St. Louis Business Journal articles from October 1999

St. Louis Business Journal archives from October 1999

Roberts starts $150 million venture fund.(Tim Roberts)(Broadband Investment Group LLC)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Tim Roberts, the entrepreneur who founded two St. Louis high-tech companies, is launching a third business here -- a venture capital firm known as Broadband Investment Group LLC. The new company, which Roberts dubbed "BIG," started 90...

World Trade Center delayed.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Higher interest rates have sidetracked plans for a new World Trade Center Saint Louis building in Clayton. "Technically, we're out of contract right now. However, we plan to be back where we were in the next 30 days," said Patricia...

Top doc leaves Washington U.(Dr. Jay Pepose)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Washington University's highest paid employee, ophthalmologist Dr. Jay Pepose, has left the university to start his own private practice. Pepose, a pioneer in excimer laser eye surgery, recently opened the Pepose Vision Institute in...

Horses, puppies, beer boost firms' reputations.(survey of corporate images finds Anheuser-Busch ranked top in St. Louis)
October 25, 1999... Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. has got a reputation in this town -- and it isn't just for beer. The company is as well-known and as well-regarded for its brewery tours, it's theme parks and its Clydesdales as it is for Busch, Budweiser and...

Career switch.(Ronald Buerges will help Allsup Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Former banker Ronald Buerges is helping redesign Allsup Inc. Buerges, a former top-ranking Magna Group exec before its purchase by Union Planters Corp., is executive vice president and chief operating officer at Allsup. Chief executive Jim...

Revving up.(Daniel Schmitt & Co. hires Tom Hayes)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Daniel Schmitt & Co. snagged a new sales manager: Tom Hayes, who had been general manager of Moore Jaguar for eight years. That, as the Missouri Automobile Dealers Association named Schmitt the largest pre-owned luxury dealer in the Midwest....

Help wanted.(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Joan Schmelig, executive director of the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce, projects more than 1,500 jobs at Chesterfield Commons, slated to open this fall. Tenants include Wal-Mart, Lowe's Home Improvement Center, Sam's Club, Office Max,...

Page turners.(Sports Illustrated sells well with Kurt Warner on cover)(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Local retailers report the Oct. 18 Sports Illustrated, with St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner on the cover, and the Oct. 25 Time, featuring Webster Groves High School, were "selling like hotcakes." Both magazines sold out within 24 hours...

Brew news.(Caffe Paradiso for sale)(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Harman Moseley has put Caffe Paradiso in Clayton up for sale. The coffee shop's asking price is $100,000. Moseley said he wants to focus on his Chase Park Plaza Cinema. Moseley closed Gaffe Paradiso in Ladue in May and no longer is involved...

Sweet deal.(D'Arcy Masius Benton and Bowles offers account to Katherine Lewis)(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles has turned to former employee Katherine Lewis to head media planning for its $60 million M&M/Mars Inc. account. The firm develops campaigns for Combos, Mars, Milky Way Bar, Skiffles and Twix candies and Whiskas...

In the cards.
October 25, 1999... Kurt Warner's performance on the football field has caused demand for his NFL rookie card to soar. The card, with a list price of $2, has sold for as much as $40 on ebay.com, an Internet auction site. The card's manufacturer, Pacific Trading...

Little ones.
October 25, 1999... Children's Choice Learning Centers is scouting sites near Station Casino St. Charles for its first St. Louis area facility, expected to open in the spring. Dallas-based Children's Choice claims to be the only company in the United States...

Small but powerful.
October 25, 1999... Seven St. Louis-based firms made the 1999 list of 200 Best Small Companies in the United States in the Nov. 1 Fortune. KV Pharmaceutical was No. 50; RehabCare Group, No. 76; Conning, No. 82; Advanced Communications, No. 83; Engineered Support...

Turn on.
October 25, 1999... Adeletom Aviation -- a charter helicopter service owned by Fred Weber Chairman and CEO Tom Dunne Sr. -- helped get the lights back on in North Carolina after Hurricane Floyd. Adeletom pilot Robert Boehm flew eight hours a day for a week, for...

Weldon builds Inducomp to $6 million in revenue.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... John Weldon has made his company one of the fastest-growing technology outfits n the region, doing something only a handful can boast of: he makes things. Most of the fast-growing technology companies in the area design software or...

