Eric Baird

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Eric Baird
Nationality American
Occupation Entrepreneur, Investor
Title Founder & CEO at Baird Inc.
President of the Gail Baird Foundation

Eric Baird is an American entrepreneur and investor. He founded MyUS.com - then known as Access USA - in Sarasota Florida in the late 90s.[1][2][3][4]

Career

Baird founded MyUS.com as a mail forwarding operation and grew into a company that specialized in shipping American products to customers all over the world.

Baird credits his successful inaugural entrepreneurship to his mother, who was herself an innovator and business owner.

Access USA began as an idea mentioned in passing during dinner between the two. As the idea grew, Eric Baird realized that it was time to make it a reality. So with a $30,000 loan and free advertising space in Shop the World by Mail - his mother’s catalog - he was able to establish his company in a 700 square-foot office off of U.S. 41. Over the next 15 years, Eric Baird grew MyUS.com into a global operation with over 400,000 satisfied customers worldwide.

His innovation and insight earned him the Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009 - an honor bestowed by the Review.

In July of 2012, on his 43rd birthday, Eric Baird sold MyUS.com. At the time of his departure, the company was valued at $200 million.

Baird took his shrewd business acumen and global connections and started a new venture - Baird Inc. Baird Inc. is an investment company that specializes in senior-secured and asset-based lending. The mission of Baird Inc. is to alter the trajectory of growing small businesses by injecting their processes with much-needed cash flow. The investment company is industry-agnostic. Instead, much like its founder, Eric Baird, Baird Inc. hones in on potential, efficacy, and an attainable exit. In a banking environment that is increasingly conservative and restrictive, Eric Baird’s investment company offers sub-25 million revenue businesses a way to access funding and alter their trajectory.

Eric Baird, through Baird Inc., is also a part-owner of several other businesses. His companies include Tarpon Pointe Marina, Baird Real Estate, Hotel Ranola, and he is the acting President of the Gail Baird Foundation. The Gail Baird Foundation was created in memory of Gail Baird - Eric Baird’s mother - after her struggle with ovarian cancer ended in 2012. The mission of the Gail Baird Foundation is to support increased awareness of ovarian cancer and to fund those initiatives committed to researching and curing the disease. The foundation also continues Gail’s dedication to providing opportunities to aspiring women entrepreneurs and to enriching the lives of seniors and veterans. Eric Baird, infused with his mother’s entrepreneurial and generous spirit, is dedicated to the pursuit of sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience for the benefit of his local businesses and community.

References

  1. "Eric Baird Celebrates the Purchase of the Historic Kress Building". https://www.accesswire.com/624571/Eric-Baird-Celebrates-the-Purchase-of-the-Historic-Kress-Building. 
  2. "Eric Baird Gives $1 Million Gift to Local Education Foundation" (in en-US). https://www.yahoo.com/now/eric-baird-gives-1-million-133000344.html. 
  3. "Eric Baird Celebrates the Purchase of the Historic Kress Building" (in en-US). https://www.yahoo.com/now/eric-baird-celebrates-purchase-historic-222500553.html. 
  4. "Eric Baird Celebrates the Purchase of the Historic Kress Building" (in en). 2021-01-15. https://apnews.com/press-release/accesswire/business-cultural-preservation-north-america-social-affairs-united-states-29324caa54ad19a37d080247599fcc92. 

External links