St. Louis Business Journal articles from November 1999

St. Louis Business Journal archives from November 1999

St. Louis' biggest stock offering: Kent to hold stock worth $95 million.(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Kent to hold stock worth $95 million Jerald Kent, president and chief executive at Charter Communications Inc., holds options on more than 7 million shares of Charter stock as the private company prepares to go public. Kent's options...

St. Louis' biggest stock offering: Allen boosts charter investment by $2 billion.(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Allen boosts Charter investment by $2 billion Paul Allen pumped $1.3 billion into Charter Communications Inc. in August and September as the company prepared for its $3.38 billion initial public stock offering. Allen, the co-founder of...

Allen's purchase made Shaw, Barford the $8 million cable guys.(Curtis Shaw)(David Barford)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Two senior vice presidents at Charter Communications Inc. each received more than $8 million after Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen purchased controlling interest in the cable TV company. Curtis Shaw, 50, the company's top lawyer, and...

Purina Mills defaults.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Purina Mills Inc. is in default on. $350 million in senior subordinated bonds. The St. Louis-based animal feed company, on the hook for millions of dollars in losses on more than 6 million hogs it agreed to purchase, missed a $16 million...

Dinner, guests.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Look for the Missouri Botanical Garden to name a new caterer any day now, said deputy director Jonathan Kleinbard. Ces and Judy's Catering's Greentree Gourmet, which operates the Garden's restaurant and has an exclusive contract on catering,...

Meanwhile...(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Ces and Judy's is introducing a line of ice cream products under the name Europa that will be available at Dierberg's grocery stores. Co-owner Cecily Hoffius said the ice cream is made by the catering firm's Arctic ice cream company.

Legal maneuvers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The Pittsburgh law firm of Doepken Keevican & Weiss has tapped attorneys Charles Polk and Colleen McNitt Ruiz to open an office in St. Louis. Polk and Ruiz, who were lured away from Stinson, Mag and Fizzell, plan to hire more than a dozen...

Platinum strikes gold.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Tom Zorumski's Platinum Health Care was a flop in St. Louis, but now Zorumski said the HMO is close to scoring big in Chicago. He has signed up 10 Chicago health-care systems and is planning to launch Platinum in 60 days. Zorumski, the former...

A big hit.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire is gracing the cover of Safeway's Toasted Oats cereal boxes in the first-ever endorsement of a store-branded food product. Safeway, which doesn't have stores in the St. Louis area, will donate 15 percent...

Focus fallout.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Ted Garcia, executive vice president and chief operating officer at KETC-TV Channel 9, has resigned from the board of Focus St. Louis. He said he stepped down after a controversy at the group's auction in late September.

Lofty visions.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The long-vacant eight-story Rudman Building, 1228 Washington Ave., may soon get a new lease on life. The Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance, which picked up the building in a foreclosure two years ago, expects to choose a...

Video.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Sight & Sound Distributors, the St. Louis based video distribution firm, expects to add $15 million to $20 million in revenue with a recent expansion. The company set up offices in Boston, Chicago and Milwaukee and added 12 sales people, a 60...

Zipp drive.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... St. Louis Pre-Sort is expanding its Zipp Express courier service to Kansas City as of Nov. 1. Owner Dan Francis is buying two more Volkswagen Bugs, which have become a signature of the company here, for use in K.C. The company has six Bugs...

Net gains.(www.ebusinessed.com)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Geoffrey Thompson and David Goldstein, co-owners of Activated Multimedia, have established an electronic business resource center -- a free Web site where entrepreneurs can share their experiences about what works in the world of e-commerce....

In the money.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Firstar Corp. has named Michael Wack, a Mercantile veteran, as vice president and manager of small business lending for the St. Louis region. Firstar ranks No. 2 on a list of "The 100 Best Stocks to Own in America," a just-released book...

SportsHuddle calls the play, gains $2.5 million.
November 1, 1999... SportsHuddle.com, which has set out to make high school sports come alive across the country, has wrapped up a second round of financing, raising $2.5 million. . The St. Louis Internet start-up company's total investment stands at $3...

