St. Louis Business Journal articles from February 2001

St. Louis Business Journal archives from February 2001

Bankruptcy considered option for Bridge.(Bridge Information Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Analyst says financial woes could mean Chapter 11 for firm Bridge Information Systems Inc. could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as it struggles to get back on its financial footings, according to an industry analyst. The...

Bankruptcy considered option for Bridge.(Bridge Information Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Savvis investors likely would put money in Bridge Investors who provider Savvis Communications Corp. with an additional $200 million to $225 million in capital also likely would help bail out Bridge Information Systems Inc., according to an...

Taking wing.(Oprah's Angel Network donates funds to Nurses for Newborns)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Oprah's Angel Network gives $100,000 to Nurses for Newborns Sharon Rohrbach discovered just how tough it is to earn wings from Oprah's Angel Network. Rohrbach's Nurses for Newborns recently landed Oprah Winfrey's $100,000 Use Your Life...

Drury checks into Merchants Laclede for hotel location.(Charles Drury to buy historic building in downtown St. Louis, Missouri for hotel franchise)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Hotelier has option on downtown building owned by Stallings Charles Drury might turn the historic Merchants Laclede Building downtown into a hotel. Drury could pay William S. Stallings up to $3 million for the building at 408 N. Olive,...

Down a diamond.
February 2, 2001... Tony's lost a diamond in the AAA's latest ranking of restaurants and hotels. Tony's had been the St. Louis area's only AAA Five Diamond Award winner, but it received just four diamonds this year. Eight other area restaurants and two hotels also...

Speedy decision.(The Sporting News to begin coverage of NASCAR races.)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... The Sporting News will launch NASCAR coverage in its Feb. 12 issue. Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal reports that John Rawlings, editor of the St. Louis-based magazine, decided to add coverage in time to preview the Daytona 500, on Feb....

Party on.
February 2, 2001... Anheuser-Busch and the Catholic Health Association of America joined the contributors list for the Bush-Cheney 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee. A-B gave $100,000, Catholic Health donated $550, and the Rev. Michael Place, president of...

Gun shy.(campaign contributions listed, Frontenac Outfitters Ltd. closes)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Anheuser-Busch and the Catholic Health Association of America joined the contributors list for the Bush-Cheney 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee. A-B gave $100,000, Catholic Health donated $550, and the Rev. Michael Place, president of...

Venture funds.(received by Ion Systems of Crystal City, Missouri)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Software maker Ion Systems has received $2.6 million from a Connecticut-based venture capital firm, said Chairman Thomas Thomas. The Crystal City-based company plans a joint venture with IBM, which will provide publishers with a system to...

Pumped up.
February 2, 2001... St. Louis Workout opens what it's billing as the first health club facility inside a local shopping center, when its fitness facility at Westfield Shoppingtown Crestwood debuts on Feb. 3. Kevin Harmann, senior vice president, said proceeds from...

High note.
February 2, 2001... At $531,536, Conductor Hans Vonk was the highest-paid employee of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra last year -- but his compensation pales in comparison with conductors at other major orchestras. Vonk's pay was less than that of eight other...

Change at the top.
February 2, 2001... Owen "Bob" Shell, who built Bank of America's Asset Management Group in St. Louis on the base of the former Boatmen's Trust business, is retiring. The bank named Richard DeMartini as group president, starting in late February DeMartini, a...

(Dog) food for thought.
February 2, 2001... This spring, Ralston Purina will unveil Purina Boneful, its first new dog food brand in five years. Terry Block, Ralston's chief operating officer for North America, tipped off shareholders in his remarks Jan. 25.

Area leaders push city's interests with TWA deal.
February 2, 2001... The next court challenge: Icahn's objection to TWA's motion to reject his Karabu Ticket program Area leaders are not taking anything for granted in the pending sale of TWA to American Airlines. The city's legal team is readying to...

Regal Riverfront Hotel plans name change, face lift.
February 2, 2001... A multi-million-dollar renovation and rebranding of the aging Regal River-front downtown as a Millennium Hotel is in the works. "I would say our level of service and product will be along the lines of a fourstar hotel, in line with the...

Corrections.
February 2, 2001... Drury Inns and Suites Drury Inns and Suites purchased ground for a hotel in Central Park Plaza in the southwest quadrant of the new interchange at Interstate 64 and Green Mount Road in O'Fallon, Ill., from Darrel Shelton of Shelton...

