Ah, life on the West coast in sunny California.

That and a good job offer would keep most people from returning to their roots. Such was the case with George Braunegg, a 1975 Charleroi Area High School Graduate.

Braunegg left Pennsylvania in 1979 after graduation from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. "I went directly to USC for grad school," he said of the University of Southern California. "I had every intention of coming back to the Pittsburgh area once I was done, but I got enamored with the West Coast lifestyle and I got a real good job offer from Peat Marwick." Peat Marwick is now known as KPMG.

After working in the company's audit group to earn enough hours to become certified, Braunegg moved into the financial institutions consulting practice. "Along with two others, in 1986 I left Peat Marwick and started a management consulting firm called CAST," he said.

CAST largely services banks and insurance companies. "It was a lot of hard work, but it's really paying off," he said, noting that today CAST employs 45 people and generates $15 million in revenue. Some of the company's clients are Bank of America, National City Bank, Transamerica and AXA Financial.

"My business takes up most of my time, to be honest," Braunegg said. While participating in the interview for this story, Braunegg was sitting in a Buffalo airport awaiting a flight back to Los Angeles.

"The business has really been flourishing," he said. "I spend a lot of my time in New York City. I commute back and forth from New York to LA every week."

Braunegg and his wife, Janet, have a son, George. His parents, George F. and JoAnn Braunegg, still live in Fallowfield Township. If you write a story, it would make mother so thrilled if you mentioned that I'm a CPA," he said, laughing. "For some reason, she really likes people to know that."

The transplanted Charleroi native does return home to visit his family once a year, but he admits that it is not enough. "I miss many aspects of life in the Mon Valley," he said. "I miss Kennywood Park and Charleroi Day, and the Washington and Allegheny county fairs."

Even with the full list of outdoor activities available to West Coast residents, Braunegg said he still yearns for the outdoor fun that the Mon Valley provides. "I miss sled-riding, fishing in the Monongahela, lightening bugs, the beautiful fall foliage of western Pennsylvania and the crisp evenings of October." "I miss white Christmases, Seven Springs and Cougar football on Friday nights."

But, most of all, he says he misses hunting. "I come back to Charleroi once in a while to hunt," he said. "And my family is planning to come back for a nice hunting trip this year."


Jeff Oliver is a staff writer, for The Valley Independent.

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