This week, Cape May MAC Director of Media Relations Susan Krysiak asks questions of Charles Kealy, Cape May MAC's Chief Financial Officer.

Krysiak: What is your educational background?  

Kealy: I am a product of the Philadelphia Parochial School system: St. Louis Elementary, Monsignor Bonner High School, and, for good measure, a bachelor of science degree from Saint Joseph’s College, Philadelphia, in Accounting. I am a Certified Public Accountant.

Krysiak: What have you had to do because of COVID-19 to accommodate a changing financial landscape?

Kealy: I spent a lot of time attempting to log in and not get kicked off state and federal websites during the application process. For about three weeks I felt I was banging my head against a wall trying to find out if anything I did was going through. Then the dam broke. I guess people in government were starting to catch up. $10,000 appeared in our account from the SBA EIDL program. (I learned a whole new language of letters and acronyms). Then Republic Bank approved us for a loan/grant from the SBA PPP program. Yesterday we heard from the SBA and I am awaiting closing documents for a 30-year loan of $150,000. I also have tried to get us into the NJEDA program; I am still waiting to hear any results. 

Krysiak: How has your work as Chief Financial Officer changed since COVID-19/March? What challenges have you tackled?

Kealy: It’s a lot lonelier. Having to go into the office one at a time cuts down on the office gossip. I have had to tackle learning how to operate the mail machine in Hill House.

Krysiak: What is your connection to Cape May?

Kealy: My family started coming to Cape May in the late '50s as summer visitors and bought a house on Hughes Street in the early '60s. I spent every summer here until the '80s and settled in West Cape May after getting married in 1985. My wife Margaret Oleksiak was also a summer visitor whose family bought a second home down here. We have one child, a son, Charlie, who lives in New York City and works as a data analyst. He is about to get his MBA from Pace University in July.

Krysiak: What civic/service groups do you belong to?

Kealy: I am a member and Treasurer for Cape May Kiwanis Club.

Krysiak: What do you appreciate the most about working at Cape May MAC?  

Kealy: I appreciate feeling like we are doing something to maintain the character of Victorian Cape May. Also, that it is a five-minute commute.