At first glance, it was a moment that summed up the slim degrees of separation in St. Louis.
It happened at a lunch meeting about a year ago with leaders of a local STEM nonprofit. As we ate, the nonprofit’s board president mentioned his background in farming. I chimed in that I come from a family of farmers. He then peppered me with a couple of questions. First he asked where the farm was located, to which I answered Spanish Lake. He perked up and then asked for the last name of the farming side of my family, which is Remiger.
“Are you related to Ed Remiger?” he then asked.
I told him that was my great-uncle. He smiled and mentioned he used to work for Ed on his farm while growing up.
I smiled too, as I’ve always been proud of my family’s past in farming. My Uncle Ed lived next door to my grandfather, Ray Remiger, who also spent time as a farmer. Their father, August Remiger, was a farmer, too. A family history book mentions how August “took great pride in raising good quality tomatoes,” with each box he sent out to customers having his name and address stamped on it. These days, as a business journalist, I realize they weren’t farmers. They were entrepreneurs, too.
Walking out of that lunch meeting last year, I was proud to be a descendant of those entrepreneurs, and was moved knowing they left such an impression that, decades later, someone would smile and excitedly mention they worked for my family.
It’s that point, the impact of entrepreneurship, that makes that story resonate as we celebrate our Fire Awards and Startup Exit Awards. Through these awards, we honor companies and individuals that have recorded stellar achievements in business. We often use data — revenue growth, employment totals and funding — to measure that. But it’s also also about impact, whether that is providing purposeful employment, solving societal challenges or delighting consumers.
When it comes to impact, our honorees this year hit the mark. Our Lifetime Achievement winner for our Startup Exit Awards is Maxine Clark, founder and former CEO of St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (NYSE: BBW). She started a company that’s grown to nearly $500 million in annual revenue, but anyone that’s seen the joy of a child with a stuffed bear from Build-A-Bear knows its impact goes beyond the balance sheet.
Our Fire Awards honorees also exude impact. Take, for example, Access Point, the nonprofit helping students from underrepresented communities launch IT careers, or Pluton Biosciences, which is developing agriculture products to mitigate the effects of climate change. You can read about the impact of all of our Fire Awards and Startup Exit Awards winners and finalists in the profiles published in a special section in this week's paper and online.
As for my great-uncle, Ed Remiger, I was reminded again of his entrepreneurial impact a few months after that lunch. He died in December and his obituary mentioned how he had become know for his "delicious" tomatoes. I can attest that they were outstanding.
Thank you to our St. Louis Inno sponsors — 39 North, Anders CPAs + Advisors, BioSTL, Envision LLC, Greater St. Louis Inc., Royal Banks of Missouri, St. Louis Community College and Thompson Coburn LLP — for making this awards program possible.
Click on the links below to read profiles of the winners and finalists.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fire Awards
Fire Awards: Software/Innovation
Finalists:
Fire Awards: Agtech/food tech
Fire Awards: Biotech/Health Care
Finalist:
Fire Awards: Fire starters/community builders
Finalists:
Startup Exit Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award – Maxine Clark
Top Equity Funding Transactions
Finalist:
