St. Louis Business Journal articles from January 1998

St. Louis Business Journal archives from January 1998

The biggest project ever. (expansion project at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport)
January 5, 1998... How much: Lambert's proposed $2.6 billion expansion should get final FAA approval in March. Who wants the work: Local, international firms are circling to get a piece of the project. Who decides: Retired Maj. Gen. Ernest Harrell is the...

McCarthy, Booker trying to land work. (expansion of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport)
January 5, 1998... Small and mid-sized companies would share in the benefits of the proposed $2.6 billion expansion of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport - project so big that no single contractor could take it on as one package. Even McCarthy, the state's...

Armstrong, Teasdale, Weiss on city's team. (Eric Banks; expansion of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport)
January 5, 1998... Residents of several Bridgeton subdivisions will soon know City Counselor Eric Banks' name. So will some 75 businesses, including the Henry VIII Hotel and the Econo Lodge along Lindbergh Boulevard, and property owners in St. Ann, Edmundson,...

New owner shuffles Nooney Trust board amid proxy fight. (Nooney Realty Trust Inc.)
January 5, 1998... In the midst of a proxy battle for control of Nooney Realty Trust Inc., Gregory Nooney's daughter, Patricia Nooney, and his close associate, Robert Kresko, have resigned from the trust's board. The resignations came at the request of...

Lakin to head Mercantile Bank of Northern Illinois. (Robert Lakin)
January 5, 1998... Robert Lakin, a Mercantile Bancorporation veteran with strong roots in the Metro East, is focusing his efforts on the northern-most reaches of Mercantile's banking empire. Lakin has been named chairman and chief executive officer of Mercantile...

Doctors from three orthopedic groups agree to merge. (St. Louis Orthopedic Institute Inc.)
January 5, 1998... Thirteen orthopedic physicians have merged their practices to create St. Louis Orthopedic Institute Inc., one of the largest orthopedic groups in the St. Louis area. The merger, effective Jan. 1, allows the physicians to offer a broader scope...

In the can: Roeslein taps overseas markets to build $20 million firm. (Roeslein and Associates Inc.)
January 5, 1998... Business activity: When Rudi Roeslein arrived in the United States from Austria at the age of 8 with his parents, all of the family's belongings were in two wooden crates. Today, Roeslein is president of Roeslein & Associates Inc. and a...

D&K Healthcare Resources Inc. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 5, 1998... J. Hord Armstrong III Chairman and chief executive officer D&K Healthcare Resources is a regional wholesale drug distributor. It supplies customers in 20 states in the Midwest and South with pharmaceuticals and related products. The company...

Stock options help Laser Vision, others keep workers. (Laser Vision Centers Inc.)
January 5, 1998... Monsanto, NationsBank offer employee stock options for a wide variety of reasons Many Laser Visions Centers Inc. employees keep their eyes on the clock each afternoon. It's not that they're anxious to leave work. But at 3:10 p.m. each day,...

Workers in St. Louis paid average of $32,000 a year. (Missouri)
January 5, 1998... A study released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that St. Louis workers are not faring too badly with the pay they are taking home. According to the study, the average St. Louisan made $15.43 per hour in...

City addicted to abatement: exacts heavy tool on schools, study says. (St. Louis, MO)
January 12, 1998... The St. Louis Development Corp. wants the city to overhaul its 30-year policy of using tax abatement to spur commercial and residential investment. In a recently released report, the city's economic agency states that St. Louis' aggressive but...

Intrav has management makeover.
January 12, 1998... Three top executives at luxury tour Operator Intrav Inc. have been replaced, completing a management makeover that started in December 1996, when Intrav bought Clipper Cruise Lines. When Barney Ebsworth, Intrav's founder, decided to merge...

Armstrong Teasdale elects Scherrer managing partner. (Armstrong, Teasdale, Schlafly & Davis; Richard Scherrer)
January 12, 1998... Armstrong, Teasdale, Schlafly & Davis, the third-largest law firm in St. Louis and fifth-largest in the state, has elected a new managing partner, Richard Scherrer. He replaces Edwin "Ted" Noel, managing partner since 1993. Scherrer, who...

