St. Louis Business Journal articles from November 1999

St. Louis Business Journal archives from November 1999

All that glitters.(Tiffany line is pulled out of outside entities)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Simons Jewelers in Clayton will no longer carry the Tiffany line. For years, Simons was the only local retail source for Tiffany products -- primarily corporate gift items -- but owner Simon Katz said Tiffany has decided to end distribution...

New prescription.(Alan Johnson has new duties at KV Pharmaceutical Co.)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Several weeks after he closed brokerage Johnson Research & Capital, local rainmaker Alan Johnson has taken on extra duties at KV Pharmaceutical Co. He is now serving as KV's executive vice president of strategy. He was already secretary and a...

Batter up.(Southwest Bank of St. Louis office artwork)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... It's baseball year round at the newly opened Des Peres office of Southwest Bank of St. Louis. The walls of the employee lunchroom are lined with historic St. Louis Cardinals photos. The bank called on Julie Rooney, owner of Cigi Gallery...

Brick by brick.(Richards Brick expands)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... With the St. Louis area in the midst of a construction boom, Richards Brick plans to double its production. The Edwardsville-based firm has added a second, 30-person shift and a second kiln to nearly double its annual output of bricks to...

Name brands.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Tom Hudder now officially shares lead creative duties at the rapidly expanding Rodgers Townsend advertising firm with co-founder Tom Townsend. The three-year-old agency has more than 50 people working on accounts that include SBC...

Going the distance.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Express Medical Transporters Inc. has nailed down a four-year, $3.5 million contract with UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest. Bernie Squitieri, president and chief executive at Express Medical, said the contract calls for the firm to provide...

Fresh veggies.(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Bruce Knobeloch, director of produce for Schnuck Markets Inc., was named 1999 Retailer of the Year by Produce Merchandising, a national trade monthly. Magazine editors and industry members cited Knobeloch's "leadership role in the industry,...

In the blood.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Metaphase Design Group has won the design industry's equivalent of an Oscar for its design for the Bayer Microlet, a finger-lancing device for diabetics. Metaphase was one of 36 winners -- and the only one from St. Louis -- in the Design of...

Closing.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Mondi International in Plaza Frontenac is planning to shut its doors. Salvina Sultana, president and chief executive of Secaucus, N.J.-based Mondi of America, said the company filed for bankruptcy and eventually plans to close all of its 43...

Big spenders.(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... A poll by Maritz Marketing Research shows the average American will spend $825 on Christmas gifts, up almost 10 percent from last year. The biggest spenders are between the ages of 45 and 54. Men generally plan to spend more than women, and...

Baur's bank turns on venture capital tap.(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Mississippi Valley Capital Co. has pumped $1.15 million into three local companies as it launches its $6 million venture capital fund. Mississippi Valley Capital is among the newest players on the local venture capital scene, which is...

Trotter starts everbank.com.(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Banking in cyberspace no has a St. Louis address: everbank.com. The Internet-only bank, headed by former Mark Twain banker Frank Trotter, went online Nov. 18. While everbank.com has no branches, it shares office space in Creve Coeur with...

UnitedHealthcare raises rates, loses Mallinckrodt, Monsanto.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Unhappy with steep hikes healthcare premiums, more than a dozen large local employers have dropped UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest, according to industry sources. The employers are member of Gateway Purchasers for Health, a group of 36...

Wireless competition heats up.(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Omnipoint invests up to $70 million New Jersey-based Omnipoint plans to spend $60 million to $70 million in the St. Louis area as it gets set to launch wireless phone services here next fall. That's more good news for local mobile...

Kurt Warner quarterbacks new Crunch Time cereal.(St. Louis Rams' Kurt Warner)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Kurt Warner fans soon will notice the star quarterback's presence in the cereal aisles at local grocery stores. PLB Sports Inc., a food-marketing company based in Pittsburgh, is trying to persuade several St. Louis area grocers to carry...

Name an overachiever under 40.
November 29, 1999... The St. Louis Business Journal is seeking nominations for its sixth annual 40 under 40 special section. The section, which will run in the Jan. 10, 2000, issue, will recognize 40 outstanding business and professional leaders under age 40,...

