Missouri’s newly-inaugurated Governor Jay Nixon;
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley; St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann; Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan; Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO 2nd Dist.); RCGA Board Chairman Bob Reynolds; 2007 Right Arm of St. Louis Winner Craig Schnuck; and over 800
St. Louis regional business, civic and elected leaders, and RCGA members saluted Edward Jones Senior Partner and former RCGA Board Chairman John Bachmann at the 172nd RCGA Annual Dinner and Meeting on January 15th at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.
John Bachmann, Senior Partner of Edward Jones, always wanted to be a big league ball player. Only thing is, he had poor vision in one eye. “I figured I’d have to be a pitcher—not a batter,” he told the audience at the annual meeting.
John Bachmann, Senior Partner, Edward Jones,
receives the 2008 Right Arm of St. Louis Award. http://www.stlrcga.org/media/Bachmann_Video_.wmv
“I wanted to develop a knuckle ball, so I sought out the best, (Hall of Fame pitcher) Hoyt Wilhem of various Major League teams including the Cardinals, Cubs and White Sox. “Hoyt was good enough to pen me a four-page handwritten letter about the insights to throwing the pitch. I really appreciated that.”
There was a payoff:
The year Bachmann served as chairman of the annual United Way Campaign, he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch at a Cardinals’ game. He took the mound and fired a perfect strike to the catcher knuckle ball style. Cards skipper Tony LaRussa took note. “I told John to tell us where he would be sitting in the stands because in about the eighth inning, we may just have to call on him for some help.”
Mentoring has been a big part of John Bachmann’s life. He can guide a wet-behind-the-ears Edward Jones broker as well as lead a board meeting for one of the world’s largest investment firms.
Becky James-Hatter, Executive Director, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri once came to Bachmann seeking out his marketing expertise.
Bachmann told James-Hatter to bring all of her marketing and promotional materials to one particular meeting. “I learned a lot from (John) Bachmann said the non-profit leader. “I quickly learned that I had to do everything completely different,” she said, not batting an eye.
Leadership and mentoring is Bachmann’s forte. Edward Jones has grown exponentially from a company with 600 offices to 10,000 during his tenure.
Bob Reynolds, Chairman, President and CEO
of Graybar Electric Company, and RCGA
Chairman presents RCGA
Year in Review.
Bob Reynolds, Chairman, President and CEO of Graybar Electric Company and Chairman of the Board of the RCGA said Bachmann exemplifies what this award is all about, an award that dates back 34 years. “We celebrate our community and the key role that a united business and civic leadership has provided over the past years in enhancing our bi-state region.”
Mike Busch, news anchor at KSDK-TV and emcee for the evening, pointed to Bachmann as the obvious choice for the 2008 Right Arm of St. Louis award.
“When it comes to going to bat for
St. Louis, few leaders have contributed more than John Bachmann,” Bush said emphatically.
Bachmann’s resume is long and complete. He served as Chairman of the RCGA from 2000 to 2003. Then Managing Partner at Edward Jones, he made a major imprint on the RCGA and the
St. Louis Region overall. He served as a member of the RCGA Board’s Strategy Advisory team out of which grew the St. Louis region’s BioBelt Plant & Life Science initiative; the Private Sector Infrastructure Council; Forward Metro St. Louis; the design and establishment of the Regional Business Council; the Inner City Competitiveness initiative; and the region’s active participation in Downtown Now!
Gov. Jay Nixon kicked off the Annual Meeting and
Dinner just four days after being inaugurated
Missouri’s
55th Governor.
Presently, Bachmann serves in a variety of civic roles including being a long-time member of Civic Progress; Honorary Counsel General to Canada; leader of an initiative to expand and modernize Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and Chairman of the Confluence Greenway.
“I certainly have to thank my partners (at Edward Jones) who give me a lot of free time to work on these other things,” he said, modestly accepting the annual award.
Schnuck Markets Executive Committee Chairman
Craig Schnuck, left, and Chairman, President and
CEO of Graybar Electric Company and
RCGA Chairman Bob Reynolds present the
2008 Right Arm of St. Louis Award to
Edward Jones Senior Partner John Bachmann, center.
Leaders like to work off lists, and Bachmann is no different. “Dick Fleming has his list of important things to do
for the region, and I have mine too,”
said Bachmann.
