About Me

Hello,

Thank you for visiting my author website. I invite you to contact me so I may help your institution be Squared Away, either via speaking or consulting inquiries. I would welcome the opportunity to meet you and your team.

Thanks, Jeff

I have 20+ years of experience as an industry consultant.

I have been a financial industry consultant for over 20 years, specializing in the development of client strategies, M&A, process improvement, profitability consulting, and general advisory. I have served banks since 1985 in IT, Trust, Retail Banking, merger consolidations, process improvement, and strategy development. I am on the faculty of various state banking associations and am a frequent industry speaker and commentator. I currently serve as the President of The Kafafian Group, a finance, strategy, and operations consulting firm.

I served in the U.S. Navy.

I served seven years in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence analyst and received three Naval Achievement Medals, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, Sea Service Ribbon, and other commendations.

I was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Joe Biden once quipped that it was a "hard scrabble life" growing up in Scranton. It must have been hard for him since he moved out when he was a child. I went the distance. Scranton is lampooned in the popular sitcom The Office. Although I would characterize Scrantonians as quirky, we are not quirky like those in the series. I think we would be funnier. Scranton is an amalgamation of immigrants that came over the pond between the Irish potato famine and the southern European immigration wave that ended in the 1920's. We are Irish, German, Polish, Italian, Czech, and various other nationalities that came through Ellis Island to the land of plenty to mine coal. I am of Italian and Irish descent. I have a lot of internal conflict. My wife is Sicilian. I sleep with one eye open.

My sports allegiances are…

New York Yankees: When you grow up in Scranton, you like the Phillies or Yankees, although there were smatterings of Mets and Pirates fans, but why torture yourself? My older brother liked the Phillies. Ipso facto, I'm a Yankees fan.

Philadelphia Sixers: Dr. J, Moses Malone, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Chocolate Thunder! C'mon, who else could I like?

Los Angeles Rams: This one is out in left field, I will admit. But in 1974 the Rams drafted the only Heisman Trophy winner from Penn State- John Cappelletti. Perhaps you saw the movie Something for Joey, where Cappy gave his Heisman to his little brother that was bravely suffering from Leukemia. I cried... and I never liked another professional football team.

Notre Dame: You either liked Penn State or Notre Dame if you are from Scranton because 90% of us are Catholic and we have a fair amount of Irishmen. My older brother likes Penn State. Enough said.

Washington Capitals: I never watched hockey growing up, so this is a later in life decision. The Caps farm team is the Hershey Bears, eight miles from my house. I saw many Caps play when they were kids.

Philadelphia Union: I never saw a game of soccer until I was an adult. I had the same attitude as baseball and football fans. But my youngest was pretty good at the sport, and I must admit it has grown on me. Soccer fans, by the way, are awesome. And the Union’s stadium and its view of the Commodore Barry Bridge is one of the most picturesque in all of the MLS.