Brown kicks old shoe image, launches e-commerce sites.
October 25, 1999... St. Louis-based Brown Shoe Co. Inc., not known for being in the avant garde, quickly is establishing an Internet foothold with the launch of three e-commerce services in six months. The company plans to spend $15 million to $20 million on...

Equity Office Properties Trust.
October 25, 1999... The name of Equity Office Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Chicago, was incorrect in the Oct. 11 issue.

Catholic Fraternal Life.
October 25, 1999... John Lengerman is president and chief executive of Catholic Fraternal Life, which has focused on an underserved niche in the insurance industry. This information was incorrect in a story about the company in the Oct. 18 issue.

Gwinn, Webb, Cofer jump from Stifel to Huntleigh.
October 25, 1999... A rift between an institutional trading group and the management at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. has become a gain for Huntleigh Securities Corp. Huntleigh formed an institutional market this month, adding seven financial industry...

Dierberg rewards Blake with title of president for First Banks Inc.
October 25, 1999... James Dierberg, the owner and top executive of First Banks Inc., is handing over the presidency of the $4.5 billion bank to his long-time right-hand man, Allen Blake. Dierberg, who will remain chairman and chief executive, said he plans...

Lenders compete for loans through MortgageBid.com.
October 25, 1999... When Beltona, Fla.,-resident Joe Arroyo decided he needed a loan to build a new house, he hit a brick wall. Arroyo was working as a network engineer in Maryland and couldn't get to Florida banks during their operating hours. He didn't have...

LaBarge proposes new stock options.
October 25, 1999... Stockholders of St. Louis-based LaBarge Inc. will be asked to approve a new stock option plan designed to "retain" and "motivate" top management of the electronics design and manufacturing services company. The non-qualified plan would...

Celia Hosler leaves Merc, named to post at COCA.
October 25, 1999... Celia Hosler, a former managing director of public finance for Mercantile Bank, is joining the nonprofit Center for Contemporary Arts (COCA) as chief operating officer. Hosler will report directly to Executive Director Stephanie Riven...

Kohner Properties moving on city apartment project.
October 25, 1999... $2.5 million project will rehab 1OO units St. Louis-based Kohner Properties Inc. has acquired the federally subsidized Murphy Blair South apartments north of downtown and is pushing forward with plans to turn the deteriorated two-story...

GLA spends $7.5 million on O'Fallon headquarters.
October 25, 1999... GLA International plans to leave its building in west St. Louis County and move to a new $7.5 million headquarters in O'Fallon. The telecommunications consulting, engineering and design service company will occupy the top two floors of a...

McDonnell Douglas indicted; Babcock leaves Charter.
October 25, 1999... The U.S. government indicted aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing Co., on charges of conspiring to conceal the use of high-tech machine tools for Chinese military purposes. Boeing denied that McDonnell Douglas had...

Telecom, airline industries behind on Y2K readiness.
October 25, 1999... Telecommunications companies like MCI WorldCom may be on the cutting edge of technology, but they're lagging behind in dealing with the Year 2000 computer glitch. That's the verdict of Weiss Ratings Inc., which bases its Y2K readiness...

Citation reverses decline with new software package.
October 25, 1999... Citation Computer is on track to reverse three years of declining sales with a new software package that is winning sales at large hospitals. The health-care software company, based in Chesterfield, peaked at $24 million in revenue three...

Medical people.
October 25, 1999... Dr. Kenneth Polansky was named the Adolphus Busch Professor and head of the Milliken Department of Internal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. He replaces Dr. Gustav Schonfeld, who will return to teaching, research and...

State approves $6.9 million St. Charles County Surgery Center.
October 25, 1999... A $6.9 million proposal to expand and relocate the St. Charles County Surgery Center has won approval from state regulators. The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee granted a Certificate of Need for the plan Oct. 18. The...

Tenet offering free mammogram screening at five hospitals.
October 25, 1999... Tenet Healthcare Saint Louis said it will offer free screening mammograms the rest of 1999 at its five area hospitals. The mammograms will be offered at no charge, regardless of the patient's insurance status, at Forest Park Hospital,...

SLU cancels contract with Small Business Center.
October 25, 1999... The staff at the Small Business Development Center is preparing to move off the Saint Louis University campus. SLU officials recently decided not to renew the center's contract, saying the university wanted to focus on student services...

