St. Charles County Business Record, MO articles from December 2003

St. Charles County Business Record, MO archives from December 2003

Retail technology makes holiday shopping easier.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Erin Conroy 'Tis the season for long lines at cash registers, fighting crowds in the mall and trying in vain to ask a salesperson for help. But this year, some retailers are trying to make it a little easier to survive. ...

Commentary: Older women must prepare better for retirement years.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Steve Stillman Men and women hoping to retire within the next five to ten years are being forced to face a cold truth - they may not be financially prepared to retire. And women are especially vulnerable. Consider these facts about...

U.S. Bank increases Small Business Association loans.
December 1, 2003... Byline: Amy Amour In 2003, the U.S. Bank SBA Division provided loans totaling $536 million to 1,893 small businesses nationwide. This is an increase in loan production of 47 percent on actual loans and 11 percent based on dollar volume....

New business park development in Wentzville caters to families.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Erin Conroy Location, location, location. It seems that mantra cannot be overstressed, especially in the retail development industry. Location was one of the major factors behind a new business park development in Wentzville....

Graduate student starts financial services company.
December 2, 2003... Byline: Amy Amour After working nights, holidays and weekends in the food industry for many years, Kevin Casagrand decided to pursue a new career that fulfilled his career aspirations during normal working business hours. For the past...

Hospitals form partnership to respond to changing demographics.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask The migration of more and more families with young children into western St. Charles County and nearby Warren, Lincoln and Pike counties has prompted SSM St. Joseph Hospital West and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's...

Second retail development to open at Fountain Lakes Commerce Center.
December 3, 2003... Byline: Kathleen T. Brady With the demographics and the complexity of developments that have taken place along Highway 370 corridor, Fountain Lakes Commerce Center welcomes more diversity in its business park. Fountain Lakes Commerce...

Page Bridge expected to bring more business to St. Charles.
December 4, 2003... Byline: James Monahan In January 1969, the Page Avenue extension was a gleam in the eyes of the East-West Gateway master planners. On Dec. 13, that gleam becomes a reality with the opening of the new Veterans Memorial Bridge across the...

Linco Diagnostic Services to expand presence at Missouri Research Park.
December 4, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask Not satisfied with creating a successful company, Ron Gingerich is well on his way to building another one. Linco Diagnostic Services Inc. was a division of Linco Research Inc., a company Gingerich founded in the...

St. Charles-based LMI signs contract with Bombardier Aerospace.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask LMI Aerospace Inc., headquartered in St. Charles, announced this week that it had signed a long-term contract extension with Bombardier Aerospace. The extension means LMI will continue to supply Bombardier with...

Commentary:Economic recovery is a matter of looking for opportunity.
December 5, 2003... Byline: Mike Nixon The old story goes that there was a group of psychologists researching the difference between optimists and pessimists. The scientists recruited two 10-year-old boys for their experiment. One boy was placed in a room...

St. Charles-based Quintessential Catering announces promotion of Beverly Wheeler.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff Quintessential Catering announced the promotion of Beverly Wheeler to event management coordinator. He new duties will include coordinating the events with clients, event staffing, vendor coordination and event decor. Wheeler...

St. Charles-based 321 Studios faces second lawsuit over alleged copyright violation.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff On Nov. 17, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures filed suit against St. Charles-based 321 Studios in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that 321 Studios' products violate the...

St. Charles-based 321 Studios appoints vice president of IT.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff 321 Studios, industry leader for DVD backup, recovery and creation software, announced the addition of Brian K. LeDuc as vice president of information technology. LeDuc brings more than 19 years of technology and business...

St. Charles School District Foundation receives $3,000 grant.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff The St. Charles School District Foundation has received a $3,000 grant from the William T. Kemper Foundation, Commerce Bank Trustee and Commerce Bancshares Inc., for innovative classroom projects. The St. Charles School...

Barnes-Jewish St. Peters announces promotion of Dunn and Bruegenhemke to nursing managers.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff Barnes-Jewish St. Peters announced the promotion of two new, talented nursing managers. Karen Dunn, RN, BSN, has accepted the position of the Manager of Medical/Surgical North and Transitional Living Center departments at...

Federal rule change will allow more small businesses to qualify for SBA Assistance.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff The U.S. Small Business Administration has increased its revenue-based size standard for small businesses in the facilities support services industry from $6 million in average annual receipts to $30 million. The new size...

Billy Collier of United Services Inc. appointed to St. Charles Community College board.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff Billy Collier, executive director of United Services Inc., a child development and human services agency, has become the newest member of the St. Charles Community College board of trustees. She took the oath of office at the...

Governor Holden appoints Tracy Bono to Missouri Family Trust board.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff Gov. Bob Holden announced the appointment of Tracy Bono of St. Charles to the Missouri Family Trust board of trustees. Bono is currently a training specialist for the Emmaus Homes Inc. located in St. Charles. She earned a...

Lindenwood University's Daniel Boone Home receives Excellence in Community Development Award.
December 5, 2003... Byline: staff The Chesterfield Area Civic Progress held its 12th annual Excellence in Community Development Awards luncheon at Doubletree Hotel in Chesterfield on Nov. 26. One of the recipients of the Excellence in Community Development...

Federal Reserve Bank economist gives an optimistic forecast for next year but warns about problems.
December 8, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask Economic forecasting is a precarious endeavor, like looking into a bowl of fish soup and trying to visualize an aquarium, said Kevin L. Kliesen, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That may be why...

