by Lisa Crockett

A portion of the old Washington Mutual bank building is now home to a new venture from the H&R Block Company, Vantive Partners. Unlike traditional H&R Block offices, which are typically only open during tax season, Vantive Partners will be a permanent part of the Castle Pines North (CPN) business community.

“Vantive was created to do tax planning and preparation for small businesses and individuals,” said Rick LaFave, the principle for the new CPN office. “We are open year round and will also be doing small business consulting, bookkeeping and financial planning.”

Vantive Partners launched this year, with 11 offices in the Denver area and 10 offices in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

“We will eventually have offices across the nation,” said LaFave, “but we chose these two markets to begin with because of the high concentration of small-business owners, which is our target market.”

The CPN location was attractive to Vantive because of the affluence of the area, as well as the high number of locally-owned businesses.

“We are able to do a lot with the community we’re in,” said LaFave. “Each client will have an ongoing relationship with a tax advisor.

Vantive Partners is located in the King Soopers shopping area, adjacent to the Fox and Norwood dental office. At press time, Vantive Partners was scheduled to open in late January.