CEO's Message: A Legacy to be Remembered—Second Quarter 2025
A Legacy to be Remembered
Parnell Black, MBA, CPA, CVA
NACVA's Chief Executive Officer
It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that Richard Claywell, one of NACVA’s first members and a true icon in the business valuation profession, has passed away. My earliest memories building NACVA include Richard who was a Godsend when he appeared in our picture. He was so nice and so respectful, and always willing to engage in any type of discussion (personal, business, gossip, whatever), it was impossible not to love him. We got to know each other quite well back in the 90’s and Richard has continued his support to NACVA to the present day. Over the years, Richard was involved in practically everything we did at NACVA and early on became one of my main confidants who was always there for me and others at NACVA HQ. You see, Richard was a true genius, he had answers for everything. In the 90’s he pioneered automating his valuation practice in ways no one could imagine using Excel. He was proud of what he had accomplished, creating amazing efficiencies and often bragged about how many valuations he had in the pipeline, which was always full.
His support to NACVA was monumental. After I discovered just how brilliant Richard was, I contracted with him to be a back-up for any presenter who canceled at the last minute for all of our training events; and regardless of the topic because I knew whatever the topic was, Richard was knowledgeable. And if he felt he was lacking, he would brush up on the topic while flying redeye to bail us out on an event where the presenter canceled. In the early days, canceling a presentation was disastrous for an upstart as NACVA was back then. He saved us time and time again.
Richard was an idea person; constantly feeding us ideas, product and service suggestions, and ways we could improve our service to members. Sometimes I would think Richard was thinking about NACVA almost as much as me. One idea/suggestion which has materialized into a legacy here at NACVA, is our Outstanding Member (OM) Award, where after our keynote presentation at conference in Chicago in 1994, Richard came up to me and said, “Parnell, you guys need to do something more to help members in their careers and giving awards is a great way to do that. We put these things on our resume, brag about it, and it makes us stand out among the competition.” It was at that moment the idea of giving out NACVA’s quarterly OM Award was born. I should have done this then but am now retitling NACVA’s OM Award the J. Richard Claywell Outstanding Member Award.
Other awards to recognize our exceptional instructors were soon to follow, along with our Jeffery R. Salins Report Writing Award, and later the Thomas R. Porter Lifetime Achievement Award of which Richard was the recipient in 2023. Richard got it all started. Something else no one knows but me. On the day I received the news of Richard’s passing, I was meeting with NACVA’s Valuation Credentialling Board (VCB) and we were in the final stage of updating NACVA’s two checklists, one being the BV Development Checklist, the other being the BV Report Writing Checklist, and I realized that the checklists we were working on were originally Richard’s creation. Was that coincidence or Richard saying goodbye? I shared the story with the VCB. These checklists had their beginning 30 years ago and though regularly updated, still have Richard’s fingerprints.
One of Richard’s great prides that he talked about for a year or two before he acted upon it was organizing a reunion of his army buddies from the Vietnam War. He spent months researching and tracking all of them down and planned the entire event. I recall he was nervous, fearing only a few would show. But after the event, he was on cloud nine having had a momentous and wonderful time and nearly every one of them showed. After that, I recall him telling me they stayed in touch regularly and had a number of reunions over the years to follow.
There are so many other ways he supported NACVA and its members; he was a mentor in our Mentor Support Exchange, CVA Coach and Case Study Grader, presenter/instructor, participated on many committees, boards, task forces, NACVA State Chapter President, co-author of the Risk Rate Component Model, wrote articles, and so much more. I recently reviewed his resume which is 40 pages long, and much of it lists all his involvements with NACVA. He even played an instrumental role in helping NACVA and ValuSource develop NACVA’s BVMPro software. Richard was our technical advisor and lead beta tester. Richard was literally everywhere.
Richard holds a special place in my heart that I will carry the rest of my life. It pains me to say goodbye to Richard, he was a wonderful human being, one in a million, and gave of himself to everyone he knew. Thank you, Richard, we would not be where or who we are today without you.
His support to NACVA was monumental. After I discovered just how brilliant Richard was, I contracted with him to be a back-up for any presenter who canceled at the last minute for all of our training events; and regardless of the topic because I knew whatever the topic was, Richard was knowledgeable. And if he felt he was lacking, he would brush up on the topic while flying redeye to bail us out on an event where the presenter canceled. In the early days, canceling a presentation was disastrous for an upstart as NACVA was back then. He saved us time and time again.
Richard was an idea person; constantly feeding us ideas, product and service suggestions, and ways we could improve our service to members. Sometimes I would think Richard was thinking about NACVA almost as much as me. One idea/suggestion which has materialized into a legacy here at NACVA, is our Outstanding Member (OM) Award, where after our keynote presentation at conference in Chicago in 1994, Richard came up to me and said, “Parnell, you guys need to do something more to help members in their careers and giving awards is a great way to do that. We put these things on our resume, brag about it, and it makes us stand out among the competition.” It was at that moment the idea of giving out NACVA’s quarterly OM Award was born. I should have done this then but am now retitling NACVA’s OM Award the J. Richard Claywell Outstanding Member Award.
Other awards to recognize our exceptional instructors were soon to follow, along with our Jeffery R. Salins Report Writing Award, and later the Thomas R. Porter Lifetime Achievement Award of which Richard was the recipient in 2023. Richard got it all started. Something else no one knows but me. On the day I received the news of Richard’s passing, I was meeting with NACVA’s Valuation Credentialling Board (VCB) and we were in the final stage of updating NACVA’s two checklists, one being the BV Development Checklist, the other being the BV Report Writing Checklist, and I realized that the checklists we were working on were originally Richard’s creation. Was that coincidence or Richard saying goodbye? I shared the story with the VCB. These checklists had their beginning 30 years ago and though regularly updated, still have Richard’s fingerprints.
One of Richard’s great prides that he talked about for a year or two before he acted upon it was organizing a reunion of his army buddies from the Vietnam War. He spent months researching and tracking all of them down and planned the entire event. I recall he was nervous, fearing only a few would show. But after the event, he was on cloud nine having had a momentous and wonderful time and nearly every one of them showed. After that, I recall him telling me they stayed in touch regularly and had a number of reunions over the years to follow.
There are so many other ways he supported NACVA and its members; he was a mentor in our Mentor Support Exchange, CVA Coach and Case Study Grader, presenter/instructor, participated on many committees, boards, task forces, NACVA State Chapter President, co-author of the Risk Rate Component Model, wrote articles, and so much more. I recently reviewed his resume which is 40 pages long, and much of it lists all his involvements with NACVA. He even played an instrumental role in helping NACVA and ValuSource develop NACVA’s BVMPro software. Richard was our technical advisor and lead beta tester. Richard was literally everywhere.
Richard holds a special place in my heart that I will carry the rest of my life. It pains me to say goodbye to Richard, he was a wonderful human being, one in a million, and gave of himself to everyone he knew. Thank you, Richard, we would not be where or who we are today without you.
Parnell Black, MBA, CPA, CVA
Chief Executive Officer, NACVA
Chief Executive Officer, NACVA