Mitchell Humphrey turns over control of $5 million accounting software firm to managers.
October 25, 1999... Business activity: A 22-year-old St. Louis company that has grown steadily, but conservatively throughout its existence, has taken a big step toward growing at a pace. Mitchell Humphrey, a provider financial management software, formed...

Alberici and Sachs serve as mentors to Lockette.
October 25, 1999... While the construction industry was hit by a barrage of negative publicity earlier this year when minority contractors protested their exclusion from major projects, a mentor-protege program has been quietly linking more minority firms with...

Cooperation with media gives credibility to message.
October 25, 1999... The column Talk About Talk gives ideas on how to have your message heard when you speak, whether to someone across a desk, at a speech, or around the world in a videoconference. Yogi Berra is famous for saying, among other things, "It...

Affholder Inc. gets contract.
October 25, 1999... A joint venture team that includes Chesterfield-based Affholder Inc. has been awarded a $24.4 million contract to construct a water transmission main for the city of Grand Junction, Colo. The Ute Water Conservancy District awarded the,...

J.W. Terrill moving to Chesterfield.
October 25, 1999... J.W. Terrill, an independent insurance brokerage, has sold its office building in the West Port area for $2.4 million and is moving to Chesterfield Village. The firm, headed by J.W. "Jack" Terrill Jr., leased the top two floors, 32,000...

Rick Glassman reviews the Canyon Cafe.
October 25, 1999... Rick Glassman, the president and chief executive of Kranson Industries, a distribution business and the region's 35th largest private company, found a place to have a great meal for time-constrained workers: Canyon Cafe. The restaurant...

Problem know-it-alls.(use of language)
October 25, 1999... "I know all about that." We have heard that all too many times. We have all come across some people who know all the answers to just about everything they can think or talk about! And they are usually free with what we call "butting...

LARGEST COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES.(Missouri-Illinois area)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... LARGEST COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES (RANKED BY FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT ENROLLMENT) College or university (rank last year) address phone/fax ...

LARGEST ACCOUNTING FIRMS.(St. Louis, Missouri)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... LARGEST ACCOUNTING FIRMS Tom Anderson (RANKED BY NUMBER OF LOCAL PROFESSIONALS [1]) Company (rank last year) address ...

PEOPLE.(includes various personnel changes)
October 25, 1999... Accounting The Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA) awarded Mary Gillespie the 1999 MSCPA Public Service Award. J.T. Norville has joined Humes & Barrington P.C. as a senior auditor. Advertising Adamson...

$3.6 million upgrade will benefit student loan agency.(Scholarship Foundation purchases land for Scholarshop)
October 25, 1999... Any retailer -- much less a nonprofit agency -- would die for a high-profile location just north of the Galleria. That's why the nonprofit Scholarship Foundation decided to purchase the site at 8211 Clayton Road, just west of Brentwood...

Sanford-Brown building $5 million headquarters.
October 25, 1999... Sanford-Brown College is getting a new St. Louis headquarters and main campus. The $5 million building will give Sanford-Brown a more visible location at Highway 141 and Bowles Avenue in Fenton, said Steve Stenmark, chief executive of...

Horner & Shifrin designs improvements to old Highway.(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Horner & Shifrin Inc. has begun engineering services on Phases 2 and 3 of improvements to old Highway 100 in Franklin County. The firm had initiated design of Phase 1 improvements in July at the direction of its client, The Franklin County...

Office, industrial space move fast in North County.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... New office and industrial space in North St. Louis County is moving fast this year. "What we've seen is just continuing (industrial) growth in the area," said David Zeigler, senior associate with GB Richard Ellis. "What we suffer from is...

McCarthy working on Bonne Terre prison, largest public works project in Missouri.(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Under a lease-purchase arrangement, McCarthy recently began construction of the new $110 million prison in Bonne Terre. The Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center is the biggest public works project now under construction in...

Space at a premium in southwest St. Louis County.(Kirkwood Commons shopping center)
October 25, 1999... Southwest St. Louis County will gain another 265,000 square feet of retail space when the first phase of Kirkwood Commons shopping center opens in the spring. A Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse will anchor the $56 million shopping...

PRIDE names century's top projects.(Productivity and Responsibility Increase Development and Employment, St. Louis construction)(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... In celebration of 100 years of construction excellence, PRIDE of St. Louis Inc. has named its Top Five Construction Projects of the 20th Century. PRIDE stands for Productivity and Responsibility Increase Development and Employment. It is...

