St. Louis Business Journal articles from September 1996

St. Louis Business Journal archives from September 1996

$40 million in retirement housing proposed.
September 2, 1996... Lutheran Senior Services plans to spend $10 million to expand its Gables at Breeze Park retirement community in St. Charles County. High demand for assisted and independent living facilities for the elderly prompted the launch of Phase II of...

Is Charter close to deal to buy KSD-AM? (Charter Communications)
September 2, 1996... Despite denials from WIBV-AM General Manager Tim Dorsey, executives close to the radio station say its parent company has signed a letter of intent to buy KSD-AM, a station owned by EZ Communications Inc. of Fairfax, Va. The broadcast sources...

Gateway Raceway on track to draw $27 million to area. (Gateway International Motorsports Corp.)
September 2, 1996... Gateway International Raceway is gearing up for its first-ever National Hot Rod Association drag-racing series. Gateway International Motorsports Corp. has a commitment from the NHRA for a four-day series of races next year, said Jim...

$2 million from CID helps Megan Health fund research. (CID Equity Partners)
September 2, 1996... Megan Health, a local biotechnology firm, received a commitment for $2 million last week from CID Equity Partners, an Indianapolis venture capital firm. The investment is part of $5.3 million Megan Health has raised since April to fund...

Toyota helps drive Rams' sponsorships to $2.5 million. (Toyota Motor Corp.; St. Louis Rams)
September 2, 1996... The St. Louis Rams now have an official car dealership, an official hot dog and an official brick. The team's off-season marketing blitz will push its promotional revenue to $2.5 million this year. The new promotional revenue is in addition...

Lack of blockbusters leads to a blah concert season.
September 2, 1996... Local promoters are putting a good race on what is widely regarded as a bad year and lackluster summer for the concert industry. While acknowledging that revenues are down nationwide from 1995, officials at Riverport and Six Flags said they...

How the deal was done: Goldman, Sachs played major role. (Goldman, Sachs and Co. aids in sale of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. to NationsBank Corp.)
September 9, 1996... The New York investment firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co. played a key role in the $8.7 billion sale of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. to NationsBank Corp. The question is - how key? Andrew Craig III, chairman and chief executive officer of...

State probes heavy trading before deal. (Missouri Division of Securities looks into increased trading of Boatmen's Bancshares stock prior to its acquisition by NationsBank Corp.)
September 9, 1996... Craig: Maritz, Stiritz buys above board The Missouri Division of Securities is looking into increased trading of Boatmen's Bancshares stock prior to the announcement that the bank would be acquired by NationsBank of Charlotte, N.C. "We have...

Not-for-profits: there is life after Boatmen's buyout. (NationsBank Corp. to continue philanthropic programs of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc.)
September 9, 1996... Boatmen's has long been recognized in the St. Louis community as a generous corporate citizen. The bank sets aside between 1 percent and 1.5 percent of its pretax earnings each year for donations. Last year that came out to $9.9 million in...

Craig could get $3 million in severance pay. (Andrew Craig, chairman and CEO of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc.)
September 9, 1996... Andrew Craig, chairman and chief executive of Boatmen's Bancshares, has a $3 million parachute to cushion his fall if he decides to bail out of NationsBank after a year. Craig, 65, and four other top Boatmen's executives have employment...

St. Louis 2004 aims to raise city's profile for centennial. (St. Louis 2004 Inc.)
September 9, 1996... $1 million already pledged to campaign For a select group of St. Louisans, the future is now. St. Louis 2004 Inc., an organization formed quietly last spring to plan an anniversary celebration of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and Olympics,...

Soule says oil crisis just another log on TWA fire. (Trans World Airlines Inc. CFO Ed Soule)
September 9, 1996... Even though fuel accounts for about a third of an airline's operating cost, Ed Soule isn't fretting over increasing oil prices spurred by Middle East tension. Soule, Trans World Airline's new chief financial officer, says he has more to worry...

3 Roosevelt insiders acquire 86,000 shares of bank's stock. (Roosevelt Financial Group Inc.)
September 9, 1996... Roosevelt Financial Group has peaked the interest of those watching insider stock trades. From July 9-30, three Roosevelt executives also exhibited their confidence in the bank, purchasing 86,000 shares at $16-16.50 each, according to data...

