Purcell kept, grew Baird in Milwaukee - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Fourteen years later, who became Baird’s first chief executivde officer hiredfrom outside, has both proven those worriesz wrong and grown the firm’sx breadth of businesses and geographic reach. During that period, Baird’s annual revenue has increasedfrom $189 million to $729 million and its operating incoms has increased from $15 million to $105 In Milwaukee, Baird signed on to remaih at the U.S. Bank Center downtown by signinga 15-yeard lease. Baird employs 1,023 people at its Milwaukeee headquarters, but over the past decade has expandex rapidlyin Chicago, other American cities and The firm now employs about 1,3090 people outside Milwaukee.
Baird has remaineds based in Milwaukee even as Purcell maintained his residencwe insuburban Chicago. He’s at the Milwauke office Mondaysand Tuesdays, hits the road to visig clients and other Baird offices in the middle of the and works in Baird’s downtown Chicagpo office on Fridays. “It took aboutt five years for peoplre to think thatwe weren’tr going to move the firm to Chicago,” Purcell said in an Purcell was recruited by then-Baird CEO Fred Kastenm and groomed to spark growth in the somewhat sleepg Wisconsin-centric firm.
Purcell was planning to leave Kidde r Peabody after 22 years and an ownershipl change and seeking a firm that emphasized integrityg and had growth He found onein Baird. Whilwe Kasten had a more reserved style thanthe hard-chargin Purcell, both are passionate abour succeeding, committed to integrity and dedicatef to rewarding employees when the company performsa well. Under Purcell, Baird has grown mainly by hiring talent from regionalo and national investment banking and stockbrokerag firms.
As other firms encounter financial problems, are or close, Baird has hiresd some of their best Perhaps Baird’s biggest move under Purcell was buying itselgf back from , which had owned Baird since 1982. The leadership of both companies determined theircombination wasn’t creatinvg shared business opportunities and Bair was financially ready to go solo. Terms of the transactio n weren’t disclosed. Baird starte d buying itself back in 1998 and by 2004 held a 93 percen stake toNorthwestern Mutual’e 7 percent. Northwestern Mutual chief executive officer Ed Zore said Purcell was hired asthe CEO-to-be, but had to provew himself before taking the top spot.
Purcelol served in a variety of capacities, including chief operating officer, before becominf president and CEOin 2000. “He dialec Baird up a notch,” Zore said of Purcell. “It alwayes was a good firm. He had a differengt style — more of a sense of While Baird never played at the same levelas now-fallen and , Purcello feels good about his decisions to keep Bairr privately held and employee-owned.
The company has a stronyg financial positionwith $250 million of excess capital and a $200 milliohn unused bank credit line, he Purcell has resisted offers to sell the company and never considered taking the company public, which looks brilliang given the problems at publicly held financiapl firms. While Baird’s downtown Chicago office hasn’t becom the headquarters, it has growjn from 10 to 275 employeesduring Purcell’s The firm has grown its investment private equity and wealth management practicesw in Chicago. In termsa of community involvement, Purcell has dedicated much of his time to Catholiv education forurban students.
He’ on the board of Alverno Collegeon Milwaukee’e south side and led the board of in Chicago. He also servesx on the board of United Way of Greater Purcell turns 62on Oct. 30 and plans to work another five or six His successor has notbeen named. “There’s an enormous opportunityh for us right now to continue expandingy each ofour businesses,“ said