Tampa Bay tech tycoon turns his talents to protecting Florida's wildlife
TAMPA, Fla. - As millions more people move to Florida, untouched parts of the state that wildlife call home come under more pressure. Some fear people will ruin what brought so many to the Sunshine State in the first place, but a Bay Area man who made millions in technology believes he can use some of that same magic to save the environment.
Arnie Bellini started the company ConnectWise, which many call Tampa's Cinderella story of tech startups. Many of the employees became millionaires when Bellini sold the company to a Silicon Valley buyer in 2019.
Bellini told FOX 13 that he was motivated by Microsoft whose 50 employees became millionaires when the company went public.
PREVIOUS: Documentary reveals importance of Florida wildlife corridors
"One of my personal goals was to beat that, and we did, with 70-plus millionaires," he said.
Now Bellini says he wants to help save parts of Florida that are disappearing.
"Let’s get ahead of it. Let’s be proactive. Let’s not wait until it's too late," he told us recently from his home north of Tampa.
Bellini is spending hours daily, and millions of dollars, to convince leaders and officials to set aside millions of acres of green space for the good of both the environment and – he says – the economy.
"Let’s not be California. They waited too late… They had great economic success, but they missed something. They didn’t plan for it, and now they’re paying for it," Bellini explained.
He said corporations have an opportunity to receive carbon credits through expanding the state’s wildlife corridor.
The Florida Wildlife Corridor was approved by the legislature last year and has targeted 18 million acres of public and private lands for preservation. However, relatively few people know about the corridor or its importance to the environment.
Bellini is spending $5 million of his own money on a marketing campaign called "Live Wildly" to educate urban Floridians on why green space is important.
"We in the State of Florida have an amazing opportunity to balance our economy and our ecology and keep this a state that’s wonderful and beautiful forever," says Bellini.
Supporters of the Florida Wildlife Corridor hope his Midas Touch can extend from technology into the wild parts of Florida.