Leader finds new calling

Stuart Rogel spent 20 years trying to lure companies to the Tampa region and others to stay in town.

The former CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership, Rogel now has a new gig: helping companies grow.

Rogel will do that through Graylan Ventures, a Tampa-based firm he founded that will work with C-level executives at startups and small and mid-sized businesses on strategy, business development and other tasks. “This is an outgrowth of what I did at the Tampa Bay Partnership,” Rogel tells Coffee Talk. “I've always been interested in the startup side and the entrepreneurial side of economic development.”