Max Broadcasting shuts Internet sports operations.
February 2, 2001... Gladney puts resources into Internet media services Max Broadcasting Network has shut down its Maxfootball.com and Maxbaseball.com Web operations. "We could not keep the sites running because expenses were more than revenue. The...

Turvey promoted to president of UnitedHealthcare's Midwest region.
February 2, 2001... Vic Turvey, UnitedHealthcare's top executive in St. Louis, was promoted to president of the managed healthcare company's Midwest region. Turvey will take on responsibility for UnitedHealthcare operations serving 2.2 million members in...

Fin-Clair coatings firm sold for estimated $15 million.
February 2, 2001... Fin-Clair Corp., a 35-year-old metal finishing operation in St. Louis with sales of $15 million, has been swallowed up by a bigger fish in the metal coatings business. IPC Inc. of Norwalk, Ohio, completed its purchase of the 120-employee...

Kornblet sells his majority stake in BRI to French firm.
February 2, 2001... Don Kornblet set a goal of $50 million in sales for his call center company, Business Response Inc., several years ago. Kornblet got the backing he needed to meet that goal last month when SR Teleperformance, a French company, bought an 80...

Ex-Harbour Group exec stumping for $600 million fund.
February 2, 2001... A $600 million investment fund, Key Principal Partners of Cleveland, has hired a former Harbour Group executive, Jeffrey Gentsch, to launch a St. Louis office. Gentsch is based in Chesterfield. He said Key Principal Partners is not a...

AFL-CIO invests $30 million at Fountain Lakes.
February 2, 2001... The AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust is committing $30 million to Fountain Lakes Commerce Center in St. Charles. The union-backed real estate pension fund is entering a joint venture with developer Balke Brown Associates for the continued...

PEOPLE.
February 2, 2001... Accounting CBIZ/The Weiss Group has promoted Jeffrey Arndt and Douglas Pleus to tax principal, JoAnn Schaefer to manager in tax and operations, Angela Rooney to manager in operations, and Jeremy Colbert, Gary Dreher and Shannon Routt to...

May bags 9 Saks stores; A-B's commercials 'super'.
February 2, 2001... Jan. 31 -- Purina Mills confirmed that the feed it recalled in Gonzales, Texas, contained a low level of ruminant bone and meat meal. Ruminant bone and meat meal, which comes from animals that chew their cud, has been banned by the FDA in an...

Viasystems Group Inc.
February 2, 2001... Jan. 31 -- Viasystems Group Inc. said it expects to take a one-time restructuring charge of $10 million to $20 million in the first quarter. The charge is an effort to reduce the cost structure of its North American printed circuit boards...

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.
February 2, 2001... Jan, 30 -- Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.'s Super Bowl commercials were consumers' favorites. The company won USA Today's "Ad Meter" poll, with the No. 1-rated commercial and three others in the top 10. The Bud Light ad featuring Cedric "The...

May Department Stores Co.
February 2, 2001... Jan. 30 -- The May Department Stores Co. will purchase nine store locations from Saks Inc. for about $309 million. The price includes $237 in cash and about $72 million for merchandise inventories and customer accounts receivable. The...

Lawrence Group.
February 2, 2001... Jan. 30 -- The Lawrence Group has acquired Denver-based Josh Comfort Architecture. Financial terms were not disclosed. With the addition of the Comfort firm, the Lawrence Group said it expects to generate $15 million in fee revenue on...

Build-A-Bear Workshop.
February 2, 2001... Jan. 29 -- Build-A-Bear Workshop said it would open a store at St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights this spring. The company will open the store as part of its nationwide plan to open nine stores in the spring, eight in the summer and 13 in...

Lincoln County hospital plans $10 million expansion.(Missouri)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Also plans name change to Lincoln County Medical Center Lincoln County Memorial Hospital will change its name to Lincoln County Medical Center in March, when it breaks ground on a $10.5 million expansion and renovation. The beginning...

Wood River Township Hospital may convert to outpatient care center.(Missouri)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Buyer Simmons faces state licensing issues The lawyer who plans to buy the defunct Wood River Township Hospital is considering converting the facility to an outpatient care or ambulatory surgery center. But John Simmons fades a...

Firing up the company troops for the new year.
February 2, 2001... As much fun as the holidays can be, most people are relieved that they are finally behind us. Relatives have gone home, or we are back front our own travels. For many executives, owners and managers, January's new calendar also brings a...

