Three decades of specialized financial stewardship have culminated in a formal recognition for Wiley Harrison, whose firm, Business of Your Business, LLC, has become a fixture in the regional economic landscape. On May 18, 2026, the Business Council of Westchester (BCW) presented Harrison with the Jim O’Toole Memorial Award at the Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, according to the report by The Hudson Independent. The award serves as a benchmark for leadership within the council, acknowledging contributions to organizational pillars like the Day of Golf and the Classic.
From Corporate Finance to Small Business Advocacy
Harrison’s career trajectory offers a roadmap for transition from the institutional scale to the independent sector. After securing an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1984, he spent nearly a decade refining his technical skills within the rigid structures of a large accounting firm and a Fortune 500 corporation. This foundation in large-scale financial reporting provided the capital and knowledge base required to launch his own firm in 1992.
The shift to independent consultancy after eight years of corporate experience highlights a recurring theme in regional business development: the migration of high-level financial expertise toward the small-business segment. By providing bookkeeping and advisory services for over 30 years, Harrison has operated at the intersection of local commerce and broader economic stability. His work with the Small Business Development Council—where he served as Vice-Chair—underscores the functional necessity of such financial expertise in fostering sustainable regional growth.
Legacy and Institutional Continuity
The Jim O’Toole Memorial Award is not merely a professional accolade; it functions as a mechanism for institutional memory within the BCW. Jim O’Toole, a former Chairman of the Board and Board Member Emeritus, established a standard of volunteer-driven leadership that the organization continues to incentivize. Marsha Gordon, President and CEO of the BCW, noted that Harrison’s commitment to the council’s advocacy mission mirrors the dedication that O’Toole originally brought to the group’s foundational initiatives.
This recognition highlights the importance of non-profit board service as an extension of professional financial practice. Beyond his firm, Harrison’s involvement with the Thomas H. Slater Community Center and the YMCA of Central Westchester and Northern Westchester indicates a strategic allocation of time toward community infrastructure. For an independent firm, this level of board-level engagement often functions as a signal of long-term local investment rather than short-term transactional gain.
The Investor Takeaway
For local stakeholders and business owners, the longevity of Harrison’s firm serves as a case study in service-based business resilience. In an economic environment where small-business bookkeeping is increasingly subject to automation and cloud-based outsourcing, firms that integrate community leadership with technical financial expertise maintain a distinct competitive advantage. The next reading of local economic development metrics and small business health indicators in Westchester will show whether the high-touch, community-integrated model remains as effective in navigating shifting interest rates and inflationary pressures as it has been over the past three decades.
