On Jan. 14, 2013 the SwartzCPA firm celebrated 25 years in Tryon.

Larry Swartz acquired the tax practice of Ed Delehanty, then located at 100 N. Trade Street, on Jan. 14, 1988. Delehanty had one full-time employee and worked only part-time himself. It was small but it was a beginning.

Swartz and his wife, Jeanene, were looking for a small town in which they could live and work without the hassels of city life.

“We wanted quality of life for our family and we didn’t want to wait until retirement to find it. We found it here in Tryon,” Swartz stated.

The accounting and tax practice has been a family business from the beginning. The Swartz family all made the move to Tryon. Daughters, Allison and Aimee, and granddaughter, Jessica, have all worked in the business. Jeanene still works part-time.

Swartz left his position of vice president of finance and chief financial officer of a small conglomerate in Charlotte to answer the call to self-employment and small town life. He opened an office in Easley, S.C. where his family had lived for many years before moving to Charlotte. But Easley was growing and just not small enough to suit Swartz. He met Jerry Johnson, now president of Tryon Federal Bank, through one of his clients. Johnson encouraged him to consider moving to Tryon and proceeded to sell him on the benefits. That was the beginning of an interest that some two years later landed Swartz in Tryon.

Has small town life in Tryon been what the Swartz’s expected?

“The people have been great, we expected that,” Swartz said. “Getting to know local residents, many of whom are clients, has been one of the great pleasures of our life here. I feel as if they are an extended part of the family.”