Gary Thomson to become chairman of Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants’ board

CPA Gary Thomson will take over as chairman of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants' board of directors Thursday. He succeeds Richard Groover, a CPA and shareholder at Norfolk-based Wall Einhorn & Chernitzer.

As Thomson is taking on a new role at VSCPA, he’s also retiring from Dixon Hughes Goodman at the end of the month, where he’s served as a regional leader for 14 years. He’s been the firm’s partner for the mid-Atlantic region, which included Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

In a transition plan that’s been in the works for more than a year, Tricia Wilson, a partner in the firm’s Charleston, S.C., office, took over Thomson’s former territory as well as North Carolina and South Carolina last year. Wilson’s now regional managing partner of the Atlantic region.

Thomson, 55, has spent more than three decades working in public accounting. He’s not completely bowing out, though, as he plans to start his own CPA consulting firm focused on leadership development, coaching and consulting.

“It’s more of a transition than it is turning the light out,” he says.

Thomson also will explore the possibility of serving on more boards. In addition to his VSCPA appointment, he also serves as chairman of the state’s School Readiness Committee and as a member of the boards of the Virginia Council on Economic Education and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. From 2014 to 2015, he was chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.