While working as a legislative auditor early in his career, Arnold Williams heard people around him in their 30s already calculating their retirement pay. And that’s when he realized: He had to get out of there.
“I couldn’t see being satisfied that … the only thing my life held, was to be there for 35 more years,” Williams said. “I’m not saying that’s a bad career. It just said to me that I would be limiting me if I didn’t explore the more.”
That epiphany led Williams, 73, to a career in public accounting over 40 years ago. The shift helped launch him as a leader and role model in Baltimore’s business community, particularly for other Black men looking to work in accounting and finance.
Williams is a co-founder and managing director of Abrams, Foster, Nole & Williams, P.A., which describes itself as “a minority-owned certified public accounting firm that was founded in 1983 to provide growth and development opportunities for African Americans in the accounting industry.”
The four founders banded together to start the firm after the National Association of Black Accountants hosted a convention in Baltimore, Williams said. They started imagining what type of accounting firm was needed for the city’s African American community, as Black businesses also needed trusted advisers. They decided that was the role they would play, though Williams emphasized their firm employs trusted accountants that help the entire local economy.
At the time the business opened, firms were mostly dominated by white men, Williams said. Today, about 2% of certified public accountants are Black, though there have been initiatives over the years to draw in more people of color and women, Williams said. But he added that firms like his are still needed.
“I would just say that for our community to thrive, it really takes more diverse business owners. And the reason is, we tend to be more deliberate with investing in our employees, our staff, knowing that it takes that to grow a community,” Williams said. “It is important to transfer our learning and encourage more people of color to be business owners [and] employers as we help build the Maryland economy.”
Beyond the walls of his firm, Williams has served in several key community positions, including over 25 years — with 16 as chairman — on the board of directors for the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), the city’s economic development arm.
Williams was originally appointed as chairman by former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, who said Williams provided “outstanding leadership” evidenced by the fact that subsequent mayors chose to retain him in that role rather than selecting their own appointees.
Schmoke said the BDC had faced criticism for focusing too much on downtown revitalization, but the appointment of Williams “sent the right signal that there was going to be a good balance of economic development in the central business district as well as in the neighborhoods.”
Schmoke, president of the University of Baltimore, is also the chair of the Baltimore City Community College board of trustees. Williams, who grew up in East Baltimore, graduated from the community college in 1970, which Schmoke said is a “real inspiration” for current students.
“[He] helped to raise the profile of African American businessmen in the community,” Schmoke said, adding that Williams encouraged more partnerships between white and Black residents in business, which “really resounded to the benefit of our community.”
Colin Tarbert, president and CEO of the BDC, has worked with Williams for about 20 years.
Tarbert said Williams has “long been dedicated” to the BDC and driving economic growth in Baltimore. He said those at the BDC call Williams their “sage” as he’s been instrumental in leading the organization through changes and challenges with a steady hand.
Williams is one to “listen and then lead,” Tarbert said.
“One of the things people say about Arnold is he’s somewhat slow in speaking but he’s very deliberate in the words that he chooses,” Tarbert said. “He’s really thoughtful about what he says and when he says it and how he says it in order to be effective.”
And Williams has always drilled down on inclusion, Tarbert said, ensuring the BDC is considerate in all of its decisions and who benefits from them. For example, Williams established as a standing board agenda item that members review the organizations’ equity and inclusion initiatives to ensure those goals don’t just get announced on social media and then forgotten.
In Williams’ office in the Village of Cross Keys, there are framed photos of him meeting with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in a sea of certificates, awards and photos plastered on the walls that celebrate the over four decades Williams has dedicated to Abrams, Foster, Nole & Williams.
He’s one of two founders who have yet to retire. Williams said while he knows that step will come, he’s taking it one day at a time.
“I don’t think retirement means ‘Stop doing good,’” Williams said. “It just means you don’t have to do it at the same pace.”
Arnold Williams
Age: 73
Hometown: Baltimore
Current residence: Kingsville
Education: Baltimore City College, Baltimore City Community College, University of Baltimore
Career highlights: Founding partner and managing director at Abrams, Foster, Nole & Williams
Civic and charitable activities: Former chair and current board member of the Baltimore Development Corporation; chairman of the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund; chairman of the Maryland Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority
Family: Married to Virgie Williams; one daughter