Enterprise Bank unit raising $100 million fund.(Enterprise Merchant Bank)(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Merchant banking fund invests in companies A new company affiliated with Enterprise Bank in Clayton has begun raising $100 million to make equity investments in successful businesses that need capital to expand. So far, the fund...

Corrections.
November 1, 1999... Mitchell Humphrey The name of Kim Hoenig was misspelled in the Oct. 25 issue. She is vice president for software support services at Mitchell Humphrey. Of the company's more than 100 customers, 60 percent are in the private sector and 40...

Mathews pitches second youth training facility.
November 1, 1999... A former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher plans to build a $750,000 base-ball and softball training facility for youth next year in Ellisville. Greg Mathews and at least one other investor, whom he declined to identify, are financing...

Lohr, Maryville among firms putting off tech spending.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... First there was the millennium bug. Now there's the "fear of the millennium" bug, and it's prompting businesses to slow down or halt computer and related purchases as the end of the year approaches. "Most companies are employing some kind...

Bonuses, vacations offered to New Year's Eve workers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... As the Y2K countdown intensifies, more companies throughout the St. Louis area are trying to ensure they'll have staff readily available if a crisis occurs. As added incentives, some businesses are offering bonuses or additional vacation...

Post appeals to readers' emotions with new ads.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The St. Louis Post-Dispatch will begin a new ad campaign on Oct. 31 that aims to boost circulation by targeting readers' emotions. The Post spent "less than $500,000" to develop the ads that will run throughout the newspaper, said a source...

Holway takes over for Hegger at Peabody Group.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... St. Louis-based Peabody Group, a coal company with operations in the United States and Australia has announced several changes in senior management. David Hegger, vice president of mining business development will be leaving Peabody Group...

Opus looks to strike chord in local development market.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Opus U.S. Corp., a giant Minneapolis-based developer, is planning a move into the St. Louis market. Opus will generate about $1 billion in design-build construction revenue this year, said Tom Lund, director of real estate development for...

Merrlin Mortgage hires Hawkins to head newly created division.(Bob Hawkins )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... A burgeoning lending market has led to creation of a second division at Merrlin Mortgage Corp.'s office in Chesterfield. Branch owners Glen Calvin and Ron Mansfield recently hired Bob Hawkins to lead the new division, which handles mortgage...

Howze revives school for blind with lessons on quality.(Yvonne Howze )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Educator Yvonne Howze is a believer in Total Quality Management or TQM. In her nine years as superintendent of the state-operated Missouri School for the Blind, Howze spearheaded a revolution at the 148-year-old institution and ushered in...

SSM fires Zilm from president's post at St. Mary's.(SSM St. Mary's Health Center)(Michael Zilm)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Michael Zilm is out as president of SSM St. Mary's Health Center. Hospital employees and physicians learned about Zilm's ouster via an Oct. 22 letter from Mike Graue, chief operating officer for SSM Health Care -- St. Louis, which owns St....

$23 million medical mall planned for Caseyville.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... A $23.7 million medical "mall" -- including a pharmacy, medical offices and alternative medical services -- is coming to Caseyville, Ill. Health Source One, a new group of doctors, nurses and others in Southwestern Illinois, plans to build...

BJC, Wash U. strike deal with Saudi Arabian hospital.(BJC Health System )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... BJC Health System and Washington University have struck a deal with a Saudi Arabian hospital that will allow physician exchanges and cooperative efforts in medicine. The agreement with Al-Mouwasat Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, will...

CPI sues former suitor for $80 million.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... CPI Corp. said it would seek $80 million in damages, plus attorney's fees and costs, from privately held firm American Securities Partner LP for terminating a merger agreement. St. Louis-based CPI, which operates portrait studios in Sears...

LaBarge Inc.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... LaBarge Inc. said William Maender has resigned as vice president-finance. Maender had held the post since 1986. He said he stepped down to pursue other interests. St. Louis-based LaBarge, an electronics products firm, said it expects to be able...

