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In some ways, Jim Kavanaugh’s entire life has led to this moment. The Blues co-owner has
watched the team reach the Stanley Cup for the first time since he was a boy growing up in a
blue-collar family. The company he co-founded, World Wide Technology, is about to turn 30
and has doubled down on its investment in the community, building a state-of-the-art head-
quarters in Maryland Heights and an industrial facility in Edwardsville. And since teaming up
with the Taylor family, including Enterprise Holdings Foundation president Carolyn Kindle
Betz, he hopes to bring a Major League Soccer team to town. If the former soccer pro were to
write a business book, we’re guessing these might be among the takeaways.- NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF DETERMINATION. “The Blues exemplified it this
year,” says Kavanaugh, who invested in the team alongside other locals (including Enterprise
chair Andy Taylor) in 2012. Personally, he’s seen the payoff of perseverance. The son of a brick-
layer, Kavanaugh earned a soccer scholarship to SLU. He went on to play in the Pan Am Games,
on the 1984 Olympic team, and as a pro. In the late ’80s, after hanging up his cleats, he joined
forces with David Steward, and they co-founded a company with a rather ambitious name.
2. SET AMBITIOUS GOALS. Five years ago, under Kavanaugh’s leader-
ship, the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club acquired a United Soc-
cer League team, Saint Louis FC. Last fall, the club clinched a playoff
spot for the first time. Meanwhile, Kavanaugh has worked tirelessly
to bring an MLS team to town. After city voters narrowly rejected an
earlier proposal to help fund a soccer stadium, Kavanaugh received an
unexpected invitation last spring to meet with Taylor to discuss a new
bid, this time with significantly more private financing. Kavanaugh says
he was “incredibly, brutally honest” with Taylor about the potential
challenges. Undeterred, Taylor and his family pressed forward, form-
ing the MLS4TheLou ownership group alongside Kavanaugh. - KNOW YOUR VALUES. If MLS4TheLou wins its bid for an expansion team, it would be the
league’s first majority women-led club. Kavanaugh is thrilled at the prospect: “It creates a better
community and world.” Likewise, putting people from all walks of life in positions to succeed is
a cornerstone at World Wide Technology, the nation’s largest African-American–owned busi-
ness and a constant presence on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. - KEEP IT IN PERSPECTIVE. WWT offers employees an extra day of paid time off, a Day of
Caring, to encourage giving back. Personally, Kavanaugh has supported St. Patrick Center, the
ALS Association, Toys for Tots, Junior Achievement, the United Way, and the American Cancer
Society, agreeing to shave his head if employees raised more than $500,000. Sales of those blue,
red, and yellow soccer scarves and caps helped generate a $50K donation to the Mathews-Dickey
Boys’ & Girls’ Club, and the MLS4TheLou team is looking for other ways to provide opportuni-
ties to students in underserved communities, he says. “Soccer can teach kids of all walks of life
good habits,” Kavanaugh says. “Discipline, rigor, work ethic, teamwork...” He’s lived it.