Martie Cordaro | |
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| Occupation | President & General Manager of Omaha Storm Chasers |
Martie Cordaro is the president and general manager for the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
Early Life and education
editA 1998 Louisiana Tech University graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing, Cordaro served three seasons as director of marketing for his alma mater's baseball program and also served as color analyst for radio broadcasts. At the same time he also worked as general manager of the property management department for Today's Realty, Inc. Cordaro is a 1991 graduate of Ruston High School in Louisiana.
Early Career
editCordaro got his start in professional baseball with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Double-A, Chicago Cubs) of the Southern League as a group sales representative in 1999. He would go on to spend two seasons as director of sales for the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, before serving as general manager for the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays then the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, for two years.
Omaha Storm Chasers
editCordaro moved from southwest Michigan to Omaha in 2007, joining the organization as assistant general manager. He would go on to be promoted to the role of general manager the next year.
Cordaro was intimately involved in every aspect of the research, negotiation process and project management to build a new ballpark for the Omaha Storm Chasers in Sarpy County, thus keeping Triple-A Baseball in the Omaha metro area[1]. He orchestrated and negotiated the naming rights partnership with Sarpy County-based Werner Enterprises for Werner Park.
Cordaro led the process of the rebranding and renaming of the Omaha Triple-A franchise that included much research and fan-aided voting[2]. Under his leadership, the organization has posted its highest total revenues on record during the past five seasons. During the 2015 season Cordaro and the organization hosted the First National Bank 2015 Triple-A All-Star Game.
Awards and honors
editCordaro was honored as the inaugural Omaha Sports Hall of Fame Community Service Award recipient in 2015[3], was the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce Business Leader of the Year in 2014[4] and the Baseball America Minor League Executive of the Year in 2013[5].
The Pacific Coast League's executives nominated and voted Cordaro the 2011 PCL Executive of the Year[2]. Ballpark Digest, the leading website covering the business of baseball, named Cordaro and former team president Alan Stein the baseball industry's 2011 co-executives of the year[1]. The Kansas City Royals honored Cordaro as their 2009 recipient of the Matt Minker Award, which recognizes an outstanding minor league affiliate employee[6]. Cordaro also was among the honorees for the Midlands Business Journal's "40 under 40" recognizing entrepreneurs and business executives under the age of 40 for 2009; he also was a Suburban "Under 40" honoree in July 2011[2]. In 2012, Cordaro was honored by his high school alma mater, Ruston High School, as its Young Alumnus of the Year.
Throughout his tenure, the Storm Chasers as a whole have also been recognized for numerous awards and honors throughout the industry. The organization was honored as the Pacific Coast League's nominee for the Larry MacPhail award in Minor League Baseball for the 2014 season. In 2013, the team also was the nominee for MiLB's inaugural John Henry Moss Community Service award given to a club "that demonstrates an outstanding, ongoing commitment to charitable service, support and leadership within their local community and within the baseball industry"[7]. The franchise has also been bestowed the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce's business of the year in 2009 and again in 2015[8][9]. Omaha also was awarded with a Veeckie by ESPN The Magazine in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has won Omaha Magazine's Best of Omaha Sports Team honor each of the last seven years[10].
Civic Engagement
editIn addition to being an active member in many area chamber of commerce and business associations, Cordaro serves on the Regional Advisory Council of the ALS Association Mid-American chapter; is a director for Community Health Charities of Nebraska; is a member and on the board of directors for Rotary Club of Omaha West; and is also a member of the CHI Health Midlands Hospital Charitable Council and is on the Omaha Sports Commission board of directors. Cordaro also serves on several Minor League Baseball and Pacific Coast Leagues committees.
References
edit- ^ a b http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/minor-league-executive-of-the-year-omahas-martie-cordaro/
- ^ a b c http://ballparkdigest.com/201109134186/minor-league-baseball/news/cordaro-named-pcl-executive-of-the-year
- ^ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150424&content_id=120238248&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t541&sid=t541
- ^ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20141010&content_id=98133498&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t541&sid=t541
- ^ http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/minor-league-executive-of-the-year-omahas-martie-cordaro/
- ^ "Article | Omaha Storm Chasers News". Omaha Storm Chasers. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
- ^ "Omaha Storm Chasers | Omaha Storm Chasers News". Omaha Storm Chasers. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
- ^ "Article | Omaha Storm Chasers News". Omaha Storm Chasers. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
- ^ "Storm Chasers Named Business of the Year | Omaha Storm Chasers News". Omaha Storm Chasers. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
- ^ "Chasers 'Best of Omaha' for 8th Straight Year | Omaha Storm Chasers News". Omaha Storm Chasers. Retrieved 2016-02-12.