His list includes, but is not limited to:
- Bringing together the entire region from St. Charles to Southern Illinois, having all leaders speak as one voice
- Regaining the stature of the downtown part of St. Louis while rebuilding the infrastructure and competitiveness of the St. Louis City Schools
- Further growing the BioBelt initative with partnerships at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Monsanto, Cortex and other major players
- Creating a voice for smaller ‘non Civic Progress’ companies
- Finding further funding for the great local universities including UM-St. Louis, Maryville University, Webster University, McKendree University and a host of others
- Helping small business entrepreneurs to find sufficient capital to grow their companies
- Seeing Ballpark Village become a reality
- Enhancing the vision for the revitalization of the entire downtown Riverfront
Bachmann concluded his remarks pointing out that St. Louis has become recognized once more as an All-American City, has great cultural attractions the likes of the Art Museum, the Saint Louis Zoo and one of the most spectacular Botanical Gardens in the world, and in his words “is still a great place to raise a family.”
The dinner event also saluted the RCGA volunteers and Board of Directors and inauguration of the 2009 officers, including recognition of Graybar Electric Chairman, President and CEO Bob Reynolds as he begins the second year as RCGA Chairman.
Reynolds noted that, “The economic development future for the St. Louis region looks promising, in spite of present regional and national challenges. In fact, overall prospect deal flow has nearly tripled since the St. Louis: Perfectly Centered. Remarkably Connected brand was launched in October 2005.”
He continued, “As we begin 2009, our region’s economic development pipeline is at an all-time high, and currently includes 66 active prospects, representing over 18,000 prospective jobs, and over $2.5 billion in potential new capital investment. To put this in context, just 4 of the companies we are working with represent over 1,000 jobs each. One of our short list prospects represents a potential 3,000 new jobs for the region.”
Reynolds also discussed the RCGA’s aggressive public policy effort in 2009, noting that our top Missouri legislative priority is the Grow Me State initiative, aimed at creating a coordinated and sustainable set of State policies and targeted resources to encourage technology-based economic and entrepreneurial development.
Also attending were two past Right Arm of St. Louis Award recipients: retired AmerenUE Chairman, President and CEO, and 1996-1997 RCGA Chairman Chuck Mueller, recipient of the 2004 Right Arm Award; and Schnuck Markets Executive Committee Chairman Craig Schnuck, representing the members of the Schnuck Family, who received the Award last year. In addition to John Bachmann, AmerenUE Chairman, President and CEO and immediate past-RCGA Chairman Gary Rainwater, were recognized at the Dinner.
Thank you, Sponsors!
St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association 172nd
Annual Meeting & Dinner
| ADVANTAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS |
KWMU-FM |
| AMERENUE |
THE LACLEDE GROUP INC. |
| AMERICAN AIRLINES INC. |
LUMIÉRE PLACE CASINO & HOTELS |
| ARMSTRONG TEASDALE LLP |
MCCARTHY BUILDING COMPANIES |
| ASCENSION HEALTH |
MONSANTO COMPANY |
| AT&T MISSOURI |
NESTLÉ PURINA PETCARE COMPANY |
| BANK OF AMERICA |
THE NEWBERRY GROUP INC. |
| BETHESDA HEALTH GROUP INC. |
PEABODY ENERGY |
| BJC HEALTHCARE-ST. LOUIS |
PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS LOCAL #562 |
| BROWN SHOE COMPANY INC. |
RUBINBROWN LLP |
| BRYAN CAVE LLP |
SANSONE GROUP |
| BUNGE NORTH AMERICA |
SCHNUCK MARKETS INC. |
| CITY OF WASHINGTON, MISSOURI |
SOUTHWEST BANK, AN M&I BANK |
| COLLIERS TURLEY MARTIN TUCKER |
ST. LOUIS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY |
| COMMERCE BANK-ST. LOUIS REGION |
ST. LOUIS COMMERCE MAGAZINE |
| CONOCOPHILLIPS WOOD RIVER REFINERY |
ST. LOUIS COUNTY ECONOMIC COUNCIL |
| DELOITTE |
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/STLTODAY.COM |
| EDWARD JONES |
ST. LOUIS RAMS |
| EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS |
STONE, LEYTON & GERSHMAN |
| EXPRESS SCRIPTS INC. |
TALISEN TECHNOLOGIES |
| FLEISHMAN-HILLARD INC. |
THOMPSON COBURN LLP |
| GALLOP, JOHNSON & NEUMAN LC |
UMB BANK N.A. |
| GRAYBAR ELECTRIC COMPANY INC. |
UNIVERSAL PRINTING COMPANY |
| HOK |
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS |
| KMOX RADIO/CBS RADIO |
U.S. BANK |
| KPMG LLC |
WACHOVIA SECURITIES LLC |
| KSDK NEWSCHANNEL FIVE |
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS |
|
