Born and Raised in Syracuse
Chedy grew up on the southside of Syracuse (in the McKinley Park neighborhood) and has planted roots throughout the city. He is a proud graduate of the Syracuse City School District and attended Mansfield University on a baseball scholarship before transferring to Onondaga Community College back in Syracuse.
He is a successful entrepreneur, avid Syracuse Orange fan, champion for the Central New York community, and lifelong gamer – including achieving the distinction of being ranked as the #1 Magic:the Gathering player in the world, a title he held for several months in 1997.
Both traditional and non-traditional education gave Chedy the vehicle to drive his passion for gaming forward and helped him discover his sharp business instincts and entrepreneurial spirit. He spent the next 25 years blending that passion and developing his business chops to ultimately build a local workplace community and a global online community within his hometown community.
Most of all, he is an advocate for continued community growth. He wants Syracuse – and all of the communities he supports – to succeed.
A Broader Sense of Community
Chedy is perpetually intrigued by the ability to unite people from across the world for a shared passion or cause. This type of community connection isn’t limited to a physical location, and neither are the benefits. Chedy believes that all communities – whether local, global, and virtual – prosper when investments are made in their people, places, and projects.
Founder of TCGPLAYER.COM
As a key member of the Tech Scene Movement in Downtown Syracuse, Chedy established his first business in 1998 which eventually became TCGplayer.com, a digital marketplace for trading card games. For over a decade, Chedy operated the company from his living room.
In 2014, he left his living room behind and moved into TCGplayer’s first headquarters with 12 employees to the State Tower Building in Downtown Syracuse’s burgeoning Tech Corridor along Warren Street. Chedy knew that if TCG was located in the heart of Syracuse, it would be a place where employees wanted to be. The company’s move to the Galleries Building in 2018 solidified it as the Tech Corridor’s most engaging, energizing, and exciting office space.
Dedicated to the People in CNY
As TCG’s founder and CEO, Chedy was dedicated to creating a physical workplace that inspired people to come together and get energized so that they were positioned for the best possible growth together. This energy expanded out onto the streets of Downtown Syracuse, where passersby could look in the windows to view a truly unique office space that created optimism about Syracuse’s future.
The company doubled its employees multiple times, providing a sense of place and community for more than 700 employees before it was sold in 2023. The growth of TCGplayer was also a significant contributor to the development of Syracuse’s Tech Corridor.
Now, as seen through his investments in several local initiatives, Chedy is drawing from his definition of community to show his commitment to Syracuse. Locally, he understands that neighborhoods are cornerstones of healthy communities. That is why he supports investments in key Syracuse initiatives that will pay dividends economically and culturally, and instill pride in our community.
Born and Raised in Syracuse
Chedy grew up on the southside of Syracuse (in the McKinley Park neighborhood) and has planted roots throughout the city. He is a proud graduate of the Syracuse City School District and attended Mansfield University on a baseball scholarship before transferring to Onondaga Community College back in Syracuse.
He is a successful entrepreneur, avid Syracuse Orange fan, champion for the Central New York community, and lifelong gamer – including achieving the distinction of being ranked as the #1 Magic:the Gathering player in the world, a title he held for several months in 1997.
Both traditional and non-traditional education gave Chedy the vehicle to drive his passion for gaming forward and helped him discover his sharp business instincts and entrepreneurial spirit. He spent the next 25 years blending that passion and developing his business chops to ultimately build a local workplace community and a global online community within his hometown community.
Most of all, he is an advocate for continued community growth. He wants Syracuse – and all of the communities he supports – to succeed.
A Broader Sense of Community
Chedy is perpetually intrigued by the ability to unite people from across the world for a shared passion or cause. This type of community connection isn’t limited to a physical location, and neither are the benefits. Chedy believes that all communities – whether local, global, and virtual – prosper when investments are made in their people, places, and projects.
Founder of TCGPLAYER.COM
As a key member of the Tech Scene Movement in Downtown Syracuse, Chedy established his first business in 1998 which eventually became TCGplayer.com, a digital marketplace for trading card games. For over a decade, Chedy operated the company from his living room.
In 2014, he left his living room behind and moved into TCGplayer’s first headquarters with 12 employees to the State Tower Building in Downtown Syracuse’s burgeoning Tech Corridor along Warren Street. Chedy knew that if TCG was located in the heart of Syracuse, it would be a place where employees wanted to be. The company’s move to the Galleries Building in 2018 solidified it as the Tech Corridor’s most engaging, energizing, and exciting office space.
Dedicated to the People in CNY
As TCG’s founder and CEO, Chedy was dedicated to creating a physical workplace that inspired people to come together and get energized so that they were positioned for the best possible growth together. This energy expanded out onto the streets of Downtown Syracuse, where passersby could look in the windows to view a truly unique office space that created optimism about Syracuse’s future.
The company doubled its employees multiple times, providing a sense of place and community for more than 700 employees before it was sold in 2023. The growth of TCGplayer was also a significant contributor to the development of Syracuse’s Tech Corridor.
Now, as seen through his investments in several local initiatives, Chedy is drawing from his definition of community to show his commitment to Syracuse. Locally, he understands that neighborhoods are cornerstones of healthy communities. That is why he supports investments in key Syracuse initiatives that will pay dividends economically and culturally, and instill pride in our community.
