When you see the snow falling, you know that it is the winter season. When you see and feel the rain, you know that it is the spring season. When you feel the heat from the sun, you know that we are in the summer season, and when the weather starts to change and the leaves are falling, we are in our fall season. But when you see grown men standing in the middle of the street dressed as some type of cartoon character or in a dingy costume dressed as the statue of liberty or Uncle Sam you know that it is tax season.

For some, tax time is when you receive the only money that was saved on your behalf. Tax time for others is when, on top of all of the other bills that we must pay, we have to find a way to pay Uncle Sam. Well, although this is not the best time for me, at least I know that here in the Austin community we have a seasoned tax professional in Mr. James Spearman.

Mr. Spearman is the owner of the Office LLC, 5814 W. Chicago Ave. Mr. Spearman is a highly-motivated and driven man who tells me that he is the second youngest of 11 children. He said that having to contend with so many mouths to feed forced him to learn how to be a hard worker at an early age. Mr. Spearmen comes from very humble beginnings. He is a product of Chicago Public Schools. He has worked many full- and part-time jobs, but eventually went back to school at Triton College and then to Concordia University where he received his degree in accounting. This was done while still working a full-time job and raising three children with his wife.

The next step was taking an abandoned property on Chicago Avenue and converting it into a place of pride and professionalism. As you may well know, most of the tax services in our community are only opened for a few months and the next day – April 16 when tax season is over – they are closed. Those properties sit vacant for the next eight months until tax time the following year. This is not the case for The Office LLC. They are committed to servicing our community all year round.

I can remember when I misplaced my previous year’s tax documents and needed them in a hurry. I was able to call the Office LLC, and have my documents ready for pick-up. The Office LLC offers a full range of tax and accounting services as well as business advice, and help in planning your financial strategy. Mr. Spearman says that what he likes most about his business is helping our seniors by empowering them with financial information.

In a time when most of the people doing business in our community neither look like us nor are interested in helping us to grow as a community, it is good to have someone (a strong black male) who does not just talk about what needs to be done but leads by example.

Mr. Spearman still finds time to mentor unemployed and under-skilled youth on basic business and technology. He believes that his business is a community service, and is the way to empower our community.