Mercantile allows investors to buy bank stock directly. (Mercantile Bancorporation Inc.)
January 12, 1998... Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. has joined a growing number of companies offering a shareholder investment plan - a program that allows investors to buy Mercantile stock directly from the bank, avoiding brokerage fees and commissions. Ameren...

Asia's woes dent Global, Sherwood sales. (Global Surgical Corp.; Sherwood Davis & Geck)
January 12, 1998... The Asian currency crisis might shave a half a percentage point off America's gross national product this year by some estimates. Some of that may come out of the pockets of medical equipment makers in St. Louis. Harry Henson, international...

Engineering a comeback: EDM adds architectural services, aquarium work to boost revenue to $3 million. (EDM Consulting Engineers)(Small Business)(Company Profile)
January 12, 1998... Business activity: Walk around downtown St. Louis or stroll through Forest Park and you'll see the footprints made by EDM Consulting Engineers. A full-service consulting engineering firm, EDM added architectural services to its list of...

Intrav Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
January 12, 1998... Barney A. Ebsworth Chairman INTRAV Inc. is a designer, organizer, marketer and operator of deluxe, escorted, international travel programs. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Clipper Cruise Line, it also designs, markets and operates...

Largest office buildings. (St. Louis, MO)
January 12, 1998... (RANKED BY NET SQUARE FEET) 1. One Bell Center 900 Pine St. Net square feet: 1,273,750 1997 tax bill: $1,569,529 Available square feet: 1,400 Annual rent per square foot: $16-$18 Leasing agent: owner occupied Major tenant: Southwestern Bell...

Primerica pulls conventions.
January 19, 1998... Loss of three meetings could cost area $100 million Primerica Financial Services has canceled its annual convention in St. Louis, a move that is expected to cost area businesses more than $100 million during the next three years. Each of the...

Telephone battle lines drawn: Ameritech, AT&T fight SW Bell for local service
January 19, 1998... Ameritech, AT&T fight SW Bell for local service [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] Ameritech and AT&T are gearing up for an assault on South-western Bell with advances in local, wireless and long-distance phone services. Both telecommunications...

AT & T recalls Hoffman, cuts staff here. (local executive Randy Hoffman) (Telephone Battle Lines Drawn)
January 19, 1998... AT&T is calling its top local executive, Randy Hoffman, back to Dallas just 18 months after putting him in charge of a regional headquarters in St. Louis. Hoffman, 48, relocated here from Dallas in July 1996 to oversee marketing of local...

Doctors oppose Hagemann. (doctors at St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center are against the appointment of Dr. Margarethe Hagemann as the new boss)
January 19, 1998... Appointment stirs controversy at VA Medical Center Some doctors at the St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center are upset with their new boss, who they say lacks experience in dealing with patients. But top regional VA officials say...

Moneta, CPA firms expect to gain form Big 6 mergers. (Moneta Group) (certified public accountants) (professional services: law and accounting)
January 19, 1998... The Moneta Group, a 100-person financial planning firm here, expects to land some former Big Six accountants. So does Rubin Brown Gornstein & Co., the largest of the St. Louis-based accounting firms, with a professional staff of 170. Their...

Ameren's profit odyssey: $100 million growth by 2001.
January 19, 1998... Ameren, the holding company for the newly combined Union Electric and CIPSCO of Springfield, Ill., has outlined an aggressive growth target for its workers: $100 million in new profits by 2001. Such growth would rank Ameren among the more...

Boland designs merger with Kansas City firm. (Boland Associates will merge with Architectural Consultants Inc.)
January 19, 1998... Boland Associates, one of St. Louis' largest architectural firms, is merging with the fourth-largest architectural firm in Kansas City. Architectural Consultants Inc. and Robert Boland said the combined operation will have a staff of 100, with...

