“We really tried to change the mindset and empower our partners to lead, to motivate our people and give them what they needed to succeed.”
Growth was especially pronounced in consulting, which organized as a national practice and more than doubled in size to over $1 billion under Brian Becker, who served as national consulting leader from 2017 until becoming CEO in 2022. "I attribute that massive growth to allowing people to specialize across the country—to still be entrepreneurial and innovative in the field but make sure they're working as teams across their industry, across their communities and across their specialization," Becker says.
Tax also expanded its consultative capabilities under a transformation initiative fondly named Tax 50/50 by Johannesen, national tax leader at the time. When determining what clients valued the most, he says, "We realized it was when we did the extra stuff—helped them with estate planning, M&A structuring, credits and incentives." The initiative fundamentally reshaped the practice from a seasonal compliance operation into a year-round advisory engine that deepened client relationships and drove sustained growth.
Transformation of the business also required transforming the brand. In 2015, the firm took a defining step: retiring the McGladrey name in the U.S. and unifying under the RSM brand alongside its global network spanning more than 120 countries. The move gave the firm a single identity in every market where its middle market clients did business—a critical advantage as cross-border engagements accelerated. Some partners were sentimental about the McGladrey name that had served the firm for decades, but the strategic logic was clear. As former board chairman Craig Radke put it: "To us, RSM stands for 'Really Still McGladrey.'"
The unified brand also set the stage for the firm's boldest geographic move yet. In 2017, the firm launched RSM Canada through a transaction with a prominent Toronto firm led by Harry Blum. "The vision isn't to conquer Canada," Blum says. "The vision is to become a global provider of professional services, and Canada is the experiment." It was a defining proof point: RSM could grow beyond U.S. borders while staying true to its middle market focus.
During this time, the firm's growth ethos expanded beyond revenue and into its communities with the formation of the RSM US Foundation in 2014. Committed to empowering confident futures for youth one community at a time, the foundation has donated nearly $60 million to the communities where the firm operates and has engaged thousands of RSM professionals as volunteers and mentors.
