“We are working with a new vendor on three separate projects in three states. I had never heard of them before the Summit and we are spending at least USD 300,000 in their services this year” said Mark Urbanski, Senior Director Tax, West Pharmaceutical Services Inc., a delegate at the Marcus Evans Tax Officers Summit.
The Summit helped me explore what is available in the marketplace, what my peers are doing, and what possibilities are out there. The Summit definitely exceeded my expectations. I got a lot more value out of it than I thought I would. We are now changing our whole culture around our operations, how we make decisions and when, based on a new relationship we formed at the Summit.
We met a company that nobody from our company had heard of before. At first, we considered them for potentially reducing property taxes but ended up using them for another service. They are now working with us on three projects in three states. I do not think we would have used them if we had not met at the Summit.
One project is USD 150,000 – 200,000, another project is in phase 1 and in the USD 25,000 range, but it will soon proceed to phase 2. In total, it will be at least USD 300,000 in one year. I believe other projects will also come out of it. As we do not have those resources in-house, we will use them for a number of years.
At the Summit, I also connected with a vendor our company had used ten years ago, and we are now using them for a small project. I was not around when we had originally worked with that company, and I did not know of them. I asked if there was any new legislation in their state, and as a result we are now finishing an SOW with them. That is worth USD 5,000 – 8,000 a year, around USD 50,000 over eight years.
It is becoming tougher and tougher for sure, but once they are through the door, it is much easier to get more work from us. We use the big firms for many tax related services. They might not be the best provider for each service, but it is easier to bring in a firm you have already worked with. Meeting people in person, developing relationships at the Summit, even if we only sit down together for 30 minutes, is important. We would not have utilized that vendor if it wasn’t for the Summit and the experience I had.
I have taken part in many legal education type of events organized by large law firms, and this was one of the very few multi-vendor events I have taken part in. I did not know what to expect, but I thought it was excellent. The presentations and vendor meetings were interesting. They helped me explore new ideas and shifted my mindset in terms of how we approach certain aspects of our work. I would attend the Summit again for sure.
Find out more about the upcoming Tax Officers Summit.