Forward Janesville - TheReport - Second Quarter 2024

Take life one day at a time. 1 2 3 { LIFE LESSONS } Never ask someone to do something you wouldn't do yourself. We each have our part. drafthouse isn't just Matt Kealy. It's a 37 member team. 18 | FORWARD JANESVILLE It’s important to give to the community that has given so much to me. My restaurants wouldn’t have thrived if the community didn’t support them. I joined the Janesville City Council in 2012 to represent the small business perspective. As the current Chairperson of the Downtown Janesville Business Improvement District (BID), I work on behalf of business and property owners to ensure special assessment tax dollars support downtown growth and success. I’m on HealthNet’s Board of Directors and I’m a supporter of the Children’s Museum of Rock County’s capital campaign because both contribute to the well-being of Janesville and Rock County. Partnering with local non-profits on round-up or donation campaigns via drafthouse is another way I give back. I love being able to provide exposure for these organizations and support their causes. Kealy's Kafe was an opportunity to buy a restaurant early. It was an incredible experience that taught me a lot about running a successful business. I’m self-motivated and believe strongly that if you want something, you have to go and get it. I have a passion for downtown Janesville. While owning Kealy’s, I wanted to work on a larger venture and knew that downtown would be the perfect location. It’s amazing to see how drafthouse has developed in the past 5 years. I love looking at the crowd and seeing such diversity in the clientele. On a lot of nights, drafthouse feels like a space that the community gathers. I really appreciate that we bring people together and can be part of their memories. HOW DID I GET HERE? s u c c e s s • c h a l l e n g e s • l i f e l e s s o n s • e d u c a t i o n • c a r e e r • f a m i l y • i n s p i r a t i o n s I’ve worked in the restaurant industry my entire life. My fi rst job was at Shakey’s when I was 14. I was there for about a year until I took a job at Kadee's Kafe as a dishwasher in 1997, right at the beginning of high school. In 1999, I took a second job as a formalwear consultant at Nedrebo’s Formalwear and balanced two jobs and high school. I graduated from Parker in 2001 and knew a career in the restaurant industry was for me. I have a passion for serving people and I love how every day is different. After moving from dishwasher to server to assistant manager at Kadee's Kafe, I focused on building the opportunity to purchase it. When I did in 2004, I left Nedrebo’s to focus on being a restaurant owner. I renamed Kadee's Kafe to Kealy’s Cafe and ran that business for 18 years, expanding the footprint to three locations. I took over Matt's Dog House in 2007 and ran it until 2012, and started as a food service consultant for Reinhart Foods in 2015 while still running Kealy's. Working at Reinhart provided me exposure to a different sector of the restaurant industry. That experience proved valuable when working on the concept for drafthouse. • MATT KEALY OWNER DRAFTHOUSE • { EDUCATION } 2001 Parker High School Janesville { WORK EXPERIENCE } 2019 - PRESENT Owner drafthouse 2004 - 2022 Owner Kealy’s Kafe 2015 - 2019 Food Service Consultant Reinhart Foodservice 2007 - 2012 Owner Matt’s Dog House 1999 - 2004 Formalwear Consultant, Resale Manager Nedrebo’s Formalwear 1997 - 2004 Dishwasher, Server, Assistant Manager Kadee's Kafe 1996 - 1997 Busser Shakey’s Pizza Parlor • Family is really important to me. I have an incredible wife named Hannah and three terri fi c kids, Joseph (9), Emma (8), and Henry (6). My goal is to give them the best childhood possible and they’re the reason I work. Over the past two years, I’ve been able to make more time for things that are meaningful to me. I really love to travel and we’ve taken the kids to Mexico twice. It’s fun to see them in a different environment and get to know their personalities outside day-to-day life. Hannah and I just came back from a trip to Greece with our friends and it was amazing.