CBC wants to expand new Town & Country campus.(Christian Brothers College High School)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Christian Brothers College High School wants to expand the 20-acre site in Town Country where it plans to build a new campus in time for the 2004-2005 school year. Alumnus Tony Novelly donated 20 acres near U.S. 40 and Interstate 270 to...

Belleville city entrance to get $350,000 facelift.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Belleville businesses, city officials and residents are pulling together to spruce up the city's entrance at Highway 159. North Illinois Street, also Highway 159, will be widened, and a park and fountain will be added. The project will...

Web survey.
November 29, 1999... Response times presented in a Web survey story in the Nov. 22 issue were based on the time it took a business or organization to initially respond to a St. Louis Business Journal, e-mail address. Enterprise Rent-A-Car generated an automated...

Partners aim to tune in online radio advertisers.(GlobalStreams.com)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Can three guys from print media make it in the lightning-paced world of Internet startups? Michael Rechan, Jason Loyet and Bill Davis are betting on it. The trio, with help from friends and family, have put up $500,000 to form...

Contico Corp. sells warehouses for $49 million.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Contico Corp. owner Lester Miller has sold 1.4 million square feet of warehouse space in Bridgeton and Earth City for about $49 million to TA Associates Realty. An industry source called the Nov. 23 sale the largest single industrial...

Salomon to be lead underwriter on convention hotel.(Salomon Smith Barney; hotel in St. Louis, MO)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Salomon Smith Barney has replaced Firstar as lead underwriter on $77 million in construction bonds for a new St. Louis convention hotel. The addition of the New York-based investment firm should make the bonds easier to sell, said Tom...

Buske Logistics to build warehouse at Gateway Center.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Distributor Buske Logistics purchased 22 acres in the Gateway Commerce Center at Interstate 270 and Highway 111 in Illinois, where it plans to build a warehouse. President and chief operating officer Tom Buske said the privately held...

If probe damages boxing, A-B could drop sponsorship.(Anheuser-Busch Cos.)
November 29, 1999... Anheuser-Busch Cos. would consider withdrawing its support from the sport of boxing if a federal investigation finds widespread corruption that hurts the sponsor's image, says Tony Ponturo, the beer giant's vice president for corporate media...

United Way surpasses goal, raises more than $61 million.
November 29, 1999... The United Way of Greater St. Louis raised $61,334,914 in its 1999 fundraising campaign, surpassing its goal by over $1 million. The campaign total is the most money the United Way has raised in its 77-year-old history. Last year, the...

Many small firms to fix Y2K bugs after they bite.
November 29, 1999... Up to 500,000 small businesses have decided to wait until Jan. 1 to see if they have any Year 2000 computer problems, figuring they can address glitches after they occur, according to the White House's Y2K czar. This "fixing on failure"...

Many lack Y2K staff.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... The Society for Human Resource Management finds it alarming that 44 percent of the businesses it surveyed have no contingency plans for Y2K problems around the New Year's holiday. Only 39 percent of the human resource professionals...

Franchises back on agenda.(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Legislation aimed at protecting franchise owners from being abused was reintroduced by Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C. The Small Business Franchise Act, which failed to pass Congress last year, would establish standards of conduct for franchise...

Injury prevention programs.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Employers with ergonomics programs are less likely to have high rates of repetitive motion injuries, according to a survey of large companies in the manufacturing, transportation/communication, health and business services, and...

SBA expands online site.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... The Small Business Administration hooked up with Network Solutions Inc. and inc.com to beef up its Online Small Business Classroom. Network Solutions, a Herndon, Va.-based registrar of Web addresses, and inc.com, the Web site for Inc....

Supply chain issues.
November 29, 1999... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce formed a new Logistics Council to deal with supply chain issues affecting businesses. Third-party logistics providers have experienced explosive growth in recent years, because of advances in information...

General American Life Insurance Co.
November 29, 1999... General American Life Insurance Co. has agreed to sell its Group Health division to Denver-based Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. General American said the Group Health business will operate under its own identity as GenAm Benefits and...

