BKD's Eischeid, Simek named partners; Butler joins staff

Russell L. Romanelli, managing partner of BKD's Chicago practice, recently announced three staff appointments:

• Timothy Eischeid and JoAnna Simek have been elected partners by the firm's partner base and ratified by BKD's Governing Board.

Eischeid is the Chicago office's financial services industry leader. He specializes in providing accounting and consulting services to financial institutions. He is a 2004 graduate of University of Nebraska Omaha with a B.S.B.A. degree in accounting, finance and banking. He also attended the Graduate School of Banking at University of Wisconsin - Madison and received his diploma in 2017.

Simek has been serving as a tax director at BKD's Chicago office and specializes in manufacturing, distribution and technology. Simek serves clients in the technology and software industry, providing consulting and tax services for corporations and their executives. She is an honors graduate of The Ohio State University, Columbus, with a B.S. degree in business administration, and a graduate of DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, with an M.S. degree in taxation.

• Travis Butler has been hired as a director in tax in BKD's Oakbrook Terrace office.

Butler has 17 years accounting and taxation experience, providing tax consulting services to a wide range of clients, including Fortune 100 companies across all industries. He has also served as a technical resource to internal tax professionals on specialty tax projects, including Section 199, Inventory Methods, Cost Segregation studies, Accounting Method Reviews and Tangible Property Regulations.

Before joining BKD, Butler worked for multiple large public accounting firms, most recently serving as a Managing Director in the National Tax Office of a leading national firm, delivering technical expertise and training to firm professionals and clients nationwide.

Butler is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Illinois CPA Society. He is a graduate of Millikin University, Decatur, IL, with a bachelor's degree in accounting.