WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Prominent St. Louis-area banker and former Thayer resident Shaun Hayes will give the keynote address at the Missouri State University-West Plains 2011 commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at the West Plains Civic Center arena.
The theme of his address will be “Living the Dash,” and everyone is invited to attend the event.
“Mr. Hayes is an outstanding example of how someone with small-town values can make a big difference in life,” said Missouri State-West Plains Chancellor Drew Bennett. “Raised in our local area, Mr. Hayes has become very successful, and he attributes his success to his roots in the Ozarks.”
A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware, Hayes co-founded Allegiant Bank in 1989 at the age of 29. The bank began with one office in northeast Missouri and $33 million in assets. In 1995, Allegiant went public under the NASDAQ symbol “ALLE,” and by 2003, Allegiant held $2.5 billion in assets and had 33 offices in the St. Louis area. Allegiant’s expansion was accomplished through seven acquisitions and an annual double-digit internal rate growth.
In April 2004, Allegiant was sold to National City Corporation for $525 million and assumption of all debt. From 2004 to 2008, Hayes served as president and CEO of Missouri for National City Bank. In 2008, Hayes founded Universal Exports Limited, a merchant banking firm headquartered in St. Louis that specializes in real estate, manufacturing, fast food restaurants and corporate finance.
In April 2008, Hayes was named one of 12 top St. Louis Entrepreneurs in the last 20 years by St. Louis Small Business Monthly, and he received a Trulaske College of Business Citation of Merit from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 2002, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Financial Services.
Hayes also has been actively involved in a variety of several metropolitan St. Louis not-for-profit and charitable organizations, including Saint Louis University, the Whitaker Foundation, the St. Louis Zoo and the St. Louis Sports Commission. He is a past chair of the St. Louis Sports Commission and the St. Louis Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization. In addition, he has served as a Professor-for-a-Day at Saint Louis University and the University of Missouri-Columbia for several years.
For more information about commencement activities, contact the Missouri State-West Plains academic affairs office, 417-255-7272. For more information about Missouri State-West Plains, visit http://wp.missouristate.edu.