OSHA to remove some firms from targeted list. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Missouri 500 work-safety program)
September 9, 1996... The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration changed slightly its new work-safety program called Missouri 500 in answer to concerns from Missouri companies. Some of the original companies targeted by OSHA will not be part of the...

St. Louis' per capita income $23,685, 20th highest in U.S.
September 9, 1996... St. Louis ranked in the top 25 percent of big cities in per capita income in a recent St. Louis Business Journal study. Every man, woman and child in St. Louis earned an average of $23,685 in 1994, the latest year for which statistics are...

Bank merger could cost Ernst, Lewis Rice work. (merger between Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. and NationsBank Corp.; Ernst and Young L.L.P.; Lewis, Rice and Fingersh)
September 9, 1996... TWBA a likely loser Lewis, Rice & Fingersh could retain a smaller share of its Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. legal work. But Boatmen's Bancshares' auditing firm, Ernst & Young, almost certainly will lose its Boatmen's audit. And TBWA...

Private investor group buys Midwest Medical Supply. (Midwest Medical Supply Company Inc.)
September 9, 1996... Company has sales of $50 million a year Family-owned Midwest Medical Supply Co., a regional distributor of medical equipment with annual sales of $50 million, has sold out to a group of private investors. Midwest Medical Supply was founded...

First Physician Care buys Alton doctors group. (Riverbend Physicians and Surgeons)
September 9, 1996... First Physician Care Inc., one of the nation's largest physician practice management companies, has expanded into the Midwest by purchasing Riverbend Physicians and Surgeons in Alton. Riverbend Physicians and Surgeons has 17 physicians and...

Consolidated Construction goes through the roof: Kuhn 'pops tops,' remodels his way to $2 million in sales. (Consolidated Construction Group CEO Jim Kuhn)(Small Business)(Company Profile)
September 9, 1996... Business Activity: Many residents in the St. Louis County suburbs of Kirkwood, Webster Groves and Glendale want to stay in homes they are outgrowing. Rather than move to larger, usually more expensive houses fartherwest, they are turning to...

Center asks manufacturers what keeps them up at night. (Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center)(Small Business)
September 9, 1996... A not-for-profit organization in St. Louis is working to stem the tide of companies leaving the manufacturing industry. The Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center works with small to mid-sized companies in the city of St. Louis and six...

Broadcast service can get your faxes sent in a hurry. (fax broadcasting services)(Small Business)
September 9, 1996... Wednesday, 4 p.m. You need to fax the new pricing catalog to every branch office and finish a memo to your superiors, immediately. The only problem is there are 25 branch offices, several crotchety bosses, and only one of you. You check the...

DOE to eliminate minority contracting program. (Department of Energy's small disadvantaged business program)(Small Business)
September 9, 1996... WASHINGTON - The Department of Energy plans to drop the contracting programs it sets aside for small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned businesses. In revising the acquisition policies it uses to administer its $16 billion worth of...

Conventions deliver big boost for St. Louis economy.(St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission)
September 9, 1996... When the Primerica Financial Services convention begins this December at America's Center, St. Louis will feel the positive economic impact of an estimated $29 million which will be spent by the group's 35,000 attendees. What St. Louisans may...

Jack Buck. (sportscaster)
September 9, 1996... The name Jack Buck is as familiar a name in St. Louis as any other person, event or thing. Maybe that sounds peculiar, comparing him in that way; but there are many people in St. Louis who know his name better than any other "person, event or...

Boatmen's location should keep firings at low level. (NationsBank Corp.'s purchase of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. unlikely to result in massive layoffs)
September 9, 1996... NationsBank Corp., which has a reputation for booting local managers and firing workers when it buys new banks, is not likely to make the same sort of wholesale changes in the Midwest with the acquisition of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. Analysts...

Clark hopes third time a charm for stock offering. (Clark USA)
September 16, 1996... Clark USA is nearing another stock offering - its third trip to the public market since 1992. The Clayton gasoline marketing and refining firm is hoping a new offering will have more luck than the last two, both of which the company scrapped....

