Member Profile - Steve Castino

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Steve Castino
Shareholder, Member of Firm Executive Committee, Vestal & Wiler CPAs

ACG Member Since: 2007
ACG Involvement: Chairman of Finance - ACG Global Board of Directors

How have you had to adapt your business model during the shutdown? What has worked and what hasn’t?

Although our office has not closed during the pandemic, all of our employees have the option of working remotely. The majority of our employees have chosen the “work from home” option. It took a couple of weeks of getting adjusted, but once people started getting comfortable working from home, our productivity is back to what it was prior to the pandemic. We are fortunate to have a great group of employees that we can trust to be productive without too much oversight. 

How are you staying connected with your network?

It seems for me that zoom meetings are the most productive way of staying in touch with my network. I am definitely doing my fair share of phone calls too, but seeing someone’s face even if it is on a screen just seems to be a better way of connecting than a standard phone call. 

Do you think we will see lasting changes to how we do business as a result of this?

In some ways, I do believe COVID-19 will change the way we do business. For example, I believe offices that did not have some type of flex schedule or option to work from home will add that choice. I also think COVID-19 will somewhat cut work travel for years to come. That being said, I strongly believe the best way to develop business and maintain clients is through relationship building. My belief is that relationship building is done most successfully in a face to face setting. It is really hard to develop a brand new relationship over a screen. In my opinion, you can’t get to know someone over a zoom meeting like you can over a meal, drink or round of golf. There is just no comparison, so I still believe face to face relationship building is the future of generating business. I also believe ACG is in a great position to be the quarterback to facilitate future relationship building for middle-market dealmakers.  

What’s the first thing you’ll do when restrictions are eased?

I would say reschedule a trip to Santa Barbara, California, that my wife and I had to cancel. 

What is your favorite ACG Orlando event, and why?

The SMART Awards for a variety of reasons. I love seeing deserving companies receive awards. Our SMART winners employ so many people within our community, and it is nice to see the employer get recognition. It is also rewarding to see the pride the employees have as their employer wins a SMART award. The SMART Awards are also sentimental for me as I helped plan and organize the first SMART Awards event in Orlando many (I think 13) years ago. We brought in Wally Amos of Famous Amos cookies to speak about entrepreneurship. It is enjoyable to see how the SMART Awards continues to be an annual marquee event for ACG Orlando.