A look at the people behind the numbers in area business:

LYNETTE STOLARZYK
BAKER TILLY

Title: Principal, Midwest area international tax leader

Age: 43

Lynette Stolarzyk is working to educate companies about the tax consequences of doing business in other countries as a Minneapolis-based principal and Midwest area international tax leader at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause.

Stolarzyk, who oversees tax planning and other services related to international business opportunities for clients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan, is taking on a newly created leadership role as Baker Tilly expands its strategic tax consulting practice in the Midwest.

"[Clients] have this push to get out there and consider whether the international marketplace might be a place where they source products or manufacture products or is in fact an opportunity for future sales growth," Stolarzyk said. "Our goal is to educate them, answer questions and talk to them about planning opportunities in particular jurisdictions as well."

Baker Tilly's Midwest international tax clients are in a wide range of industries and include start-ups that are considering doing business in other countries and companies that have questions about issues such as planning and compliance related to their international operations, Stolarzyk said.

Stolarzyk has extensive international tax experience, including working more than 10 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was international tax director and quality and risk management market director. She also has worked in corporate accounting and led the master of accountancy program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Stolarzyk has a master's from Georgetown University and a law degree from New England School of Law.

Baker Tilly is based in Chicago.

Q: What is driving clients' demand for international tax services?

A: Clients are getting so many requests for, "How do we grow our business?" When they start going abroad they're very tentative in that they don't have experience with law elsewhere. So they really need someone to educate them.

Q: Why should companies work with Baker Tilly on international tax issues?

A: I have a solid platform in international tax. This role, where Baker Tilly was listening to its clients and saying we have more of a demand on the international tax side, let's me continue to do what I've done well, which is identify tax issues, educate clients and help them through some of the international obstacles inside their organizations around those issues.

Q: What international tax issues are clients dealing with?

A: It's a mix of consulting and compliance. Some clients are heavily focused [internationally] and have been for years and they have more complex issues. The start-ups have complex issues sometimes because they're starting from ground zero.

Todd Nelson