Friends and Neighbors: Women in Business 2015: Engstrom provides nationwide service

Running a business is a lot of work, and running one with two offices keeps one even busier. However, local Certified Public Accountant Wynema Engstrom does so gracefully.

While she was in college, Engstrom said accounting was a man's world. Now, the industry has flipped and women have begun to outnumber men in the field.

A Kimball woman played an important role in Engstrom's firm from the beginning. She purchased her Kimball office from Jean Mueller-Yanaga in 2005, after purchasing an established firm in Pine Bluffs, Wyo., in 2002.

"I started out here in Kimball, I lived in Pine Bluffs, but the first lady I worked for was Jean Yanaga. So I learned everything from her and I started here," Engstrom said.

Purchasing an established firm includes purchasing a clientele, but that does not mean Engstrom was a shoe-in. She had to work very hard to establish trust with those clients.

"When you purchase something like that you do have a transition, people don't like change a lot. You have to prove a lot to those people that they can trust you and rely on you and that you are as committed as the person you bought it from," she said. "Starting from scratch is a little more difficult, that comes from people you know. I pride our firm on trustworthiness."

One of the biggest challenges since starting her business, Engstrom said, is that not only does she have offices in two different towns, they are also in two different states.

"In Wyoming, we have no state income tax, and in Nebraska you do," she said. "(There's) just the difference between going across state lines."

Engstrom explained that there is a mobility law enacted several years ago that most states have adopted allowing CPAs to practice nationwide. Additionally, she pays to reciprocate with Nebraska on her Wyoming license.

"I keep my Nebraska license just because I like it and I think it is important for people here to know that I am committed to them," Engstrom said. "I can do returns from all over the United States, I just have to follow the laws of that state. There are no boundaries. With that comes great opportunities too, just to expand our clientele. If I couldn't cross state lines with my license, I would be limited to the corner of Wyoming."

She said that a lot of her clients don't travel to either of her offices, as electronically transferring data is so quick and easy.

"But I have clients that actually drive to my office from Thermopolis, Wyo., and Omaha. Those are probably the farthest. I had somebody from Kansas come into my office, he has since moved this way," she said. "Electronically, I have clients from California, Virginia and Pennsylvania."

Despite her far-flung clientele, Engstrom is truly committed to this area. Nebraska ties run as deep for Engstrom, as do her own Wyoming roots. Her husband's family is from Kimball County, where they farm, and the couple owns a home here as well as one in Pine Bluffs.

"We are very fortunate. This is a good community and we try to provide a good service to the community so people don't have to travel to get a quality service," Engstrom said. "With us being so close I wouldn't necessarily have to have two offices, but I think people like to give small businesses in their community their business. They don't have to go out of town and I'm really tied to both communities."

Engstrom's firm now employs three additional women, one of whom travels to Kimball once a week, as she also does.

"I am so blessed to have the women that work for me," she added. "They are very smart, moral and ethical."