Anthony Borrell Jr., whose business is built on electrical work for large clients, assures there will be no drastic changes.
By JEFF HARRINGTON
Published June 2, 2004
TAMPA - For 57 of his 63 years, Anthony Borrell Jr. has been intricately tied to the family business.
After his father founded Borrell Electric in 1947, the younger Borrell helped build it into a $35-million-a-year Tampa institution doing electrical work for major clients such as Tampa International Airport and the University of South Florida along with hundreds of homeowners.
Now the time is right to sell, Borrell said Tuesday. He has closed on a deal to sell Borrell Electric to two 15-year employees: Jim Smith, company president for the past five years; and Carlos Menendez, controller the past 15 years.
Terms of the private sale were not disclosed.
Borrell acknowledged some bittersweet feelings in severing his family's ties to the company. But he said he trusted Smith and Menendez, who plan to keep the Borrell name and its cadre of long-term employees. The company, with more than 350 employees, operates a 50-vehicle fleet doing business in six counties in the bay area.
"It was just the right time and neither one of my sons had an interest in it," Borrell said. One of his sons is a college professor in Pennsylvania; the other is involved in real estate in north Florida.
Borrell said he was worried that a sale to someone outside the company could result in layoffs for long-term employees. "This enables the company to continue to prosper and serve the area as it did previously," he said. "It's basically a transparent change."
Anthony Borrell Sr., who died in 1999, began the company with a borrowed truck. His one-man shop had first-year revenues of about $30,000. "It all started with a $50 income tax refund due to the birth of my brother, Tommy," Borrell said.
Borrell isn't retiring completely. Under terms of the sale, he will work for Borrell Electric until 2006 and continue after that as a consultant.
In addition, he is retaining ownership of Borrell Fire Systems, a $5-million-a-year company that sells fire protection systems, as well as Borrell Inc., a holding company primarily of real estate.
Although he eventually will stop going to the office, he has no plans to move away from the area.
"I was born and raised here," he said. "My home is in Tampa. I boat here. I play golf out of here. . . . When you're in Utopia and eating ambrosia, why do you want to go elsewhere?"
