BKD Names Higgins New Kansas City Managing Partner

A new managing partner is stepping in at BKD CPAs & Advisors to lead the Kansas City office: Rachel Dwiggins will succeed Abe Cole, who has been at that post since 2014. Cole will become regional managing partner of the firm’s eight-state North Region upon the retirement of Barry Davis next spring.

Dwiggins, currently BKD’s industry leader of the office’s not-for-profit, higher education and public-sector practice, will succeed Cole on June 1. Cole will continue his role while assisting Dwiggins in the transition. BKD is the region’s second-largest accounting practice, based on numbers of CPAs in the Kansas City region, and the largest to call Missouri its home. Headquartered in Springfield, it sits between global powerhouses KPMG and PwC with about 175 CPAs in this market.

“I am excited to continue to build on the office’s legacy as we move into a future where innovation will become even more critical to our continued growth and creation of rewarding career opportunities for our team members,” Dwiggins said.

Headquartered in Springfield, BKD operates 40 offices in 18 states with about 2,900 CPAs and staff members.