BUSINESS PERSONNEL: ACCOUNTANTS RECEIVE TRAINING

Three representatives of Schott & Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau have received additional training and recognition.

Melvin J. Van de Ven, certified public accountant and certified valuation analyst, completed an educational conference sponsored by the University of Montana at Missoula. Seminars included federal tax issues, retirement plans, accounting procedure updates, asset protection strategies and economic value concepts.

Van de Ven has been a partner in the Schott & Van de Ven firm for 30 years and holds certifications in Missouri and Illinois and specializes in business valuation and litigation, estate and gift tax planning and health-care and mutual insurance.

Kenneth Brown, information systems analyst with the firm, has received the designation of Certified Installation Specialist from Great Plains Software. The company manufactures Dynamics, an accounting software. Schott & Van de Ven serves as the regional distributor for Dynamics software.

Brown is a native of Jackson and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1985. He served in the Army as a helicopter pilot and information systems officer through 1997. He is a member of the Jackson Rotary Club and is active in the Missouri National Guard 1140th Engineer Battalion.

Connie Brown, a certified public accountant and audit manager with the company, received specialized training in business valuations.

The class, The Income Approach and The Asset Based Approach to Valuation, was sponsored by the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Training covered two approaches to business valuation. In completing the course, Brown is halfway through the required training for a certificate of education achievement in business valuations.

She has been a CPA since 1985 with certifications in Missouri and Illinois. She is a member of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants and serves as treasurer of the Jackson Primary Annex Parent Teacher Organization.

The firm has a staff of 25 and maintains satellite offices in Marble Hill and Marion, Ill.