Building with steel.(Nebco Steel Erectors Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Nebco on track to do $3 million in business during first quarter, matching total revenue for last year Business activity: At an age when many people are thinking about retirement, Norville and Margaret Baker decided to take $100,000 from...

Practical solutions.(cases of the federal government's involvement in business)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... What role does the federal government play in your business? The harbor maintenance tax was declared unconstitutional, but the IRS is still holding some of the money companies believe is due them. A court case is pending. The second big...

Guides offer street smarts in negotiating urban maze.(St. Louis Area Maps Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... At least one company in the metropolitan St. Louis area has been helped by urban sprawl -- St. Louis Area Maps Inc. Owned by Gene Matrisotto and his wife, Diane, since 1983, the company updates its Wunnenberg's street guides and maps every...

Boss shares blame when salesperson leaves a job.
February 2, 2001... When a salesperson leaves for "a better job," it's a big red flag. If you say "It's all their fault," or "If they had done this or that," or "They weren't that good anyway," or "We're better off without them"... you're kidding yourself....

50 LARGEST EMPLOYERS.
February 2, 2001... 50 LARGEST EMPLOYERS (RANKED BY EMPLOYEES IN THE ST. LOUIS METRO AREA) Company (rank last year) address [1] ...

Work college offers more than liberal arts education.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Imagine a typical college student's day -- attend class, stop by the library, show up for a club meeting or team practice. Then there's mowing the college, lawns or tending to campus electrical systems or producing crafts for sale in the...

The words 'Thank you' are powerful good medicine.
February 2, 2001... My first real lesson in meaning, came, or so it seems, a long time ago. It was written in the first article I wrote for the Business Journal, about eighteen years ago. It may seem like a long time, but I will never forget it. It was...

Fru-Con builds AmerenEnergy plants in Missouri and Illinois.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... AmerenEnergy Generating has named Fru-Con Construction Corp. as the general contractor for 160-megawatt power plants in Columbia, Mo., and northeast of Pinckneyville, Ill. Fru-Con is building both facilities and providing pre-construction...

100 St. Louis LEADERS to watch in 2001.(including: John Bachman, Robert Baer, and Robert Bagby)
February 2, 2001... Predicting St. Louis' future The year barely has begun, but important things are stirring in the St. Louis region. TWA and Ralston Purina likely will be controlled by outside forces before 2001 is done. Many of the whiz-bang tech...

Stock Transactions.(St. Louis, Missouri companies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... The following purchases or sales of stock in St. Louis-based companies or in companies with St. Louis-based subsidiaries or divisions have been reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by officers, directors and owners of more...

Where we stand.(St. Louis's place in list of cities by number of women owned business)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... How St. Louis measures up against other cities Marielen Parrish President National Association of Women Business Owners -- St. Louis chapter Motivated by entrepreneurial ideas and frustrated with their current...

Arts & Education Council.(St. Louis, Missouri)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 2, 2001... Sally Everhardus Executive director The Arts & Educational Council of Greater St. Louis solicits private funds from corporations, foundations, individuals and through workplace giving campaigns to support arts and cultural groups in the...

For what it's worth.(commercial real estate transactions in the St. Louis area)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Highlighting same of the most recent commercial real estate transactions in the St. LOUIS area. LOCATION: 2115 Kappel Drive Jennings DATE SOLD: Nov. 8, 2000 NEW OWNER: Halls Ferry Place LLC AGENT: None FORMER OWNER: Halls...

SPARTECH CORP.(executive compensation)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Bradley B. Buechler Chairman, president and chief executive Spartech Corp. is a leading producer of engineered thermoplastic materials, polymeric compounds and molded and profile products for a wide range of customers in the plastics...

St. Louis Stocks.
February 2, 2001... St. Louis Stocks Close Close Percentage Company Symbol Exchange 1/24/01 1/31/01 change A.G. Edwards AGE N ...

Solutia Inc.(stocks)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Jan. 29, $12.63 Merrill Lynch & Co. Accumulate. Solutia's near-term earnings are proving particularly volatile due to the dependence on petroleum feedstocks and moderate exposure to the U.S. automotive OEM (original equipment...

Maverick Tube.(securities advice from A.G. Edwards and Sons Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Jan. 25, $25 A.G. Edwards Buy/Aggressive. Although Maverick's near-term story has changed from top line driven to margin driven, we believe that the severe stock price decline since early-September has more than discounted the shift....

RightCHOICE Managed Care.(stocks)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... Jan. 8, $30.75 UBS Warburg Strong Buy. We initiated coverage of RightCHOICE, the largest managed care company in Missouri. The company is using technology to improve interaction with providers and reduce overhead. We believe that the...

