TAMPA — Tony Selvaggio arrived in Bradenton in 2011 with the hope of building a future different from the one he left behind in Venezuela. At the time, he didn’t know that a little over a decade later, he would be the visible face of a venture that today is transforming communities in the United States and Latin America.
His company, eSmart Recycling, recycles electronic equipment and also connects thousands of people with educational and job opportunities that depend on access to technology.
“I came to the Tampa Bay area thanks to the sponsorship of a family friend who employed me in their scrap business that had operations in Tampa,” Selvaggio recalled. “I was supposed to come in as their right hand to keep an eye on the business. And when I started making those trips from Bradenton to Tampa I thought, ‘No, I have to settle here.’ And that’s how I ended up staying in Tampa later on.”…