Consortium strives to keep out drugs.(St. Louis Construction Industry Substance Abuse Consortium)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Before the St. Louis Construction Industry Substance Abuse Consortium was launched four years ago, buyers of construction services had a variety of drug testing requirements for craft workers. Separate programs meant workers had to be...

Schlichter pushes historic rehabilitation tax credits.(Jerry Schlichter, St. Louis)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Projects ranging from the $198 million Westin Hotel and office complex at Cupples Station to the $l.7 million Soulard Lofts developed by the Peter & Paul Housing Corp. owe a debt to personal injury lawyer Jerry Schlichter. That's because...

Equity Fund financing live affordable housing sites.(St. Louis)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... A $1 million investment by mortgage financing giant Fannie Mae propelled the St. Louis Equity Fund to $10.5 million this year, the most money raised in one year since the fund was established a decade ago. With the money raised this year,...

Developers reap benefits of EPA incentive program.(downtown industrial properties, St. Louis)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... A stream of federal and state money has started reaching the city via a new program designed to help spruce up downtown industrial properties nationwide. St. Louis was among the earliest users of the Brownfields program, launched by the...

Firms work to increase minority construction jobs.(St. Louis)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Some local companies are attempting to boost minority participation in construction projects. "The overall market for minority construction-related companies in the St. Louis area leaves a lot to be desired," said Kaven Swan, vice...

Plant Science Center will blend function with art.(research lab to open in 2001)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... A new, $75 million research center is being billed as the start of a "Silicon Valley for life sciences" in St. Louis. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, named for the former president of Ralston Purina Co., should open in September...

Archimages Inc. establishes interior design specialty division.(Archinteriors)(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... Archimages Inc. has established an interior design division, Archinteriors, headed by Mariann Maxvill. Archinteriors will specialize in health care design, commercial space planning and retail store design. Archimages is a St....

Tarlton delivers new look for Commerce in Clayton.(Tarlton Corp. renovates Commerce Bank, Missouri)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Employees at Commerce Bank in Clayton dealt with several distractions during a recent renovation -- playing musical offices, finding out-of-service elevators and tolerating the cacophony of construction. But nothing prepared Judy Franzi...

Apartment vacancies on rise.(St. Louis area)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Rental increases slowed as vacancies rose this past summer at apartment developments in the St. Louis area, according to a recent survey conducted by Keith M. Kramer Associates Inc. Low mortgage rates, new construction and slowing...

Work begins on O'Fallon Commons.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Wolff Properties has broken ground for O'Fallon Commons, a shopping center at 2905 Highway K. The first phase will include 13,200 square feet of space and is scheduled for completion in December. The design is based on a colonial...

Continental to be rehabbed.(Continental Building)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Wall Associates has prepared the preliminary schematic plans in conjunction with Trivers & Associates and will serve as the architectural consultant to Steve Trampe and Owen Development Co. for the complete rehabilitation of the Continental...

McLeodUSA opens new facility.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... McLeodUSA Inc. recently dedicated a new facility to house operations for its rapidly-growing St. Louis area operations. The two-story Missouri Bluffs office complex is in Missouri Research Park in St. Charles. The 80,000-square-foot space...

Ellisville project features offices, on-site child care.(Clayton Road Centre)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... A new development at Clayton and Clarkson roads in Ellisville reflects concerns of working parents. Clayton Road Centre, a two-story, 50,325-square-foot office building, will be built on the same lot as a 10,000-square-foot KinderCare...

LARGEST COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FIRMS.(tabular data)(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... LARGEST COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FIRMS (RANKED BY TOTAL NUMBER OF LICENSED AGENTS) Company (ranks last year) address phone/fax ...

Triple Crown Services building facility in Edwardsville.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... $7 million intermodal center will serve A-B, auto makers Triple Crown Services Co., which currently operates out of the Luther Yard in St. Louis, is on track to open a $7 million intermodal facility on 62 acres near Edwardsville, by the...

Developments promise to rejuvenate East St. Louis.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Richard Suttle was 9 when he moved to East St. Louis in 1942. Every kind of industry imaginable was there at the time, he said. "There used to be a saying: 'If you couldn't get a job in East St. Louis, you couldn't get a job anywhere in...

