Jessup & Associates, PLC marked its 30th anniversary with a ribbon cutting and the opening of a new office on Main Street in Stuart, a milestone owner Brian Jessup said feels both hard-earned and hard to believe.
“I blink and it’s gone,” he said.
Jessup launched his accounting career with a certified public accounting firm in Danville before returning to Patrick County, where a conversation with his father-in-law, then-Commissioner of Revenue Jerry Love, helped set the stage for his business.
“He called me and said, ‘If you plan on coming back to Patrick County, now might be a good time.’ So, I came back and started talking to people, and June 17,1996 is when I officially opened,” Jessup said.
What began as a one-person operation in the former Hooker Building at the top of Main Street has grown into a firm with 12 employees across its Stuart and Martinsville locations.
“I just started with nothing and have been blessed by the people of Patrick County. The faithful clients that I’ve had over the years to be able to keep going and grow,” Jessup said.
Over the decades, the business expanded beyond its original Stuart office. Jessup later opened an office on Preston Road in Henry County after purchasing a business there, and eventually acquired Accounting & Tax Services in Martinsville, relocating operations to Church Street.
“We had an office on Preston Road in Henry County, I bought a business there. Then, about six years after that, I purchased Accounting & Tax Services in Martinsville, and we moved from Henry County into the City of Martinsville. Now our office is on Church Street across from Martinsville City Hall and the Police Department in the Reed Young Law Office building,” he said.
The early years were defined by long hours and limited resources, Jessup said, recalling 16- to 18-hour days and nights spent in the office.
“My wife, Traci, if it wasn’t for her, I couldn’t have done it, but she would bring me changes of clothes and I would, after two or three hours of sleep, get back up and do it again,” he said.
Even now, he said remnants of those early days remain in the office design.
“So, through those early years when I didn’t have the clients there, it was definitely tough when you’re trying to make ends meet and to grow the business the way that I wanted to. I’ve been very, very blessed in many, many different ways,” he said.
At the ribbon cutting, Jessup credited his wife not only for her early support but also for keeping the family afloat during the business’s startup phase.
“She kept food on our table, paid our rent, and kept my truck from being repo-ed,” Jessup said to a laughing crowd at the ribbon cutting. “I really appreciate her loyalty. She even became an employee of ours back in 1999. She is one of my most-tenured employees.”
Employee longevity, he said, has also been a defining strength of the firm, with several staff members remaining for more than a decade, and some for more than 20 years.
“Those longtime employees have been really just crucial because they are the face of my business and I could do nothing without them,” he said.
While the firm has grown steadily, Jessup said the nature of tax work remains one of its biggest challenges due to constant changes in regulations.
“Anything in tax is constantly changing and evolving, so making sure that you stay up on tax law and, not only that, but what specifically relates to our clients or making sure that we’re there for them when they need us and we’re providing good, reliable information,” he said.
Jessup said Patrick County’s size has also helped insulate the business from some of the sharper economic swings seen elsewhere.
The move into the new Main Street building came after a chance conversation with then-property owner Marilyn Lewis, he said.
“She said, ‘Brian, I’m selling this building, and someone has bought my business. This would be a good building for you.’ I was like ‘oh yeah, it would’ because my old office was on the upper floor, it was the old Dr. Thompson office,” he said.
For nearly three decades, clients climbed stairs to meet with staff or conducted business in cars or nearby coffee shops when mobility was an issue. The new ground-level office, Jessup said, provides a more accessible and modern space.
“It just worked out great that I was able to get a property right across the street and on the ground level. This building had a wide-open floor plan, so I was able to come in and just build it out the way that we wanted to. It worked out really, really good for that, lots of room, they were able to modernize it and do the things that we needed from a technological standpoint,” he said.
Even as he moves forward in a new space, Jessup said he remains grateful for the community support that helped sustain and grow the firm from its earliest days.
