St. Louis Business Journal articles from January 1999

St. Louis Business Journal archives from January 1999

$32.5 million complex for seniors: Good Samaritan to build apartments, assisted living home.(Good Samaritan Independent Living Inc.)
January 4, 1999... A $32.5 million senior living complex should start rising soon in west St. Louis County. Good Samaritan Independent Living Inc. wrapped its purchase Wednesday of a site near Dougherty Ferry and Big Bend roads. At the same time, the...

Restaurants to open early during pope's visit.(visit of Pope John Paul II to St. Louis, Missouri)
January 4, 1999... While some downtown businesses plan to close during Pope John Paul II's visit rather than face crowds projected at 1 million, others will open early to snag extra business. At J.F. Sanfilippo's at 705 N. Broadway, employees plan to spend...

Waterway pours $16 million into Denver, K.C. locations.(Waterway Gas & Wash)
January 4, 1999... Site in Creve Coeur is being expanded Waterway Gas & Wash is spending more than $16 million to expand its automobile cleanup business. The nearly 30-year-old chain is doing a $1.5 million rehab on its Creve Coeur location, but most of...

Rothschild steps to the bar to revitalize neighborhoods.(real estate developer Pete Rothschild)
January 4, 1999... Developer Pete Rothschild, you could say, is a great believer in the power of booze - particularly the kind that is dispensed in city establishments. "I think the first step for revitalization in a lot neighborhoods is bars and...

Monsanto puts $10 million in baby boomers' nutrition.(investment in LifeSource Nutrition)
January 4, 1999... Monsanto Co. is feeding $10 million to a West Coast company that sells and delivers prepackaged meals geared toward America's aging baby boomers. The investment in LifeSource Nutrition is one of several Monsanto has made with companies...

Florissant to get first credit collection school in the U.S.(St. Louis. Missouri)
January 4, 1999... The first formal credit collection school in the country will open this month in Florissant, provided it receives state approval. The Academy of Credit and Collections, 941 N. Highway 67, will offer classes ranging from negotiating skills...

Condaire pins rebound hopes on ISO standard.(Enterprise)
January 4, 1999... Business activity: The automotive industry has been keeping Condaire Inc. busy. Condaire, a union industrial mechanical contractor specializing in the installation and maintenance of industrial, institutional and municipal piping, plumbing...

Glass recycling firm builds $13 million plant in Illinois.(Energy & the Environment)(Environmentally Correct Projects Inc.)
January 4, 1999... Environmentally Correct Projects Inc. is putting a new face on industrial parks with the development of Lewis & Clark EnviroTECH Business Park in Wood River. The company is developing a 150-acre park, including ECP's own building, with the...

General American saving $900,000 yearly on energy.
January 4, 1999... Though massive layoffs make headlines ever more frequently, many companies are still overlooking a potential savings bonanza in energy costs, experts say. "CFOs just don't consider energy to be a controllable expense," said Phil Armstrong,...

Businesses could be fined over underground tanks.
January 4, 1999... Businesses in Missouri and Illinois could face fines ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 a day as well as cleanup costs if they missed a year-end federal deadline for upgrading underground storage tanks. Companies that failed to comply with the...

Esco Electronics Corp.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 4, 1999... Dennis J. Moore Chairman, president and chief executive officer Esco Electronics Corp. is a holding company for the following businesses: Distribution Control Systems Inc, EMC Test Systems L.P., Filtertek Inc., PTI Technologies Inc., Rantec...

DBN plucks West Coast man to be first chief executive.(Digital Broadcast Network Corp.'s new CEO, Bernie Schneider)
January 4, 1999... Local telecommunications start-up Digital Broadcast Network Corp. has landed a high-profile West Coast telecommunications executive to head the company. Bernie Schneider, well-known to Wall Street as treasurer of Alameda, Calif.-based...

Bridge eyes Savvis.(Bridge Information Systems Inc. to acquire Savvis Communications Corp.)
January 11, 1999... Deal could be worth up to $80 million Bridge Information Systems Inc. is in talks to buy Savvis Communications Corp. Neither side would discuss terms, but speculation on the purchase price ranges from $40 million to $80 million....

WorldCom hunts for campus.(telecommunications firm MCI WorldCom to build facility in St. Louis, Missouri)
January 11, 1999... Now that MasterCard Global Technology and Operations has confirmed it will build its headquarters at Winghaven in O'Fallon, Mo., attention has shifted to MCI WorldCom's development plans. The Jackson, Miss.-based telecommunications company...

Bad sports teams, NBA lockout kill Superstar's.(sports wear and accessories retailer closes)
January 11, 1999... St. Louis-based retailer Superstar's, a 27-store chain with outlets in St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit, is liquidating - a victim, owner Thomas Noblitt said, of the NBA lockout, lousy teams and the weather. Superstar's operates nine St....