Walden O'Dell.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Walden O'Dell, a long-time executive of St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co., was named president and chief executive of Diebold Inc., effective Nov. 1. Robert Mahoney, chairman and chief executive at Canton, Ohio-based Diebold, has been...

Solutia Inc.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Solutia Inc. has elected John Hunter III as its chairman, completing a management succession plan set in motion earlier this year. Hunter, currently president and chief executive of the St. Louis-based chemical company, will succeed Robert...

Advanced Communications Group Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Advanced Communications Group Inc. agreed to raise its offer for Texas-based YPtel Corp. to 15 million shares of its stock from 8 million based on a valuation increase. The St. Louis-based telephone directory producer said strong performance by...

A. G. Edwards.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... St. Louis-based brokerage A. G. Edwards has opened a regional corporate finance office in Atlanta. The new office will serve the firm's South-eastern region, which includes Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and...

Trans World Airlines.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Barbara Steffens, president of the International Association of Machinists Local 1997, the union that represents Trans World Airlines employees and that some flight attendants recently split from, has resigned her position. Steffens has joined...

Belden Inc.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Belden Inc. signed an agreement with, the Sydney Organizing Committee to supply most of The cable used to transmit voice, video and data at the 2000 Olympics. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Belden, a St. Louis-based cable maker, said the...

Stojkovic's Visiontracks focuses in on $2 million in revenue.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Business activity: More and more small businesses today exist because a large corporation decided to scale back its operations. That's certainly the case with Visiontracks Inc., a multimedia production company in Fenton that was formed by...

Baumgarten springs into action with toy concept.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... When a private business is struggling, sometimes the owner throws up his hands and decides it's time to get out. Or, he does as Richard Baumgarten did in 1992 when he decided to put some spring back in his architectural firm, Baumgarten &...

The Center for Emerging Technologies.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis has qualified for a federal research and development grant of up to $100,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Marcia Mellitz is president of the high-tech incubator located on...

The National Association of Small Business Investment Companies.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The National Association of Small Business Investment Companies has published the "NASBIC Membership Directory, Venture Capital, Where to Find It." Published each year, it is a reference book for small business owners and entrepreneurs who...

The Padgett Business Service Foundation.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The Padgett Business Service Foundation is offering more than $100,000 in scholarships to high school seniors who are children of independent small business owners. Regional awards for $500 are offered as part of the program. Since its...

Rose Garland.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Deadline for submitting nominations for Small Business Week awards is Nov. 12. Nominations should be sent to Rose Garland, Small Business Administration, 815 Olive St., Room 242, St. Louis, Mo. 63101.

Trivia: little things that make a big difference.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... We hear a lot about "trivia" these days. Even games have been developed and sold under that name. But, if someone were to ask many of us to explain "trivia" we might have trouble finding the right definition, if there is one. Certainly we...

How to be the boss of your worklife.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... People often ask me why there continue to be so many downsizings when the economy is doing so well. The answer disturbs many people: The economy is doing well in part because of the continuous downsizings, and the downsizings are here to...

LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS Tom Anderson (RANKED BY 1999-2000 SCHOOL YEAR ENROLLMENT) School district address phone/fax 1 St. Louis Public Schools 911...

PEOPLE.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Advertising/public relations Michael Wolfsohn has joined D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles as a senior copywriter the agency's M&M/Mars Inc. accounts. Architecture/engineering Andre Burgess has joined Heideman + Associates as a civil...

Downtown adds five hotels, more than 2,000 rooms.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... In the next 18 months, downtown St. Louis will see more than 2,000 new hotel rooms created from five area hotels. That might be enough to cause some hotel operators to lose sleep worrying about room vacancies -- or price-cutting by...

Fresh shops, dining among new amenities at Lambert.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Travelers at Lambert St. Louis-International Airport soon will be able to get a taste of St. Louis -- and the world. A Pasta House restaurant and two Anheuser-Busch brewhouses are among the half-dozen new dining alternatives that Host...

