Tranquility found at home for 1997 Walsh valedictorian

Accountant, professor cites success from a beautiful backyard

(Editors note: The following is the sixth in an ongoing feature series on young professionals in the Olean area. In an era of declining populations and fewer job opportunities, the featured individuals have chosen this place as home, making their marks and forging success stories despite sometimes overwhelming odds. This feature: Bysiek CPA proprietor and St. Bonaventure University adjunct professor Ed Bysiek.)

ALLEGANY Life is tranquil for the Bysieks out on West Five Mile Road.

By Ed Bysieks definition, they have their own little world in the country. And thats just fine for his needs as a self-employed certified professional accountant. Last Friday afternoon, wearing flip-flops, khakis and a sharp purple golf shirt, Mr. Bysiek, 34, sat on his porch his home office, which moves inside to a butterfly-themed sunroom during winter and tended to business while enjoying the fresh fall foliage.

The 1997 Archbishop Walsh valedictorian hasnt moved too far. And thats a teaching point for his finance and accounting students at St. Bonaventure University.

Ill say that my Ive had every schooling and work experience within a 10-mile radius, which I think is the exception rather than the rule, said Mr. Bysiek, who earned a masters degree from Bonas in 2002. Ive been fortunate, in a sense, to be able to stay around here.

But why did I stay? Id say a combination of things. One is the familiarity of the place and family. I know what Im going to get from people here. Certainly other hometowns probably have that for people who have lived there, but this is my hometown.

The same could be said for his wife, Evelyn, 30, a 2002 graduate of Hinsdale Central School, he noted.

Despite the relative peace of the home office, however, Mr. Bysiek said his professional life can be testing. In addition to managing Bysiek CPA in its seventh year, he has taught two to three classes per semester in the SBU business school for eight years.

Before his interview with the Times Herald, Mr. Bysiek started his day with an audit report to the Olean Urban Renewal Agency then rushed back to Bonaventure to lecture an 8:30 a.m. class in the new William E. and Ann L. Swan Business Center, he said.

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Tranquility found at home for 1997 Walsh valedictorian