Kyle Crawford says he knew Markham Norton was the place for him to build a career after meeting with two of the company’s leaders during a 2006 interview. [Photo: Brian Tietz]

Gail Markham and her 30-person Fort Myers accounting and consulting firm, Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Co., rob the cradle when it comes to recruiting. They speak at local high schools about the joys of accounting. A number of workers began as high school work-study employees, shadows and college students. “We feel it’s our investment in the future,” says Markham.

An exception to that path: Kyle Crawford. In his last year earning an accounting degree from Nazareth College in New York, Crawford flew to Fort Myers in 2006 and interviewed at four accounting and financial services firms. He met with two Markham leaders and says he found it was the place he wanted to build his career. Markham Norton shrank in the recession as real estate industry clients faded. “We learned how to be more efficient,” says Markham, president and founding partner. “We have to practice what we preach to our clients.”