Executive edge: Steve Katich; Denver baseball point man takes to new field.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Attitude at altitude - Interview

When he hears the first crack of a bat at Coors Field this season, Steve Katich will recall longingly the Colorado Rockies' first home opener in 1993 when Eric Young hit a home run his first time at bat.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"I remember it like it was yesterday--one of the single most exciting moments in sports ever," said Katich, who moved to Colorado from Southern California in 1971 to attend the University of Denver. He spent most of the '80s working to bring Major League Baseball to Denver when Mayor Federico Pena tapped him to be executive director of the Denver Baseball Commission.

While Katich admits being "extraordinarily disappointed" at what has happened to his beloved team since, the excitement returns to his voice when he talks about signing up the next sports and business partners in his new career as president of Rainbow Rewards--a cash-back marketing program that gives a portion of sales to Colorado nonprofits.

"This is my first experience heading up a startup venture," said Katich, who joined Rainbow Rewards in August 2005 after two years as president of the Denver Public Schools Foundation and before that 13 years heading the public affairs group of GBSM, a Denver-based communications firm. "It's been a great learning experience, and we've come a long way with our charitable component."

Katich heads a staff of 35 and has seen the company grow from 2,000 consumers 18 months ago to 350,000. He projects 600,000 by year's end. And he gets to keep his hand in sports, as he's signed on Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Mammoth, Colorado Crush and Colorado Rockies as Rainbow Rewards partners.

"We're seeing...