Our Team

Gene McNiff, CPA

President and Treasurer

B.A. Political Science, Old Dominion University
Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants
Contributor to the National Uniform CPA Examination

Gene is a CPA with over three decades of tax, estate, and individual planning experience and co-founded Focus Asset Management. A Virginia Beach resident Gene is dedicated to the local community and currently serves as a missionary partnership group coordinator for the Virginia Beach Community Chapel. He is also a former member of the Board of Trustees for the National Institute of Learning Development and Discovery Program Inc. Gene has also served as treasurer of the Virginia Beach Community Chapel and as a member of the Capital Campaign Building Committee for Norfolk Christian Schools. He is married with two children and enjoys spending time with the family, attending ODU and UVA football games and shooting an occasional round of skeet with his friends.

Lawton Baker, CPA

Vice President and Secretary

B.S., Business Administration, Old Dominion University
Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants
Former president of the Tidewater Chapter of Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants
Board member of Towne Bank Financial Services Board , and former Founding Board Member, Audit Committee Chairman, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Monarch Bank
Vice Chairman for the StoneBridge School Board, Chesapeake

A CPA with 40 years of tax, business and individual planning experience, Lawton co-founded Focus Asset Management with Gene McNiff in 1998. A life-long resident of Portsmouth, Lawton is a Sunday School teacher at St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Portsmouth, and a member and past President of the Churchland Kiwanis Club. He enjoys sailing, reading, travel, Old Dominion sports and spending time with his wife, two sons and daughter-in-law

Carole Howland, CPA

CPA management/IT/compliance

B.A. Accounting and Information Systems, Saint Leo University
Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants

Carole is a Certified Public Accountant, with over 15 years of accounting, tax and information technology experience. She joined Focus Asset Management Company, in 2001. A Virginia Beach resident, she volunteers and is active at Great Bridge Baptist Church and has volunteered with Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Carole enjoys bicycling, sewing, photography, digital scrapbooking and visiting with her children and grandchildren.

Casey Bedtelyon, CPA

M.S., Accountancy, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
MBA, B.S. Business Administration, Montreat College
Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants

A Certified Public Accountant, Casey joined Focus Asset Management Company in December of 2009. Outside of the office, he enjoys life at the ocean, traveling, and time spent with friends and family. Casey is an active member of The Gathering United Methodist Church and resides in Virginia Beach.

Will Meredith, CPA

B.S., Business, Virginia Tech
Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants

Will joined the Focus team in November of 2015. Will enjoys playing soccer, spending time at the beach and following Virginia Tech sports. He resides in Virginia Beach.

Annette Houston

Firm Administrator

Master of Management, Webster University
B.A., Business Administrations, North Carolina Wesleyan College

Annette joined Focus Asset Management in January of 2015 after a 24 year career in the U.S. Marine Corps as a logistics specialist and administration officer. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, she has lived in several states across the country and also Japan. Annette is married and has two children. She enjoys volunteering at Virginia Beach Schools, watching her children play lacrosse and working outside in the yard.

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