Jensen to head statewide community bank franchise.(Missouri Holdings CEO and Pres. Richard Jensen)
January 11, 1999... Joins Atlanta banker to raise $20 million T. Stephen Johnson, an Atlanta-based investment banker who has started more than 120 community banks in the United States, is raising at least $20 million to bring his brand of banking to St. Louis....

Security firms bulk up presence for pope's visit.(Pope John Paul II's visit to St. Louis, Missouri)
January 11, 1999... With Pope John Paul II's visit less than three weeks away, some security firms are beefing up downtown forces, and courier services are fretting over disruptions to service. "We're going to have a significantly increased security...

Holland takes expertise to Trammel Crow.(Jay Holland signs up with real estate brokerage firm)
January 11, 1999... Was key figure at Bakewell Corp. After more than 19 years handling the bulk of Bakewell Corp.'s 2.5 million-square-foot real estate portfolio, Jay Holland is making a fresh start at Trammell Crow Co. Holland, 42, received calls from a...

Donald Bryant wants to open art collection to general public.(Bryant Group CEO to open semipublic gallery in St. Louis, Missouri)
January 11, 1999... One of the foremost collectors of 20th-century and contemporary art wants to share his collection with St. Louis. Donald Bryant, chairman and chief executive officer of the St. Louis-based Bryant Group Inc. insurance firm, is looking to...

Casso, Ruzicka invest in weight-loss clinic for kids.(Mary Beth Casso and Linda Ruzicka establishes Committed to Kids)
January 11, 1999... Entrepreneurs Mary Beth Casso and Linda Ruzicka are committed to kids in more ways than one. Casso, a registered nurse and the mother of four, and Ruzicka, a nutritionist with five young children, recently opened Committed to Kids, a...

Midland and Mueller see sales of shades jump with new technology.(Midland Optical and Mueller Optical)
January 11, 1999... Two St. Louis optical wholesalers are investing heavily in equipment designed to keep the glare off eyeglasses. Midland Optical has spent $300,000 on technology that enables the firm to put anti-reflective coatings on glasses. The company...

Oh baby! AMC races to $4 million in sales.(marketing firm)
January 11, 1999... Marketing firm revs up sales with beanie race cars Business activity: Rod Wortham's love of auto racing - his father took him to his first race when he was 1 year old - has helped put AMC Marketing on a fast track with revenue accelerating...

Intrav Inc.(Proxy Reports Excerpt)(Company Profile)
January 11, 1999... Barney A. Ebsworth Chairman INTRAV Inc. is a leading operator of deluxe, worldwide travel programs and cruises. The company offers a wide array of exotic trips, from small-ship cruises with its subsidiary, Clipper Cruise Line, to...

Balke invests in the city: building $15 million business park on near north side.(Balke Properties)
January 18, 1999... Balke Properties is making a major commitment to the city of St. Louis with a $15 million business park on 20 acres at 23rd Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. The business park, called St. Lout s Commerce Center, will contain about...

2 Internet providers sell for $16 million.(Internet Solutions and Midwest Internet)
January 18, 1999... As Yahoo and other Internet-related stocks soar, two Internet service providers near St. Louis are selling out at a premium. Washington, Mo.-based Internet Solutions and Carbondale, Ill.-based Midwest Internet have signed separate deals to...

Brighter skies: TWA has $315 million cushion.(includes related article on 'sick-out' by TWA flight attendants)(Trans World Airlines)
January 18, 1999... While snowstorms and disgruntled flight attendants have cost Trans World Airlines about $10 million in recent weeks, the airline is going into the slow winter months with a cash cushion. TWA had $314.7 million in cash at the end of the...

Worldwide Insurance goes for $162 million.
January 18, 1999... Worldwide Insurance Co., a Maryland Heights-based auto insurance firth, is being purchased by American Financial Group Inc. in a deal valued at $162 million. Both Jim Shaffer, the top local executive at Worldwide Insurance, and Anne...

Osborne & Barr to harvest Monsanto's ag marketing.(Osborne & Barr Communications)
January 18, 1999... Monsanto Co.'s decision to consolidate its agricultural marketing at fewer agencies is producing a windfall for Osborne & Barr Communications. Meanwhile, the deal means the death of the St. Louis office of Sargent & Potratz, a...

Edison Bros.' Honig says merchandising working.(Edison Brothers Stores Inc.)
January 18, 1999... But profits elusive; lays off 20 workers Buoyed by what seems to be a viable merchandising strategy, Edison Brothers Stores Inc. is heading into 1999 with two main goals: improving profit margins and streamlining its operations. Larry...

Teamsters Credit Union given one of lowest ratings.
January 18, 1999... The Teamsters Credit Union in St. Louis is one of the lowest-ranked credit unions in the United States in terms of financial soundness, according to Bauer Financial Reports' rating system. Bauer Financial Inc., a Coral Gables, Fla.-based...