New Year's hotel packages range from $99 to $800.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Party goers will pay premium prices for extra-special New Year's celebrations planned at St. Louis area hotels. But that doesn't seem to phase hundreds of people who already have made reservations for some of the bashes. The Adam's Mark,...

Catered events to be small, lavish this New Year's Eve.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Laura George started planning her New Year's Eve party months ago. She already knows the theme for toasting a new year, new century and new millennium: game. As in the kind one plays and the kind one eats. And she knows what's for dinner...

Family reunions become growing source of revenue.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Family reunions are quietly becoming a new source of revenue for area hotels, restaurants and shops. This year, 181 family reunions asked the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission for planning assistance That translated into nearly...

Unique rental spaces help arts groups offset costs.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... As museums and other arts organizations come under pressure to be more self-sufficient, the fortunate ones with suitable spaces are renting out their facilities to generate income. Starting next year, the St. Louis Science Center will be...

Convention forecast rosy for 2000 -- and beyond.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission is forecasting a substantial increase in convention business next year, and the relevant statistics show that's a pretty safe prediction. The CVC estimates that St. Louis will be host for 377...

Religion, team-building are big convention draws.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... St. Louis remains somewhat average when it comes to the convention trade. But adding just one key component -- a first-class convention hotel -- would place it among the nation's top convention cities, some area convention planners contend. ...

Web grows as gateway to travel, tourism businesses.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... With travel and tourism among the top consumer uses of the Internet, local companies are getting on the Web in growing numbers. Tourism bureaus are among the front runners in exploiting the Web's power, but hotels also are represented along...

Center matches planners with conference facilities.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Businesses often turn to the St. Louis-based International Association of Conference Centers for help in finding a place to hold a conference. IACC, a nonprofit trade association, offers detailed information about its member conference...

Skyline, tasty treats all say `St. Louis' to visitors.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... A skyline view or a taste of the city -- literally -- are all the inspiration needed for items that say "St. Louis" to convention attendees and corporate guests. Keepsake items featuring the Gateway Arch, downtown skyline and the Blues,...

Future appears bright for travel academy graduates.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Despite recent moves by the airlines to cut travel agents' commission, business is still brisk at the St. Louis Travel Academy. The academy bills itself as the only school in the region and one of a handful nationwide that fully equips...

LARGEST VIDEO PRODUCTION FACILITES.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... LARGEST VIDEO PRODUCTION FACILITES Tom Anderson (RANKED BY 1998 REVENUE RANGE) Company (rank last year) address ...

A close look.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... THE THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO BUSINESS LEADS Dale Carnegie's business classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People" doesn't really tell you anything you couldn't figure out for yourself. In fact, the book's direct approach is a...

LaBarge Inc.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Harvey Baker, vice president, purchased 366 shares of common at $1.75 each on July 9, and now directly and indirectly holds 3,135 common.

Monsanto Co.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... John Reed, director, purchased 50,000 shares of common at $40 each on Aug. 5, and now directly holds 91,947 common. Ganesh Kishore, divisional officer, exercised an option for 14,000 shares of common between $10.40 and $12.23 each on Aug. 5....

Mississippi Valley Bancshares Inc.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Theodore Desloge, director, purchased 5,150 shares of common between $31.75 and $32.88 each from Aug. 10-19, and now directly and indirectly holds 40,150 common.

Sigma-Aldrich Corp.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Herbert Vuilleumier, vice president, exercised an option for 4,000 shares of common at $23.38 each on Aug. 10, and sold them at $33.94 each on Aug. 10, and now directly holds 350 common.

Number of stock transactions.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Six-month summary Number of stock transactions Disposals by Company Purchases sale or gift LaBarge Inc. ...

Where we stand.(Housing costs in St. Louis)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... How St. Louis measures up against other cities Jack Goldman President St. Louis Association of Realtors A number of factors contribute to lower housing costs in the St. Louis area. The availability of potential building sites at...

