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The best location in nation
© St. Petersburg Times TAMPA PALMS -- Charles Sayegh is one of the many. The hundreds who show up in Florida every day. The thousands who have carved up the pine and the scrub along a once-desolate ribbon called Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. He is excited by his success. Not arrogant, not boastful, but like a kid in the candy store, and anxious to share his enthusiasm. "We just got our first Starbucks," he says, grinning at the thought it would take so long. "Can you believe that? They're all over the place." Two months ago the Tampa Bay Business Journal named Sayegh among its "40-Under-40" most successful people. Further proof, as he sees it, of the boundless opportunity in this place he now calls home. Yes, like many who live here, he worries about so much rapid development. But is he one of those newcomers who wants to be be the last one in? "No way," he insists. Sayegh's story, like so many others, begins in cold weather in the midst of a career crossroads. From Boston, he had launched and sold a technology business at the height of the Internet boom. He then did a yearlong stint at Doculabs, an analyst firm in Chicago. "I was traveling 100,000 miles a year," he said. "With two kids, that got old quick." Burned out and tired of the cold, he sat down with his wife Nancy -- who was then pregnant -- and considered the alternatives. "We could have gone anywhere," he said. Tampa, which they had visited on vacation, was warm, "gorgeous," and great for families. They settled on New Tampa because it was so family oriented; then Tampa Palms because it was closest to the city and the airport. "We came down here on May 22 and we bought our house on May 23 (2001)," he said. He launched Orion Business Solutions, a consulting firm for businesses seeking to grow but lacking capital or management experience. He joined up with a venture capital firm in St. Petersburg whose investments include a bicycle manufacturer and a software company. He started playing golf and tennis at the Tampa Palms country club and became a coach in the New Tampa Soccer League, where his 6-year-old son Austin learned to play and daughter Amanda, now 4, will soon follow. His wife Nancy, a high school soccer star, took up tennis and won ladies' singles and doubles championships. This next part will sound incredibly corny. But Sayegh, 34, is convinced that "this area brings out the best, most positive qualities in people." He is impressed by everything: the way the soccer league holds training for its parent coaches, the way the schools, even by Boston standards, are trying to excel. They fly north when they can. They've experienced the winter onslaught of Disney-bound guests. "Last Christmas it was raining, and people were saying, 'What's the deal?' " Another Florida phenomenon to get used to. The compulsion to apologize for the weather. I first met Sayegh at a meeting last year of the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club. A second-generation Rotarian who had joined the downtown Tampa club, he has since found he is too busy to stay involved. The three kids. The two businesses. Once again, Sayegh finds he is logging a lot of time in the air. No, it's not all one big vacation. And Sayegh is the first to acknowledge New Tampa isn't perfect. There's the traffic, of course. The near-absence of employment centers north of Bearss Avenue. And there's that nagging feeling, despite the frontier atmosphere, that things are happening a bit too fast. "There is so much housing," he says, "and I haven't seen anything conclusive that shows we can handle such an influx." But stop the multitudes from moving here? "No way," he says. "Bring it on. Growth is good. You're either growing or you're dying. That's a silly business cliche, but it's true."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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