Weese plans $54 million north county development. (entrepreneur John Weese)
January 19, 1998... A group of private investors headed by North St. Louis County entrepreneur John Weese is pushing ahead with plans for a $54 million, 320-acre exclusive residential and commercial development in north county. The development, dubbed The...

Incentive pay plan in works at First National Bank.
January 19, 1998... First National Bank of St. Louis expects to join a growing list of area banks that pay workers extra cash to sell more bank products. Terry Grzina, who began work Jan. 2 in the newly created position of senior vice president/retail banking at...

Push for pay hikes at TWA may put pressure on profits. (Trans World Airlines)
January 19, 1998... As profits at Trans World Airlines seem to be on the verge of taking off, the airline's pilots, mechanics and flight attendants are clamoring for pay hikes that might hold those profits down. The pilot's union is particularly upset by the...

Beirise out at Mercantile. (Mercantile Bancorporation Inc.'s John Beirise)
January 26, 1998... Mueller, Driscoll also leaving in restructuring John Beirise, once considered a rising star at Mercantile Bancorporation Inc., is leaving the bank at the end of February. Beirise resigned after management changes were unveiled for the...

Engelbreit draws Disney. (Mary Engelbreit enterprises' contract with The Walt Disney Co.)
January 26, 1998... Precious Moments, Fisher Price deals in Mary's picture The renovated Greek Orthodox temple in University City that serves as headquarters to Mary Engelbreit enterprises is - not surprisingly perhaps - a shrine to Mary Engelbreit. The doormat...

Archdiocese raises record $65.1 million. (Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO)
January 26, 1998... The Archdiocese of St. Louis raised $65.1 million during its campaign to fund church endowments, $10.1 million more than the goal established two years ago. The campaign is believed to be the largest ever in the St. Louis area for endowment...

Kimco Realty holds trump card in Venture bankruptcy. (Venture Stores Inc.)
January 26, 1998... One of the key players in the Venture Stores Inc. bankruptcy case, several people agreed, will be Kimco Realty Corp., a Roslyn, N.Y.-based real estate investment that now owns a substantial portion of Venture real estate. "It will be extremely...

Brinkmann, Jones, Sehnert bank on Chesterfield Grove. (Robert Brinkmann and Robert Jones of the R.G. Brinkmann Construction Co. and The Jones Co.)(Real Estate)
January 26, 1998... Robert Brinkmann and Robert Jones are staking their corporate futures on the protection provided by the Monarch Levee in Chesterfield. R.G. Brinkmann Construction Co. and The Jones Co. will each own one of the twin office buildings going up in...

Early Hussmann stock trades selling at $14 a share. (Hussmann International Inc.)
January 26, 1998... Hussmann International Inc.'s official spinoff from Whitman Corp. comes Jan. 30. But stock in the specialty refrigeration company already is trading on a "when issued" basis for $14 a share, according to an analyst with CS/First Boston. That...

Missouri could be next banning insider trading.
January 26, 1998... Missouri could soon join a handful of states with state laws banning insider trading. The proposed legislation would mirror existing federal law, said Douglas Wilburn, commissioner of the Missouri Division of Securities. "We already believe...

Selling solutions: NAI Numerof doles out $6 million worth of advice. (NAI Numerof & Associates Inc.)(Small Business)
January 26, 1998... NAI Numerof doles out $6 million worth of advice Business Activity: Changes in the marketplace have helped NAI Numerof & Associates Inc. double its revenue in the last year. Spurred by the increasing use of technology and mergers and...

The new real estate mantra: glocation, glocation, glocation.
January 26, 1998... In the past, real estate companies seldom crossed national borders, Today, however, there are buying opportunities in other countries - particularly in Europe and Latin America - and U.S. firms are increasing their abilities for managing real...

CPI Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 26, 1998... Alyn V. Essman Chairman and chief executive officer With 1,187 retail locations, CPI Corp. engages in two segments of the photography industry - preschool portrait photography and retail wall decor. The company operates Sears Portrait Studios...