Fru-Con aims at boosting its design-build business.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Fru-Con Construction Corp., with a 127-year tradition, has turned to a less traditional way of doing business. Within five years, the firm wants 25 percent of its business to come from its design-build projects, an approach that fuses...

Gorman & Gorman expands mortgage firm to Branson.
October 25, 1999... Despite rising home loan rates in recent months, Gorman & Gorman Residential Mortgage Services Inc. sees the current market as a good time to expand. The Olivette-based company, founded just five years ago, now totals 30 employees. It...

Gateway Chapter of Society of Logistics Engineers names award recipients.(Brief Article)
October 25, 1999... The Gateway Chapter of the Society of Logistics Engineers held their annual awards banquet in September and announced the following awards: Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Ellen Amos, George Rees, Wayne Jacobsen, Bob...

HBE's seismic upgrades ward off tremor damage.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... A firm foundation is not necessarily enough for a building to withstand extreme pressure, particularly tremors from deep within the Earth's surface. That's why some business owners are turning to engineering firms for seismic upgrades,...

REAL ESTATE BUSINESS LEADS.
October 25, 1999... Southwest Bank is planning a renovation of its Kingshighway and Chippewa location. Doug Kassabaum of Sutton Studio Inc. is the architect for the renovation as well as the landscaped plaza. The expansion is expected to be completed next...

Big new projects redefine Clayton landscape, skyline.
October 25, 1999... With several large-scale office projects in progress or planned for Clayton, and a number of the city's better-known large office buildings changing ownership, real estate executives contend that there has never been a better time to lease...

Real estate databases offer clients range of services.
October 25, 1999... With the spread of new technology, the commercial real estate industry's databases are rapidly growing and changing. The St. Louis Association of Realtors sponsored the Commercial Information Exchange, known as CIE, just a year ago. It...

East St. Louis' new library better suits patrons' needs.
October 25, 1999... Tax increment financing along with federal and state grants provided the financial muscle behind the new $4.6 million East St. Louis Public Library, scheduled to open next spring. Kennedy Associates Inc. designed the library, which will...

Greenville industrial park makes most of road, rail.
October 25, 1999... A new industrial park with rail and highway access could allow Greenville, Ill., to make the most of its proximity to the St. Louis area. Now in the planning stages, the 1,000-acre industrial park is near Illinois 40 and Interstate 70,...

REAL ESTATE PEOPLE.
October 25, 1999... Architecture/Engineering Robert Galbierz has joined City Design Group as director of-environmental services. Janet Dillon has been promoted to vice president of administration by Yarger Associates Inc. Omar Norman has joined...

Offices follow houses as St. Charles County matures.
October 25, 1999... The ripple effect of St. Charles County's home building boom in recent years has spawned construction of office buildings. "We're seeing the arrival of St. Charles County as an employment hub in its own right," said Greg Prestemon,...

Wilson fills niche with education construction.
October 25, 1999... Timing, experience, legwork, and the advantages of construction management have carved a niche in educational projects for S.M. Wilson & Co. It is involved in more than $49 million in educational projects in Missouri and Illinois in...

Stock Transactions.
October 25, 1999... 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.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... How Missouri measures up against other states Tom Schlafly President Saint Louis Brewery Inc. Per capita consumption of beer nationwide has been declining for over a decade. At the same time, per capita consumption of craft...

A close look: THE THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO BUSINESS LEADS.
October 25, 1999... The concept of negative space is critical to art appreciation. In layman's term's, negative space is the empty part of the picture. Yet the emptiness is part of the whole. For example, when a dancer places her hand on her hip, the...

For what it's worth.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Highlighting some of the most recent commercial real estate transactions in the St. Louis area. LOCATION: 9723 Olive Blvd. DATE SOLD: July 8 NEW OWNER: Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church AGENT: Not available FORMER...

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Lawrence Biondi, S.J. President Saint Louis University is a Jesuit institution dedicated to providing excellence in education and health care. Established in 1818, the university was the first institution of higher education founded...

Proxy corner.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... Money and management at companies with publicly traded stock LABARGE INC. Craig LaBarge Chief executive officer and president LaBarge Inc. provides customers in industrial markets with electronic products and services...

St. Louis Stocks.(Statistical Data Included)
October 25, 1999... St. Louis Stocks Close Close Percentage Company Symbol Exchange 10/13/99 10/20/99 change Advanced Communications ADG N...