Cards owners unloading 2 garages. (St. Louis Cardinals; Civic Parking L.L.C.)
September 16, 1996... Facing a heavy debt load, the owners of the St. Louis Cardinals are putting up for sale two downtown parking garages they acquired from Anheuser-Busch earlier this year. The asking price for the garages, Kiener Plaza East and Kiener Plaza...

Monsanto dumps Apples. (Apple Macintosh computers replaced with IBM PCs)
September 16, 1996... Monsanto Co., McDonnell Douglas Corp. and the St. Louis office of Ernst & Young are among the dozens of businesses nationwide that are on a big Mac attack. The companies are dumping thousands of Apple Macintosh computers and replacing them...

Orthwein, O'Hallaron sell Huntleigh to Longrow. (James Orthwein; Michael O'Hallaron; Huntleigh Securities Corp.; Longrow Securities Inc.)
September 16, 1996... James Orthwein, Michael O'Hallaron and other members of Huntleigh Asset Partners are selling their 90 percent stake in Huntleigh Securities Corp. to Longrow Securities Inc. Huntleigh Asset Partners has agreed to a cash and stock sale with an...

United HealthCare to anchor Sverdrup's Timberlake project. (Sverdrup Investment Inc.'s Timberlake Crossings office building)
September 16, 1996... Two Minnesota giants - United HealthCare Corp. and Opus Corp. - are teaming up on the development of a 200,000-square-foot office building in Chesterfield. The five-story building, estimated to cost between $19 million and $24 million, will be...

Insuring vineyards bears fruit twice over for Johnson. (A. Henry Johnson, vice president of Daniel and Henry Co.)(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... Insuring Missouri grapes and wine is a subtle business, according to A. Henry Johnson, a vice president with the Daniel & Henry Co. Time is of the essence. The value of grapes at harvest is different from their value when crushed into grape...

Slide in workers' comp rates lowers property/casualty rates.(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... At least 25 new underwriters have entered the Missouri workers' compensation field since January 1995. In addition, since Missouri quit regulating the workers' compensation line in 1994, both premium rates and claims have been falling,...

Independent agents see mergers push up business 40%.(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... The days of the one- or two-person agency may be coming to an end, but after years of consolidation among independent insurance agencies, the number of independent agents has leveled off. The widespread perception is that the independent...

Express Scripts, others benefit as insurers carve out services.(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... The push to lower-health-care costs while boosting quality has led more and more health insurance plans to look for new ways to deliver their services. For many insurance companies, the key is "carving out" services such as pharmaceutical or...

Syndicate Trust's owners sue city for $14 million. (Conlon Group Inc.)
September 16, 1996... The owner of one of downtown's largest structures is suing the city of St. Louis for $14 million over the denial of a permit to demolish the turn-of-the-century property. The Conlon Group Inc., owner of the dilapidated and nearly vacant...

Workers' compensation losses, rates at all-time lows.(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... Competition, self-insurance and more diligent management of risks are expected to keep workers' compensation rates at an all-time low. Competition is the most significant contributor to lower workers' compensation rates, according to insurance...

Sansone Group grows 50% by stretching portfolio.
September 16, 1996... There's no doubt Anthony Sansone Sr. has a developer's heart. But the 70-year-old chairman and elder statesman of The Sansone Group has directed his sons to look for other sources of revenue from the commercial real estate industry. And during...

More employees suing for harassment, wrongful firing. (employment practices liability claims)(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... The rising number of claims based on sexual harassment, wrongful discharge and discrimination is causing many companies to review their insurance coverage. Employment practices liability claims have risen over the past few years. That's due to...

Market for long-term care insurance expected to grow.(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... Nursing home care can be the most expensive cost a family will ever bear, say people involved with the industry. Catastrophic, some call it. So to help offset the cost, some people are buying long-term care insurance. It's still a relatively...

Larimore gets police signed on to high technology. (software developer Larimore Associates Inc.)(Company Profile)
September 16, 1996... Richmond Heights its latest local client Business Activity: Larimore Associates is a family-owned, Chesterfield-based company that creates software for the public safety community, including several police and fire departments stretching from...

