Shirl Penney is the founder, CEO and president and member of the Board of Directors of Dynasty Financial Partners, a leading provider of wealth management and technology platforms for independent financial advisory firms, with six locations across the U.S. and headquarters in St. Petersburg. Shirl Penney is also a contributing writer for both Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine through their Leadership Network Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Why Greater Tampa Bay?
I grew up in Eastport, Maine and in 2010 started Dynasty Financial Partners in Manhattan. In 2018, the Board of Directors recognized that factors such as cost of living, commute times, tax environments and competition for talent had steadily increased. We needed to put the business in the best position to enhance our economics over time and increase capital for investing in technologies for the business. The standout in St. Pete for me, specifically, was the community. Each time we visited, we experienced the community “bear hug.”
For us, the motivation to come to Greater Tampa Bay was led by the search to relocate Dynasty’s corporate headquarters. In that regard, the three main qualities that helped St. Pete outshine the other locations we looked at are the city’s local community, infrastructure and economics.
After the move, one of the most noticeable changes was how much more time we all had to spend with our families. A sense of family has always been a part of our culture here at Dynasty, and the geography now reflects and enables that. A lot of our team members appreciate the walkability of the area, which is a nice change of scenery compared to long commutes.
As a CEO, any enhancement to Dynasty is an enhancement to my career. Part of our vision when making this move was to enlarge our margins over time so we can invest in more technology and resources for our clients. We recently added a new Chief Digital Officer and a Chief Technology Officer to our leadership team in addition to 56 new team members, and counting!
Asset revenue, personnel, basically everything across the board has doubled since we moved. Our employees are set up to be in a better position, too. When you apply the cost of living and the tax savings, the average person within the company essentially got a 20%-25% raise.
Since relocating, we now have over 75% of our team members in St. Pete, and we’ve become a partner of the St. Pete Economic Development Corporation that promotes the area to dynamic companies and business leaders who, as we did, stand to benefit from relocation to our new community. The closeness of the community is incredibly inspiring and has motivated me to get more involved on a local level, which has led to a lot of great connections.
Beyond the business climate and community feel, the variety and access in Greater Tampa Bay also make it a great place to call home, from the sports teams to the different local cuisines, to the ease of access to Port Tampa Bay and the area’s top-rated airport.
