Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media local accounting firm Pattison, Koskey, Howe and Bucci [BOO-chee] has merged with UHY LLP, a national CPA firm. The company maintains offices in eight states, and its international division leads a network of independent accounting and consulting firms with offices in 100 countries. Negotiations began in October 2017, and the merger was finalized on January 1. The Pattison, Koskey firm, now renamed UHY LLP, will continue to maintain offices in Catskill, Hudson and Kingston. “There will absolutely be no layoffs. We will add positions,” shareholder Richard Koskey said. “There will be six interns and two full-time positions added.” The transaction with the local firm is part of a regional push UHY is making. The company has also merged with another accounting firm in Saratoga Springs. “...[W]e were really fortunate to come across the Pattison, Koskey, Howe and Bucci firm, and particularly excited about Richard and his firm and the legacy that they built over almost 75 years of history,” said Howard Foote, managing partner of the New York-Capital Region of UHY. The firm was started by Reginald Pattison in 1946. Koskey lived next door to the Pattisons in Lorenz Park in Columbia County and lived with them to finish his senior year at Hudson High School. Koskey went on to graduate from Duke University, then serve in the military, and in 1963 he went to work for the firm, becoming its third employee. “I’ve been here ever since,” Koskey said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.