Sigma-Aldrich Corp.
November 29, 1999... Sigma-Aldrich Corp. hired Goldman Sachs to help it find a buyer for its Highland, Ill.-based B-Line Systems metals business, which employs 1,500 people. The business is expected to generate sales of $250 million in 1999. Sigma also said it...

Mallinckrodt Inc.
November 29, 1999... Mallinckrodt Inc. and its subsidiary, Nellcor Puritan Bennett, have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Irvine, Calif.-based Masimo Corp. and one of Masimo's manufacturers, Ivy Biomedical Systems Inc. The lawsuit follows an October...

TWA.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... The TWA pilots' Master Executive Council (MEC) voted to change its leadership after union troubles at the St. Louis-based airline. The MEC is the governing body of TWA pilots. Howard Coldwell, who previously served as the MEC's vice chairman,...

Data Research Associates Inc.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... A planned deal between Data Research Associates Inc. and the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office has fallen through. St. Louis-based Data Research, which provides technology systems for libraries, confirmed that the Library Planning...

Advanced Communications Group.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Advanced Communications Group said it has cleared the last hurdle in the planned sale of its telecommunications services operation. Advanced received clearance for the sale from the last remaining state regulatory body reviewing the sale....

Charter Communications Inc.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... The chairman of Charter Communications Inc., Paul Allen, will take control of ZDTV, the cable channel devoted to computers and the Internet. Allen plans to purchase Ziff-Davis Inc.'s 64 percent stake in the venture for $204.8 million. The...

Millennium Digital Media.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... St. Louis-based Internet service provider Millennium Digital Media purchased Baltimore-based US Net and Portland, Ore.-based E-Z Net. Millennium said the purchases are part of a planned expansion in its Internet services division. The company...

Zoltek Cos. Inc.
November 29, 1999... Zoltek Cos. Inc. has acquired several businesses in an effort to boost its production of carbon fiber composites. For the largest acquisition, Structural Polymer Systems of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, Zoltek paid $30 million in cash...

LaBarge Inc.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... LaBarge Inc. was awarded a $2.7 million contract by Lockheed Martin Ocean, Radar and Sensor Systems of Syracuse, N.Y. The St. Louis-based defense contractor will supply Lockheed with 1,200 circuit board assemblies for use in the U.S. Air...

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. announced that the price of its St. Louis radio and television stations set under a contract option owned by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. is $366.5 million. Sinclair said it and...

State says Women's Hospital would duplicate services.
November 29, 1999... A proposed $33.6 million Women's Hospital Center in Chester field would duplicate services already provided by existing hospitals in the area, according to an analysis of the project by the staff of the Missouri Certificate of Need program....

Acquisitions push Young Innovations closer to $43 million.
November 29, 1999... Named one of Forbes Best 200 Small Companies in America earlier this year, Young Innovations Inc. is looking at yet another good year in 2000. At the nine-month mark, Young Innovations had revenue of more than $30 million, putting the...

Saint Louis University School of Nursing.
November 29, 1999... Norma Metheny, professor of adult nursing, Saint Louis University School of Nursing, has received a three-year, $1,040,515 grant from NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research. The study is titled "Detecting Aspiration Associated with Tube...

Saint Louis University School of Public Health.
November 29, 1999... Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Public Health received the following grants: Matthew Kreuter, associate professor of community health in behavioral science and health education, received, a supplemental grant of $527,665...

Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
November 29, 1999... Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine received the following grants: Dr. Adrian Di Bisceglie, professor of internal medicine in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology, received a four-year, $616,133 grant from...

Washington University School of Medicine.
November 29, 1999... Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis received the following grants: Eugene Johnson Jr., the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology and professor of molecular biology and pharmacology, received a five-year,...

Group builds $10 million communications powerhouse.
November 29, 1999... Business activity: The cliche, nothing is as constant as change, certainly applies in the technology and telecommunications fields today, and perhaps no more so than at St. Louis Electronics. Among the 10 largest Motorola service and...

Practical solutions.
November 29, 1999... What do you do for your employees during the holidays? We have a luncheon for the employees and a dinner for their families, but the real holiday party is after the holidays, when people can appreciate it more. We also adopt a couple of...

