Benton, Safranski, & Co., LLP

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Benton, Safranski, and Co., LLP
116 West Third Street
Thief Rivers Falls, MN 56701
Phone: (218)681-4287
bsc@mncable.net

Hours of Operation:

  • Thief River Falls Office: M-F – 8:00am – 5:00pm
  • Argyle Office: M-F – M-F – 8:00am – 5:00pm

** Both offices may have different hours of operation during the summer months. **

Firm History

The Certified Public Accounting firm of Benton, Safranski & Co. LLP has been a Pennington County business operating in Thief River Falls under various names for over 69 years. The following is a timeline of key dates in our business history:

  1. April 1946:  Ralph Luhman opens an accounting and tax practice in Thief River Falls.
  2. 1956:  Boyd Holcomb of Crookston, MN purchases Ralph Luhman’s practice and changes the name to Holcomb Accounting. 
  3. October 1967:  Holcomb Accounting merges with the Grand Forks operations of Gerald Knudson to form Holcomb, Knudson & Co.  Holcomb, Knudson & Co. grows and operates ten offices with locations in Minnesota and North Dakota.  Phil Kays, father of Tom Kays, is the manager of the firm from 1957 until his death in August 1971.
  4. January 1979:  The firm moves to its current location at 116 W. 3rd Street in Thief River Falls.
  5. January 1984:  The firm of Holcomb, Knudson & Co. is disbanded and local partners, Bob Poissant and Dick Anderson, purchase the Thief River Falls office.
  6. May 1984:  the firm name changes to Anderson, Poissant, Kays, & Co.
  7. January 1991:  Bob Poissant retires.
  8. January 1994:  Michelle Benton, a graduate of Lincoln High School and St. Cloud State University, is admitted as a partner.
  9. January 1996:  Dick Anderson retires.
  10. January 1999:  Ray Safranski, a graduate of Argyle High School and the University of North Dakota, is admitted as a partner and the firm name changes to Kays, Benton, Safranski & Co. LLP.
  11. January 2003:  The firm purchases Ken Labine’s tax and accounting practice in Argyle, MN.
  12. January 2015:  The firm changes its name to Benton, Safranski & Co. LLP.
  13. January 2018:   Michelle Benton officially retires.

Currently, Benton, Safranski & Co. LLP is owned by CPA Ray Safranski and operates two offices located in Thief River Falls and Argyle.  The professional staff consists of Tom Koppenhaver, Randy Pederson, Isaac Mills, Carol Anderson, Shannon Hamrick, Amanda Sorteberg, Debbie Rynda, and Traci Kroll.  We are proud to be a locally owned and operated business!