The Question and Answer feature helps readers learn more about prominent people in the business community. This issue’s Q&A profiles Laura Coome, executive director of the South Dakota CPA Society and a member of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
 Laura Coome, executive director of the South Dakota CPA Society. (Inertia/for the SFBJ)
Name: Laura Coome
Title: Executive director, South Dakota CPA Society
Hometown: Sioux Falls
Age: 52
Background: Graduated from Washington High School and from the University of South Dakota with a bachelor’s degree in accounting; worked as an audit manager with the South Dakota Department of Revenue for 16 years; has been with the CPA Society since 1993; serves as president of CPA/SEA, which is the national association for executive directors; has many other roles on the national level for the CPA profession; serves as treasurer of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and Lunch Is Served Inc., which makes lunches for the working poor; sits on the Forward Sioux Falls V management committee
Family: Single
Q: Tell me about your interests and hobbies.
A: “I am in two Bunco groups, belong to Xi Alpha Epsilon sorority and love movies, sports and plays. I love to shop, cook on occasion and read when I have time.”
Q: How did you become interested in your field?
A: “I always loved math and started as a math major. After three semesters of calculus, I switched to accounting since it was math that made sense to me.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: “My jobs have always provided me with a great deal of variety, which I find fun and exciting, and the CPA profession is truly filled with wonderful people that I get to interact with.”
Q: How do you find time to balance your job and your family?
A: “I prioritize and plan, which I am able to do both pretty well. I am lucky to have a flexible job, so I don’t think I have missed any events for my niece or nephews.”
Q: What’s your favorite getaway?
A: “Since I travel frequently for my job, my favorite getaway is my deck. I have a creek and wooded area in my backyard, and it is like being in a different place without leaving town. My favorite vacation was to Mackinac Island.”
Q: If you could take a one-year sabbatical, what would you do?
A: “I have no idea, but it would entail sleeping in and staying up later!”
Q: Do you have a charity or organization that’s especially close to your heart?
A: “I volunteer for both Lunch Is Served and St. Francis House on a regular basis, so helping less fortunate members of our community is really important to me. In addition, I volunteer every month at the Dougherty Hospice House since I really want to help patients and their families deal with their end-of-life issues.”
Q: What kind of music is in your car or what do you listen to on the radio?
A: “Since I have to travel often, I got XM Radio to have choices and a signal throughout the state. My CD player also has a variety, and right now Keith Urban, Mary J. Blige, Rascal Flatts, Michael McDonald, Chris Daughtry and John Legend are in there.”
Q: If you could have dinner with two or three people, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?
A: “I would love to have dinner with my parents since I have so many wonderful memories of our family meals, and I miss them more than I thought was possible. My other choice would be John F. Kennedy, since as a baby boomer, I was so influenced by the age of Camelot.”
Q: What do you think are the best and worst things about Sioux Falls?
A: “It is home. When I first started traveling, it was fun to experience the sports, shopping and restaurants of larger cities, but now it is wonderful that we have all that here. Our leaders have done an amazing job of growing Sioux Falls into a wonderful city, and the community is so giving. It is a great place to live and work. The worst thing is the weather can be challenging at times.”
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