Williams, Pruett help small firms sell unwanted assets.
November 29, 1999... Tom Maurer knows that hiring additional staff to work on a total strategic business plan for basic customer service training can be an expensive proposition. After working in marketing and sales for nearly 20 years, Maurer has formed his...

assetseller.com.
November 29, 1999... There's a new Web site that is like big business-to-business garage sale. The assetseller.com site, established by two St. Louis men, is intended to help businesses get rid of assets. Tom Williams, 38, and Michael Pruett, 44, are...

The U.S. Small Business Administration.
November 29, 1999... The U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Missouri District Export Council will hold an International Trade Recognition Day on Nov. 30 as part of the national "Salute to Small Business Trade" week. ...

Companion Baking Co.
November 29, 1999... Companion Baking Co. has a a new line of products that the south St. Louis company actually hopes tastes like the old one. Sophie's Bagels promise to be chewy, crusty and reminiscent of old-fashioned New York bagels. They already have...

Business Response Inc.(named top small business web site)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... St. Louis-based Business Response Inc. has been named one of 20 companies nationwide with the best small-business Web sites. Inc. magazine published a special Winter 1999 issue that inc1udes "Best of the Small Business Web." Under...

McCarthy wins construction award far Solutia laboratory project.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... McCarthy's laboratory retrofit for Solutia Inc. has received the Construction Keystone Award presented by the local Associated General Contractors. The annual award recognizes construction excellence based on skill, teamwork and spirit of...

PEOPLE.
November 29, 1999... Advertising/Public Relations Laura Alferman has joined D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles as a media buyer with the agency's corporate Out-of-Home Media Group. Julie Ludlow has joined Shandwick as a senior account executive, and Jessica...

Cardinals and Bing Devine improve on America's game.
November 29, 1999... The St. Louis Cardinals have signed Bing Devine to be a member of the team's great effort to build the Cardinals in places where it is needed and to improve the team's performance. That is a very constructive personal step that will be...

Allen Blake reviews Bristol Bar & Grill.
November 29, 1999... Allen Blake, president and chief operating officer of First Banks Inc., frequently eats lunch with business associates at Bristol Bar & Grill. The restaurant, 11801 Olive St. Road, is next door to Blake's office at First Bank's Creve Coeur...

LARGEST DEDICATED INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS.
November 29, 1999... LARGEST DEDICATED INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (RANKED BY NUMBER OF DEDICATED ACCOUNTS) Company (rank last year) address phone/fax 1 SAVVIS...

LARGEST DIAL-UP INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS.(St. Louis, Missouri)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... LARGEST DIAL-UP INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (RANKED BY NUMBER OF DIAL-UP ACCOUNTS [1]) Company (rank last year) address phone/fax 1 Primary Network ...

Siboney recasts itself, fills educational software niche.(Siboney Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Of all the heads of the software companies in the city, Bodie Marx surely has the crummiest computer. Marx, chief executive of Clayton-based Siboney Corp., works on a beat-up, five-year-old Macintosh PowerPC. The antiquated hardware is...

Today and Tomorrow good for kids, area businesses.(community fund raiser for scholarships)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... St. Louis companies and business people are providing tuition assistance many area children need to attend private schools. The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation, which serves as a clearing house, has an annual fundraising goal of...

Ranken starts recruiting technical students early.
November 29, 1999... Ranken Technical College -- with enthusiastic support from area businesses -- is letting high school students know about the merits of a technical education as early as possible. Ranken has instituted Technical Career Pathways Program, a...

Vatterott provides focused training for technical jobs.
November 29, 1999... Education does not stop once you enter the work force. That's why a new program, Vatterott Professional Development, was launched this fall. "So many times, even recent college graduates do not have the skills they need to get a job in...

Mentors see rewards for students and themselves.
November 29, 1999... Each month, Beth McDonnell meets in the classroom with two Farragut Elementary students, writes notes of encouragement and calls them at home just to chat. McDonnell, a customer service representative for Express Scripts Inc., said she...