If Icahn wins, we all lose.(Carl C. Icahn's interference with TWA and American Airline's merger)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
February 2, 2001... How many times are we going to let Carl Icahn have his way with us? Two too many. First, Mr. Icahn bought controlling interest of TWA and sold off the most valuable portions of the airline, in effect crippling the carrier so that it could...

King Cotton, Mamou and Britney.
February 2, 2001... The sign said "Don't Stand on the Juke Box," that was in Mamou. Brittany was from Kentwood "just down the way," and "King Cotton" finally made sense. And fame and power had become just an ignored old statue, well off the beaten path in...

State should encourage power generation.(Missouri)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2001... A number of business and government leaders have asked if opening up energy markets to competition means that Missouri will risk ending up like California with not enough power and sharply higher energy bills. To answer that, we should look...

Letters to the editor.
February 2, 2001... 40 Under 40 Editor: As the recruiter of the entrepreneurial owners of small- and middle-size businesses for over 25 years, I was not sure whether Mr. Corbet was being funny (in reference to his comments on the Business Journal's 40...

Savvis has seven weeks of cash left.
February 9, 2001... Internet firm burns through $45 million in six months Savvis Communications Corp. will run out of cash as early as March 31 without additional funding. Savvis burned through $45 million in cash between April and September and had $73...

Buyers line up for Southside Bancshares.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Allegiant Bancorp Inc., Commerce Bancshares Inc. and Union Planters Corp. are among financial institutions that want to talk to Southside Bancshares Corp. about a buyout, according to people familiar with the bank. In a Feb. 1 filing with...

The name game.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Turmoil leaves names of Savvis Center, Trans World Dome up in the air The next buyer of naming rights for the city's domed stadium likely will shell out at least three times the $1.3 million a year Trans World Airlines has been paying. ...

Peabody Coal could go public.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Lehman Brothers looks for chance to capitalize on hot energy market Peabody Group, the No. 1 U.S. coal producer, may go public at the urging of its owner, New York investment bank Lehman Brothers. The move is spurred by the burgeoning...

Raising money.(St. Luke's Hospital plans $100 million bond issue)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... St. Luke's Hospital plans a $100 million bond issue this spring as it leaves Unity Health. Two-thirds of the money would refund the hospital's part of a 1995 bond issue by Sisters of Mercy Health System-St. Louis; the rest would pay for an...

Hometown hero.(Bill Schicker named "Hero for the Planet" by Ford Motor)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... McMahon Ford Owner Bill Schicker was named a "Hero for the Planet" by Ford Motor Co., honoring his decade of support for Guardian Angels Settlement House. Schicker and has family have donated countless hours to the mission; his wife, Mary Lou...

Batter up.(Bob Costas to speak on the economics of Major League Baseball)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Steven Smith, director of the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, has lined up Bob Costas as the dinner speaker at the center's May 16 conference on the economics of Major League Baseball. It's the first big...

Well connected.(new appointments to Fleishman-Hillard's public affairs group)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Christine Stanek, former special assistant to President Bill Clinton, and Jill Friedman-Wilson, former deputy chief of staff for the late Gov. Mel Carnahan, have joined Fleishman-Hillard's public affairs practice group. They'll both work out of...

Eastern influence.(new Clayton, Missouri "Miso on Meramec" sushi restaurant)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Clayton planning officials gave their conditional approval to Bradley Beracha's Miso on Meramec, a sushi restaurant with a Pan-Asian fusion menu, served tapasstyle. Beracha expects to open in June at 16 N. Meramec Ave. in Clayton. Beracha is a...

Sweet deal.(Stephen Weiss, owner of Creve Coeur Camera, takes over Candy Barrel store at Union Station)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Stephen Weiss, owner of Creve Coeur Camera, has taken over the Candy Barrel at Union Station. The store, which will be renamed Candy Station when it opens in early March, is cattycorner to a new Creve Coeur Camera shop that's to open in April...

All bets are off.(new off-track betting parlor in Sauget, Missouri)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Brian Zander, general manager of Fairmont Park, has spent $100,000 to put a new off-track betting parlor in Route 3 Liquor & Lottery, near the Oz Nightclub in Sauget. Zander expects the venture will draw Missouri gamblers, who don't want to...

Hot off the press.
February 9, 2001... Victor Patel's Gateway Newstands opens Feb. 12 at 200 N. Broadway, the St. Louis Place location vacated last year by World News.

