PELHAM – The city of Pelham recently released the dates for its Business Council meetings in 2019.

The meetings will be held at the Pelham Civic Complex at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, Tuesday, April 16, Tuesday, July 16, and Tuesday, Oct. 15. Lunch is provided.

All Pelham business owners are invited to attend the sessions, which are hosted by City Manager Gretchen DiFante and Mayor Gary Waters. The goal of the Business Council is to help make Pelham a more business-friendly city.

The first meeting of the year will feature guest speaker Steve Smith, a lawyer and a certified public accountant with Barfield, Murphy, Shank and Smith. He will discuss new tax laws and how they pertain to businesses.

Smith joined BMSS in 1994. He is the senior member of the Tax Practice Group, managing the tax quality control process for the firm. He predominantly focuses on technical tax needs in the areas of S corporations and partnership taxation with an emphasis on transactional work encompassing the life cycle of a business: formation, ongoing operations, mergers and acquisitions, dispositions and liquidations and the impact on the owners of the business.

Over the years, Smith has assisted countless clients with their accounting, tax and consulting needs. He has assisted clients with IRS controversy work, including examinations and administrative appeals and collection matters. Always having an interest in business and taxes, he felt a tax practice in public accounting would be the best utilization of accounting and law degrees.