Alberici shares knowledge with start-up companies.
November 29, 1999... Tough questions face those who want to start a small business. How do you learn to select clients put together a bid, manage all aspects of project? One place to turn is "Alberici University," a series of classes offered by J.S....

Wave, Wash U. team up on technical translations.
November 29, 1999... Wave Technologies International has teamed up with Washington University to translate technical material into foreign languages using a sophisticated software program. Wave develops training and instructional products geared to...

UMSL program speeds nurses into work force.
November 29, 1999... The Barnes College of Nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis wants nurses where they're needed -- in hospitals, homes and clinics. To streamline the path to a nursing degree, UMSL has developed a new, accelerated program for...

Wash U. students act as consultants for area schools.
November 29, 1999... Students in Washington University's schools of business and social work are applying what they learn in classes, and some schools in the community are getting a pretty good deal on consulting. "I worked before I came to school, and the...

New MOST plan offers help with education savings.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Missouri designed its new education savings program by looking at other states and trying to find ways to offer more, said State Treasurer Bob Holden. The Missouri Saving for Tuition program, MOST, works with a 1996 federal law that...

Alumni set up special fund.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... The African-American Chapter of the University of Missouri-St. Louis Alumni Association wants to establish a fully endowed scholarship at UMSL. Kel K. Ward, president of the African-American Alumni Association, said the endowment will...

ALLIED HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS INC.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 29, 1999... Earl R. Refsland Chief executive officer Allied Healthcare Products Inc. is a manufacturer of medical gas equipment, respiratory care products, emergency medical equipment and home health-care products. The company reported a loss of...

St. Louis Stocks.(prices)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... St. Louis Stocks Close Close Percentage Company Symbol Exchange 11/17/99 11/23/99 change Advanced Communications ADG N...

Belden Inc.(securities forecasts)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Nov. 4, $18.19 ING Barings Strong Buy. The bottom line is, the company continues to deliver. The earnings gain in the latest quarter was one of the strongest in the wire and cable industry. Belden is not exposed to building wire,...

Agribrands International.(securities informaiton)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Nov. 2, $44.06 Prudential Securities Hold. At four times firm value to estimated 2000 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) Agribrands is cheap relative to the rest of our agriculture stocks, which...

Emerson Electric.(securities forecasts)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Nov. 5, $57.50 Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buy. We have raised our earnings per share estimate by 2 cents, due largely to an expected further 50 basis point drop in the tax rate to 34.5 percent, the third consecutive year of a...

Swarm slam dunks season ticket sales.(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... The St. Louis Swarm sold 2,850 season tickets for its inaugural year, just short of the basketball team's goal. "Originally, it was 2,500, because we had to have that to get a team here," said Russell Brightman, vice president of...

Give thanks for all our blessings.(St. Louis local business)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Why our region should give thanks this Year: * The debate now centers on how to revitalize downtown, not why. * The concept of regionalism has extended beyond discussion of a merger of St. Louis City and County. * Venture capital...

An office story.(discussion of office decoration)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... What an individual has in their office is often interesting. The range is broad. No, it's not the type of furniture, but rather what is on the walls or sitting on a table behind a lamp. An office is where one often spends hundreds of...

Banks, brokerages, insurance firms unite.(industry executives discuss the Financial Modernization Act)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... Executives weigh in on legislation changing the way financial services are regulated On November 12, President Clinton signed into law the Financial Modernization Act. The law, what some believe to be the most important banking...

A close look.(managing e-mail)(Brief Article)
November 29, 1999... THE THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO BUSINESS LEADS Are you a slave to your e-mail? Does your company promise more than it delivers on its Web site? One of the realities of our business lives is the technology tightrope. We can do more...

Lauries selling naming rights to Kiel.
November 22, 1999... What's in a name? The new owners of the St. Louis Blues and the Kiel Center hope the answer is money. Paige Sports Entertainment has hired Envision, a Los Angeles-based firm, to negotiate a deal to rename the Kiel Center in exchange...

Sachs' $54 million project.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... After withdrawing plans in September for an eight-story office building in Chesterfield, Sachs Properties now is trying to build a $54 million first-class office complex there. Sachs vice president Jerry Duepner declined comment on the...