Airline insurance premiums total $1.3 billion yearly.(Insurance: What's Ahead?)
September 16, 1996... Aviation insurance premiums could increase worldwide if Trans World Airlines is found to be at fault in the crash of Flight 800. If TWA's insurers have to pay, the cost could be passed on to other airlines and the owners of private planes in...

SBA reaches out to women; loans up 300% since 1992. (Small Business Administration)
September 16, 1996... With an estimated 1,000 new women-owned businesses springing up across the United States each day, Ginger Ehn Lew, the deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, has her work cut out for her. Lew, who serves as the chief...

'Family-friendly' to be NationsBank buzzword.
September 23, 1996... Shortly after NationsBank announced its $8.7 billion purchase of Boatmen's Bancshares Inc., Hugh McColl, the chairman and chief executive officer of NationsBank, got a phone call that would have made some men quake in their shoes. The phone...

Brown Shoe steps up profits.
September 23, 1996... Upgraded brands, offshore production aid turnaround One year after Brown Shoe Co. closed down the last of its U.S. factories and laid off thousands of workers, the company is aggressively repositioning itself in the $32.5 billion footwear...

Prudential selling five buildings. (Prudential Insurance Company of America)
September 23, 1996... Liquidating real estate holdings Prudential Insurance Co. of America is selling an estimated $48 million worth of office real estate located in the St. Louis area. As part of an effort to substantially reduce its $5.6 billion real estate...

Citation Computer seeks $30 million in stock offer. (CITATION Computer Systems Inc.)
September 23, 1996... Citation Computer is gearing up for a stock offering that would raise $30 million for acquisitions and allow two of the company's largest stockholders to sell the majority of their holdings. In addition to the 2 million shares being sold by the...

Time - but not money - saved by electronic printing.(Printing & Direct Mail)
September 23, 1996... The printing industry is going high-tech, but customers have yet to see much cost savings. And chances are, they won't. As more print jobs are delivered on disks or by modem (75 percent or more, according to local people involved in the...

Laclede Steel using private placement for cash infusion.
September 23, 1996... Laclede Steel Co. raised $6.25 million from its officers and largest shareholder in a private placement of its stock last month. The private placement is part of a larger attempt to recapitalize the ailing steel maker, which is trying to raise...

Cencom investors stand to lose in buyout offers. (Cencom Cable Television Inc.)
September 23, 1996... Two investment groups - one from Colorado, the other from New York - are bottom fishing for profits in a locally managed cable television partnership. The groups are hoping to lure investors in a Cencom Cable limited partnership to sell their...

JS, National Express take bike couriers off streets.
September 23, 1996... Technology and higher insurance costs have forced two courier companies to cut cyclists out of their delivery businesses. When JS Express Inc. and National Express Co. Inc. put the brakes on bike deliveries, the number of cycling couriers...

Managed care for social services on the horizon. (family maintenance organizations)
September 23, 1996... Just as health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, have revolutionized health care in the past decade, look for Family Maintenance Organizations, or FMOs, to create major waves in the provision of child welfare and other social services in the...

Direct mail firms targeting international markets.(Printing & Direct Mail)
September 23, 1996... Foreign countries are a wide-open market for direct marketing, but there are a few obstacles, say local people involved in the industry. Most notable is that postal systems in most other countries are much less sophisticated than the U.S....

Paradowski defies trend in designing downtown niche. (Alex Paradowski Graphic Design)(Company Profile)
September 23, 1996... Business Activity: Alex Paradowski took a bold step in 1995 that defies the trend today - he moved his business from the suburbs to downtown St. Louis. Now in a completely rehabbed, three-story building on Broadway, Alex Paradowski Graphic Design...

Myths surrounding flexibility in workplace bill dispelled. (Working Family Flexibility Act)(Small Business Briefing)(Column)
September 23, 1996... WASHINGTON - The demands for flexibility in the workplace continue to mount as employees juggle the demands of work, home and other personal needs. Caring for an aging parent also has added new time pressures to those already stretched too thin....