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Photo courtesy of Kelly Ward.
Kelly Ward, recipient of the 2024 William R. Cashen Service Award from the ���ҵ��� Alumni Association, gives a presentation in October 2022.

By Felicia Burud

Small towns, small businesses: It’s a thread that runs through Kelly Ward’s life and career.

She grew up in a small town in Mississippi, where her parents owned a small business. Her first job as a freshman in high school was at a family-owned drugstore and pharmacy in her hometown. Today she owns a small accounting firm.

Through those experiences, Ward has learned the importance of building relationships and what it meant to be an active participant in her community.

“It comes from being a child of two small business owners,” she said. “Really the relationship approach to working with small businesses is the most important foundational pillar. Unless you have those relationships with those clients, you’re cutting out the ability to know, like and trust those people.”

Ward’s first accounting job was while she was a student at Mississippi State University.

“I worked at a small firm in the town where I went to school. I was the receptionist and helped with making copies and things like that,” she said. “It was literally dad, daughter and son. Three people and me.”

The atmosphere appealed to Ward. She had been told in college that going to work for one of the big four accounting firms was pretty much expected. She had a different approach. 

“Once I started working with small businesses, I realized that you can make an impact,” she said. “You’re having conversations with people that will directly influence their decisions, and your advice will affect their bottom line.”

Ward graduated from college in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. By 2006, she was living in Memphis and working on her master’s degree in taxation when the military moved her and her husband to Fairbanks. She picked up her education with the MBA program at ���ҵ���, while going to work for Robinson & Robinson, a local accounting firm, in 2007. 

Shortly after joining the firm, she earned a management role, which helped her build relationships with clients and the chance to bring new accounting technology to the practice. At the same time, she continued taking classes at ���ҵ���, helped by the evening course schedule tailored to working professionals. She earned her MBA in 2009. 

After three years with Robinson & Robinson, she became a part owner. Four years later, and before she turned 30, she owned 100% of the business.

Now the sole owner of Robinson & Ward, P.C., Ward employs more than 20 people. Some are ���ҵ��� alumni, and many of them work remotely in the Lower 48. The firm has offices in both Fairbanks and Mississippi. It maintains its focus on small businesses. 

“Fairbanks, in particular, is made of so many small businesses,” she said. “So giving back doesn't seem like giving back. Really you’re just supporting your neighbor.”

That philosophy carries on outside the workplace.