DREW BAUR ...continued

ROOT, ROOT, ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM

After winning a National League division series and with several promising youngsters in the Cardinal lineup, the team is expected to develop into a consistent contender Even with that, Baur and his partners may be facing their biggest challenge ever The economics of sports today dictate that facilities provide revenues over and above those from conventional ticket sales, concessions and parking. Luxury boxes, club seats, restaurants, shops and entertainment opportunities are now critical to success.

The Cardinals have begun a drive for state funding for a new ballpark complex that would include office and residential towers, a landscaped green area and a home for the Cardinals Hall of Fame. So far, however, gaining public backing has been tough. "Taxpayers are very skeptical," Baur said. "They paid a lot for the TWA Dome and to bring the Rams [the NFL football franchise] here from LA. They are still not sure of the benefit."

Baur however, is convinced. He believes that to be an entrepreneur you must also be a salesperson. One of his sales points involves the tax revenues collected by the state and the city from the baseball club. "Over the last 10 years the Cardinals have paid the State of Missouri $95 million in taxes and an additional $30-$40 million to the city of St. Louis." He believes that fans will eventually understand the team's positive impact on the state's economy and rally behind the new park.

FLYING BULLETS

While continuing to nurture his newest acquisition, Baur remains proud of what Southwest Bank has become. Under his leadership, the bank has grown to an institution with assets of $2 billion. It has spread outside the St Louis area through its holding company and now operates in Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona.

Like most entrepreneurs, Baur likes to take "an undervalued property and build it' " Southwest Bank was such a property. Today known as the Money Market Bank for paying attractive interest rates on money market accounts, it is a premier lender to privately owned businesses.

But in St. Louis, the bank is well known for another reason. In 1953, the St. Louis police thwarted a daring daylight robbery attempt, one of the bloodiest of all time. "It was the last of the old-fashioned shoot-outs," said Baur. "Bullets flew everywhere." The robbery took place at the bank's Kingshighway office, which remains in use by Southwest Bank today. The event was so memorable that Hollywood took the story and turned it into a movie, aptly titled "The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery." The movie made a star of Steve McQueen and featured many of the policemen, bank employees and area residents who were present when the robbery took place.

Ironically, the police commissioner at the time of the robbery was Colonel I.A. Long, who led an investor group that purchased Southwest Bank in 1954. Long took the lead in lowering the prime rate and established a tradition that grew through his 30 years at the bank Baur who partnered with Linn Bealke in purchasing the bank in 1984, accelerated its growth by focusing on increasing deposits and lending to privately owned businesses.

If banking and baseball weren't enough, earlier in his career Baur and a friend invested in a company that developed the world's first brain-scanning device. They sold that company, Artronics, before the development of a full-body scanner, which required more capital than they were willing to invest.

ON SUCCESS

With as many experiences as he has had over the years, Baur can speak with authority about what makes a successful entrepreneur. He believes that many entrepreneurs go into business as adventurers. But, "when the adventure ends, then what?" he asked. "You can't take anything for granted, and you must continually make something happen.You can't sit around and think that God will provide!"

Preparation helps. One key ingredient in Baur's own success was his educational preparation at the Robinson College. He values the faculty and particularly his courses in money, banking and corporate finance. He lists three ingredients for successful entrepreneurship: optimism, a game plan and a fallback position, However, at the top of the list is Baur's golden rule of "having fun on the job. I tell our people that if our bar bills exceed our legal bills, we've had a good year."'

By Gary McKillips