Branching out.
February 9, 2001... Dave Corwin, owner of Corwin's Clubhouse Bar & Grill, plans a second restaurant at the former Clubhouse, 8405 Maryland in Clayton. He hopes to open in March.

Perez leaves medicine to focus on venture fund.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Dr. Raul Perez, a well-known gynecologist, is giving up his medical practice to focus on a biotech venture fund he launched four years ago. Perez is president of Oakwood Medical Investors, which wrapped up its third fund, Oakwood III, with...

County real estate transactions should return with Feb. 16 issue.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... St. Louis County is converting its real estate records to a new computer system. As a result, deed information for the county has not been available in our Business Leads section for the past two weeks. We are sorry for the inconvenience....

Duke-Weeks plans its first office building in Chesterfield.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Duke-Weeks Realty Corp. plans to build a 175,000-square-foot office building on 7.25 acres it purchased in Chesterfield Feb. 2 from Solomon Brothers Realty. While Duke-Weeks has been an active developer along the Highway 40 corridor, most...

DIMAC reorganizes, moves to smaller headquarters building in Chesterfield.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... DIMAC Direct Inc., once the largest direct mail house in St. Louis, is moving to new corporate offices in Chesterfield. DIMAC currently occupies 275,000 square feet in Earth City. The company is relocating to 37,000 square feet at 15450 S....

Corrections.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Michael Gibbons National Steel Corp., Granite City Division's top local executive Michael Gibbons' name was spelled incorrectly in the list of 50 Largest Employers in the Feb. 2 issue. Steve Brown The photograph of Steve Brown,...

Intira, MegaPath scale back local operations, lay off 30.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Intira Corp. and MegaPath Networks Inc., two tech companies with ties to the Roberts twins, are scaling back their local operations. The companies are laying off a combined 30 people, sources said. Intira, a data storage and online...

California company plans to open up to 20 wireless stores locally.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Affordable Portables plans to blitz the St. Louis area with 15 to 20 stores, which will do business as Cingular Wireless. The California-based dealer, with six stores open and another six scheduled to open by April, is scouting for more...

Adamson wins $1 million state marketing contract.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Missouri Department of Economic Development extends marketing initiative Adamson, a Clayton communications firm, is taking over the outside marketing work for the Missouri Department of Economic Development. It marks the first time...

Challis leaving Suelthaus & Walsh, named chairman of Enterprise Trust.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Attorney Jack Challis, a partner at Suelthaus & Walsh, has been named chairman of Enterprise Trust. Challis will become an Enterprise Trust employee focusing on traditional trust and fiduciary services, while President Paul Vogel will...

Despite price hike, fans snap up Cardinals tickets.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 9, 2001... The St. Louis Cardinals average 21 percent ticket price increase apparently hasn't dampened sales. Season ticket sales for 2001 were 180 seats ahead of 2000, as of Feb. 7, said team President Mark Lamping. If that pace holds, the 2001...

City lists financing team for new Cardinals stadium.(includes other brief articles)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 9, 2001... Feb. 7, 2001 -- Tripos Inc. has received a U.S. patent for its technology that will, improve the drug discovery process. The technology will allow scientists to increase the likelihood that its chemical compounds will be useful drug leads....

PEOPLE.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Accounting Gavin Poppen has been promoted to manager at Poppen & Associates CPAs. Garrick Roberts Noland has been promoted to principal at Bender, Weltman, Thomas, Perry & Co. CPAs. Advertising Adamson has named Judy...

Nurses & Co. profiting under new Medicare plan.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Nurses & Co. expects to post a nearly $1 million profit this year, the first time the nine-year-old home health agency will make a profit on Medicare-reimbursed services. The St. Peters-based agency is flourishing, while others are...

Family Care building $5.3 million center; to consolidate three facilities.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Family Care Health Centers is building a 34,500-square-foot facility in the Carondelet neighborhood in south St. Louis to house its primary care, dental and administrative offices. The not-for-profit has been providing health-care services...

George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University received two grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A five-year, $1.9 million grant will fund a center for addictions research, the Comorbidity and Addictions,...

Theodore Simon.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... Theodore Simon, assistant professor of pediatrics and of molecular biology and pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine, received a five-year, $1 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney...

Eastern Missouri Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2001... The Eastern Missouri Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation received a $10,000 grant from the Daughters of Charity Healthcare Foundation of St. Louis.