After a year of steady growth, VSH Certified Public Accountants promoted Lydia Ahn to partner. Ahn joins partners Kathy Herndon, Bob Sytsma, Kathy Varner and Chris Sullivan at the Bellingham accounting firm.

Ahn started at VSH in 2006. Her specialties include real estate, construction and professional service industries, cross-border taxation and consulting, according to a press release. She’s a leader in VSH’s Tax and Consulting Services group.

“Lydia has been a strong member of our leadership team for several years and we are excited to have her energy, ideas and knowledge to enhance our partnership group,” VSH partner Chris Sullivan said in a press release.

VSH added nine new employees in the last year, and now has 40 employees total. Kathy Herndon, a founding partner, said the firm has grown steadily since it started in 1995, but last year the firm hired more employees than in a typical year. VSH’s offices also grew by 3,000 square feet in 2014.

Herndon attributes VSH’s growth to the firms many niche areas, which include fraud, business evaluation and divorce consultation.

“We’re committed to providing good service but we’re also full service. When we have a need we develop a specialty in that area,” Herndon said in a phone interview.