Bud bowl: Bud Light pushing Bud as best-selling beer in U.S.
January 18, 1999... Bud Light, which Anheuser-Busch launched in 1982 to challenge Miller Brewing Co.'s Miller Lite, is growing at a pace to surpass the King of Beers in a few years. "Budweiser has been down for 10 years in a row, and during that time Bud...

Three Missouri firms bidding for work on Creve Coeur Park bridge.
January 18, 1999... When the Missouri Department of Transportation opens bids for the Creve Coeur Park Lake Bridge portion of the Page Avenue extension on Jan. 22, only three Missouri firms will be vying for the roughly $75 million job. Two of those are...

Pope's visit postpones elective surgeries; SLU, Barnes-Jewish, Children's prepare for the masses.(Pope John Paul II; Saint Louis University Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital)
January 18, 1999... Some elective surgeries at Saint Louis University Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital will be postponed during Pope John Paul II's visit. The hospitals are among the medical centers designated by Dr. Larry...

Haselhorst, Moss pilot $9 million venture.(Pilot Air Freight franchise of Alan Haselhorst and Robert Moss)
January 18, 1999... Land account from Anheuser-Busch, which could double revenue Business activity: They were in their early 30s and happy in their jobs. but both had a desire, to own their own company. That was when Alan Haselhorst and Robert Moss decided...

Accountant shortage sends starting salaries soaring.(Professional Services: Law & Accounting)
January 18, 1999... A booming economy and low unemployment are fueling demand for accountants in the St. Louis area, with demand pushing salaries higher. "It's truly been an employee's market," said Rick Payne, St. Louis area manager for Robert Half...

A.G. Edwards plans $78 million expansion.
January 25, 1999... A.G. Edwards Inc. plans to build an office tower and parking garage expected to cost more than $78 million at its downtown St. Louis headquarters. Although details are being worked out and A.G. Edwards has not yet secured the ground,...

Waylon awarded Aetna account worth $25 million.(Waylon Ad)
January 25, 1999... St. Louis' Waylon Ad has picked up a plum assignment: creative work on corporate and retirement services advertising for Aetna Inc. Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna spends an estimated $25 million a year on that advertising. Waylon is grabbing...

Computerworld ranks area in top 10 for tech workers.(St. Louis, MO)
January 25, 1999... St. Louis is among the top 10 cities for information technology job-seekers, according to a survey by Computerworld Inc. The Framingham, Mass.-based business computing magazine put St. Louis ninth on its top 10 list, just ahead of Austin,...

General American faces suit from former employees.(General American Life Insurance Co)
January 25, 1999... Lawsuit alleges insurer reneged on severance pay Peggy Crews of St. Charles claims General American Life Insurance Co. reneged on her severance benefits when the company eliminated her job Dec. 31. So Crews, who had worked for General...

Buechler pockets some of Spartech's gain: CEO's salary tops $1 million as profits soar at plastics maker.(Bradley Buechler)
January 25, 1999... A big, black bottom line at Spartech Corp. for fiscal year 1998 is fueling some hefty pay increases at the plastics maker. As the company saw its net earnings jump more than 30 percent to $33.7 million, Spartech's chief executive, Bradley...

Clayco Construction undertakes $5 million headquarters expansion.
January 25, 1999... Clayco Construction Co. is expanding its office space at Innerbelt Business Center with a $5 million, 42,000-square-foot building. Clayco, which occupies a 30,000-square-foot building, plans to take about half the new space. Clayco...

HealthLine Management eyes southern U.S. for expansion.
January 25, 1999... With a new owner behind it, HealthLine Management Inc. is getting ready to play with the big guys. The health services firm, which for the past 14 years primarily has provided physician staffing for hospitals in the St. Louis region,...

Plaza Financial hunts for mergers, acquisitions.
January 25, 1999... Planning firm's goal: double revenue to $14 million Business activity: Plaza Financial Group Inc. has been in the St. Louis area since 1985. but it's only been within the past year that the firm has been promoting itself. Plaza...

Merrlin Mortgage sets up office to tap local market.
January 25, 1999... Small lenders finding lots of room to grow Magic has nothing to do with the meteoric rise of Merrlin Mortgage Corp. in Chesterfield. Since opening the Merrlin branch May 1, co-owners and partners Glen Calvin and Ron Mansfield have...

Banks most eager to lend on apartments, industrial deals.
January 25, 1999... There's still plenty of money to be had in St. Louis for commercial real estate projects, although local bankers said they are not quite as aggressive about making loans as they were a few months ago. That's when the global economic...

Realty Exchange turns small deals into 38% growth in '98.
January 25, 1999... Fifteen years ago Mark Cofman's business was better known for screening potential renters for owners of small apartment complexes. Today Cofman's company is buying and selling apartment complexes. In fact, Realty Exchange says it holds...