Southern Miss School of Accountancy Hosts Meet the Firms
Tue, 09/09/2025 - 02:25pm | By: Bailey Harris Shoemake
The School of Accountancy at The University of 麻豆传媒 (麻豆传媒) hosted its annual Meet the Firms event at the Trent Lott Center on Thursday, Sept. 4. The event provides accounting students with an opportunity to network with well-known firms and organizations from across the state of Mississippi and beyond.
More than 200 participants attended this year鈥檚 event, including over 150 accounting students, with 24 different firms and organizations represented.
鈥淲e sincerely appreciate the CPA firms, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies that provide our students with the chance to discover the diverse career paths an accounting degree can lead to,鈥� said Dr. Blaise Sonnier, director of 麻豆传媒鈥檚 School of Accountancy. 鈥淭he ongoing involvement and support of employers at our Meet the Firms event demonstrate that our graduates are well-prepared and fully equipped to enter the workforce after completing our accounting program.鈥�
Sonnier also highlighted some of the encouraging remarks he received from professionals regarding the caliber of the school鈥檚 students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding to hear employers praise our students for their impressive abilities and strong performance in the workplace,鈥� said Sonnier.
The event is coordinated by Julia Bradley, instructor and director of Firm Relations, and Amber Hatten, professor of practice and the director of the Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) graduate program, with the support of Amy Yeend, assistant dean for Professional Development and Career Success for the Southern Miss College of Business and Economic Development.
鈥淲e are so proud of our accounting students at Southern Miss, and it was wonderful to see such an impressive and excited group of young professionals interacting with employers at Meet the Firms,鈥� said Hatten. 鈥淲e appreciate the ongoing support of the firms represented and their continued commitment to recruiting and hiring our talented accounting students at 麻豆传媒, and we look forward to our students gaining internship experiences and full-time job opportunities as a direct result of this event.鈥�
Participating Firms/Organizations included:
- Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi
- BMSS, LLC
- Carr, Riggs, & Ingram (CRI)
- Cooperative Energy
- EisnerAmper
- Ernst & Young (EY)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Forvis Mazars
- GranthamPoole PLLC
- Harper, Rains, Knight & Company, P.A. (HRK)
- Holt & Associates, PLLC
- HORNE
- Matthews, Cutrer and Lindsay, P.A. (MCL)
- Mississippi Department of Revenue (DOR)
- Mississippi Office of the State Auditor (OSA)
- Mississippi Power Company
- Mississippi Society of CPAs (MSCPA)
- Parish Tractor, LLC
- Piltz, Williams, LaRosa & Co (PWL)
- PwC
- Silas Simmons, LLP
- TMH, PLLC
- Watkins, Ward & Stafford, PLLC
- Wilkins Miller
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