On board.(Jewish Community Center)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Money and management at nonprofit organizations Jewish Community Center Stanley Ferdman Executive vice president The Jewish Community Center, with its origins dating from 1880, provides social, cultural, recreational and...

Proxy corner.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Money and management at companies with publicly traded stock D & K HEALTHCARE RESOURCES INC. J. Hard Armstrong III Chairman of the board, chief executive officer and treasurer D & K Healthcare Resources is a regional wholesale drug...

Laclede Gas Co.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Sept. 30, $22.75 A.G. Edwards Maintain Position. We believe gas utility stocks are fairly valued relative to current company fundamentals but that investors should maintain positions in the stocks as a means of playing takeover trends....

Savoy: The wired world wonder boy.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... The man behind Charter Communication Inc.'s biggest acquisitions this year is William Savoy, the president of Vulcan Northwest Inc. and manager of the personal finances of Paul Allen. "Savoy made the big deals, and he let Charter people...

Bulldog persistence leads to quality.
November 1, 1999... In an era of educational discontent, imagine a school where ACT scores have risen six points and staff turnover has declined by 78 percent. Not surprisingly, parental satisfaction has soared as a five-year strategic plan is accomplished in half...

A U.S. gold coin.(Brief Article)
November 1, 1999... Recently, there was a sailboat race named after a young beloved sailor, who had unexpectedly died in the last year. A number of his fiends had sent in their silver rings and some fine gold personal possessions to be melted down and be made...

The battle over access to cable tv systems.
November 1, 1999... A high-stakes battle over access to the Internet via the cable TV system in the city of St. Louis being fought before the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. It is a battle for users of. high-speed communication services, as well as a battle over...

Consultants handle wedding details.
November 1, 1999... As couples decide to get married later in their lives--and further into their careers--weeding consultants increasingly are called upon to handle the details. Besides having a wonderful wedding, many couples also want to throw a good party...

St. Louis Stocks.
November 1, 1999... St. Louis Stocks A.G. Edwards Close Close Percentage Company Symbol Exchange 10/20/99 10/27/99 ...

Express Scripts Inc.
November 1, 1999... Oct. 7, $86.78 Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. Buy. We met with management of Express Scripts at its headquarters in St. Louis Oct. 6, and we remain encouraged about the prospects for the stock in an otherwise difficult environment...

Amdocs Ltd.
November 1, 1999... Oct. 8, $25.81 BancBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. Not rated. We expect Amdocs to report at, or modestly above, our published forecasts in the quarter ended Sept. 30. However, aggressive spending in research and development to support...

Kranson lures $200 million investment.(Kranson Industries Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... A Chicago investment firm has bought a majority interest in Kranson Industries Inc., one of the region's larger private companies. Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC, with $1.3 billion in investments under management, took its stake in Kranson...

Beracha brings in the dough at Earthqrains.(Chief Executive Barry Beracha )(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... Since Anheuser-Busch Cos. unloaded the Earthgrains Co. in 1996, Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Beracha has engineered what one analyst calls "one of the great success stories" of corporate spinoffs in the 1990s. From its St. Louis...

Charter IPO creates buzz.(Charter Communications Inc. )(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... While Charter Communications Inc. is in an SEC-imposed quiet period, the buzz about the company's impending public stock offering -- St. Louis' largest-- is growing. The cable system operator's offering even picked up some national...

Jensen's bank deal dead.(Richard Jensen )(Riva Bancshares)(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... Former Nations Bank executive Richard Jensen is making a second run at establishing a financial services company in St. Louis. He is lining up new financial backers and is expected to launch a savings and loan operation here, according to...

Tax talk.(St. Louis proposed sales tax)(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... A proposed four-tenths-cent sales tax in St. Louis City and County to help pay for downtown revitalization is getting a positive reception, according to Downtown Now! director Tom Reeves. He has been talking up the idea with several people,...

In the spotlight.
November 8, 1999... Roger Beachy, the newly appointed president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, is the 1999 Scientist of the Year, according to Research and Development magazine. Beachy is featured on the cover of the November issue, and an article...