The Town of Granby’s very capable Finance Director, Kimi Cheng, who has led the finance team to an award for excellence every year of her tenure, recently added to her resume.
Since the search for a new town manager was unsuccessful, and the acting town manager can hold that position for only 120 consecutive days, it was imperative to find someone to relieve First Selectman Mark Fiorentino from his double duty in order to re-set the 120 days. On Feb. 5, the board of selectmen appointed Kimi Cheng as interim town manager for four days.
Although her tenure as acting town manager didn’t last very long, Cheng has been doing yeoman work for the town for more than four years. She was hired as Granby’s Finance Director in September 2019, with a lot of experience, having worked at Price Waterhouse Coopers in New York City, Barefoot Bay in Florida, and in Connecticut’s State Treasurer’s Office. She graduated from the University of Scranton (Pa.) with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a minor in mathematics and Japanese. After a few years in the work force, she returned to the University and got another bachelor’s degree in accounting. In 2022, she received her master’s degree in accounting.
When asked if she had always wanted a career in finance, she replied that after working a few years in business management and not enjoying it very much, she wanted to try something different. “I always have had a special intuition with numbers. I love solving math problems, reconciliations, checks and balancing, forecasting, and statistical analysis to discover patterns and trends.” Clearly, finance and accounting made sense to her.
Cheng has dogged persistence and dedication to whatever she undertakes. For example: when she returned to college to get her accounting degree, she intended to achieve it in one year. Her academic advisor told her that no one could take 10 accounting classes (30 credits) in just two semesters. Cheng told the advisor that she would be the first, and she was. Not only did she get the degree in one year, she also did an internship during that time!
As Granby’s Finance Director, Cheng oversees budget development and monitoring, annual audit preparation, banking and investments, cash flow control, debt administration, capital assets control, contract negotiations, purchasing support, accounts payable processing, payroll compliance, fund management, general ledger maintenance and financial analysis and forecasting. When asked what about the job gives her the most satisfaction, she replied, “I am an analytical thinker. When I see a problem, I love to get to the bottom of it and fix it. I get the most satisfaction when I can find a solution to fix a long-term problem.” She admits that she sees financial things in black and white. “There is no grey area for me because you are either getting a finding in say, the audit report, or you aren’t. There is no such thing as ‘maybe’ in an audit report.”
Cheng loves working in Granby. She praises her “great team of volunteers that devote their time and energy to serve the town and make Granby a better place to live, work and raise families.” She notes that the staff always has the town town’s best interest at heart when making difficult decisions. “Honestly, you don’t always see board members and staff actually working collaboratively in other towns.”
If it sounds as if this woman spends her life thinking about numbers, be assured she is well-rounded. She is married and has three children (two boys and a girl, ages 12, 10 and 8) and two puppies who are just turning one year old. She loves to do Pilates and yoga, attend the kids’ sports games, and walk the puppies.