A mere 1,511 miles won't slow this CEO.

Byline: Frank Nelson

Jun. 11--Those who complain about the commute into Santa Barbara from Lompoc or Ventura, or even from Santa Maria or Oxnard, should spare a thought for Dennis Cagan . . . he's now commuting to Texas.

Every Monday morning he catches a plane to Dallas and makes his way to the suburb of Carrollton, where he has taken on the role of president and chief executive officer of Trinity Learning Corp. Then, every Friday, he returns to his home in Santa Barbara.

A leading light in the local high-tech business world for close to 40 years, Mr. Cagan started commuting only a few weeks ago but believes the long-distance travel may continue for another six to 12 months as he looks to hire more key people and address other issues at the company.

Trinity Learning, employing more than 200 staff, is a public company that provides workplace education and training to around 4,000 clients mainly in health care, emergency services, homeland security and other government organizations and industrial companies.

Revenue is running at about $30 million.

Though a member of the Trinity board of directors, Mr. Cagan didn't particularly seek out this role.

But when a new chief executive appointed a couple of months ago decided at the last minute that he didn't want to move from the Bay Area to Dallas, Mr. Cagan was asked to step in and take over the reins.

Mr. Cagan, president of the Santa Barbara Technology Group, has been a serial company founder -- he has started or co-founded around 20 different businesses -- investor and board member.

He currently sits on half a dozen boards and serves as chairman on four of them.

Among the companies he is or has been closely involved with are Wavefront Technologies, Software.com, Somera Communications, Commission Junction, Bargain Network, InTouch Technologies and Blue Casa Communications.

Mr. Cagan, 60, is regarded as an authority on information technology, including the Internet, software, hardware and communications, and also has considerable experience in the areas of strategy, sales, marketing, services and distribution channels.

His new office is in a rambling 205,000-square-foot facility that houses eight television studios.

From this complex, Trinity staff write, produce, edit and distribute training material, courses and industry news, beaming out around 35,000 courses via satellite television and the Internet.

Mr. Cagan's long-distance commute is likely to become even more demanding as he and his wife Angelia have been building a house in San Luis Obispo and will be moving there on July 5.

The couple, who have three grown children, have just adopted a 3-year-old girl named Sydney, and Mr. Cagan says one reason for the move is to have more space for a growing child.

Despite the move, Mr. Cagan says he still intends to maintain his many Santa Barbara-area business connections and commitments -- and he'll still keep commuting to Texas for as long as it's necessary.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Santa Barbara News-Press, Calif.

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