Commentary: The Internet: Reliable information or misinformation?
December 8, 2003... Byline: Bill Mocca The Internet has become one of the most consulted sources of information. An essential characteristic of the Internet is its many-to-many character. People who seek information can access the medium without much...

Whittaker Homes heads into next year with more projects.
December 9, 2003... Byline: Kathleen T. Brady At any given time, Whittaker Homes Inc. is involved in four or five major home building projects, said company officials, and that trend doesn't seem to be slowing down. Whittaker Homes controls about 6,000...

St. Charles City backs off strict design requirements.
December 9, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask Bowing to complaints expressed by the business community, St. Charles City planning officials are backing off a proposed ordinance that would have required new commercial buildings to feature brick exteriors. City...

SBC's labor force to be reduced by up to 4,000.
December 10, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask While the national economy shows signs of growth, the telecommunications industry continues to show signs of weakness with Tuesday's announcement that SBC Communications Inc. will reduce its work force during the fourth...

Retail developer Collier says 2003 best year ever.
December 10, 2003... Byline: James Monahan Don Collier, president of Triad Development Co., is on a roll. His firm is about to break ground on not one, not two, not three, but four new neighborhood retail strip centers in St. Charles County. The combined...

Office space in St. Charles County filling up fast.
December 10, 2003... Byline: Erin Conroy St. Charles County is the fastest-growing office market in the metropolitan area, according to the most recent Colliers Turley Martin Tucker 2003 Market Report. "We started the year with 20 percent vacancy and ended...

Commentary: St. Charles Community College to ask voters to approve tax hike.
December 11, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask St. Charles Community College officials will ask college district voters to approve three proposals April 6, one of which would result in a property tax hike of just less than 2 cents per $100 assessed valuation. ...

Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital completes phase II of expansion.
December 11, 2003... Byline: Kathleen T. Brady A developer's work is never done, especially if that developer works in St. Charles County. The county's growing population has stirred area hospitals to continually expand in size and services. ...

SCI Engineering recognized for 2003 safety record.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff SCI Engineering Inc. was recently profiled as a success story by Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance for its 2003 safety record. Having recently been named as the St. Charles City Service Provider of the Year, SCI has...

St. Charles water district recognized for excellence.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff Public Water Supply District No. 2 of St. Charles County has been awarded the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. The award certificate was presented to the water district by the Government...

Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites names new market sales mgr.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff St. Charles resident Kim Just was named market sales manager for Dominion Hospitality Group's Fairfield Inn by Marriott and TownePlace Suites by Marriott hotels in St. Charles. In her new position, Just is responsible for...

Gateway Decorative Artists give to Bridgeway's Women's Center.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff In the true spirit of the season, members of the Gateway Decorative Artists-St. Louis Chapter donated 10 percent of their individual earnings from sales at their Christmas Boutique held at Rowles Homes new homes display in...

Area chambers of commerce hold ribbon cuttings.
December 12, 2003... Byline: staff On Friday, Nov. 14, the city of O'Fallon and its chamber of commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Ladies Workout Express, at 3812 Monticello Plaza. The company is owned by Pam and Leo Bochnia. On Tuesday, Nov. 18,...

Terra Firma brings a taste of Romania to St. Charles.
December 12, 2003... Byline: James Monahan Cristian Soare is an entrepreneur from Eastern Europe who has staked his business future in St. Charles County on a product cultivated in his native land for many centuries: Romanian wine. Soare is the exclusive...

Wentzville takes lead in home building.
December 12, 2003... Byline: Mike Trask Homebuilding continues to power the St. Charles County economy despite rising mortgage rates and the onset of cold weather. And for the first time, the city of Wentzville has overtaken O'Fallon as the leader in issuing...

Commentary: As we age, we not only fight fat and rising medical costs, but debt.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Linda Jacobson I was reading through a recent issue of Newsweek magazine (Nov. 10, 2003) and saw a tiny half column by a writer named Jennifer Barrett. It made me stop working and write this immediately. In a commentary on...

St. Charles County-based nonprofits benefit from IDA bonds.
December 15, 2003... Byline: Kathleen T. Brady ***** CORRECTION: In a story about local nonprofits benefiting from IDA bonds, published in Monday's issue of this paper, Randy Weber was incorrectly identified as being from Hazelwood. The statement should...

St. Louis Mills Mall to have limited effect on St. Charles.
December 16, 2003... Byline: Erin Conroy St. Louis Mills Mall opened in Hazelwood a little more than a month ago, just in time for the holiday shopping season. But its appeal wont damper holiday shopping in St. Charles County, said county economic officials....

Franchises have higher success rate than independent businesses.
December 16, 2003... Byline: Amy Amour Achieving success as a small-business owner is hard, but studies show that it's even harder when a business is started from scratch. According to SCORE counselor Bill Deemer only 20 percent of small-business owners...

St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau solicits businesses to support Lewis & Clark event.
December 30, 2003... Byline: Kathleen T. Brady The Greater St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau has been busy trying to raise money for its weeklong Lewis & Clark Bicentennial event in May 2004. Since October 2003, the CVB has approached several local...

St. Charles-based Auvi Technologies wins two Design and Engineering Awards.
December 30, 2003... Byline: Amy Amour Auvi Technologies, a St. Charles-based digital audio designer and developer, was recently named the winner of two Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovations 2004 Design and Engineering awards. The company's SA250, a...

Wentzville re-examines zoning code to encourage development.
December 31, 2003... Byline: Erin Conroy The city of Wentzville may change its zoning code in order to encourage development in its business district. Wentzville officials will hold a Jan. 13 meeting with local businesses and property owners to re-examine...