State Auditor Tom Salmon has been awarded the Vermont Society of Certified Public Accountants’ “Outstanding CPA in Government” award. The VSCPA is Vermont’s association for the CPA profession. He was honored at their annual meeting at the Burlington Hilton at 1:30PM.
In winning this award, Mr. Salmon becomes a nominee for a similar award offered by the VSCPA’s national counterpart, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. CPAs receiving this honor must have distinguished themselves by making a sustained and significant contribution to the increased efficiency and effectiveness of his or her government organization. In addition, these outstanding CPAs have also contributed to the growth and enhancement of the CPA profession.
The award recognizes Mr. Salmon’s service and contributions to the State of Vermont. In his tenure as State Auditor, Mr. Salmon has effectively upheld the mission of the Vermont Auditor’s Office: to be a catalyst for good government by promoting professional audits, financial training, efficiency in government, and service to cities and towns. Among his recent accomplishments, Mr. Salmon has implemented a new emphasis on performance auditing, moved the office towards transparent accountability, and is working to build stronger financial expertise at the community level. Recently, Mr. Salmon has been working with the legislature and the Governor’s office to implement an effective, bi-partisan budget for the state.
While many Vermonters know Mr. Salmon as a two-term State Auditor, he is also well known as the founder of the Connecticut Valley Youth Association in Bellows Falls, a past community services director and select board member, a licensed teacher, and recently deployed member of the Naval Reserves Unit to Western Iraq. Mr. Salmon lives in St. Johnsbury with his wife and four children, where he is active in community affairs.
Mr. Salmon was recommended for the Award by David R. Coates, retired KPMG managing partner and member of the Vermont Business Roundtable, who notes that, “As a longtime certified public accountant with a number of government posts and board positions under my belt, I am well acquainted with the stereotypical perception of a government auditor as a stone-faced professional with a ‘show me the documents’ attitude, eager for a ‘gotcha’ finding and perhaps somewhat devoid of exuberance as well. Vermont’s Tom Salmon does not fit this mold. Though fully a professional accountant, Tom is a young man with a passion for government service and a vision for improved accountability of public dollars at all levels of government. He wears a zest for people and civic engagement on his sleeve, and constantly urges those in public finance to improve their skills, to share their talents, and to trust the voters with a higher level of transparency and communication.”
