St. Louis Business Journal articles from September 1997

St. Louis Business Journal archives from September 1997

D'Arcy's SBC work up for bid: company says local firm's load will increase. (D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles; SBC Communications)
September 8, 1997... SBC Communications has launched a review of $165 million worth of media buying - work that is now primarily handled by St. Louis' largest advertising agency, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. Media executives estimated D'Arcy holds two-thirds of...

United, GHP back in the black: HMOs bouncing back after price war. (United HealthCare of the Midwest Inc; Group Health Plan Inc; health maintenance organizations)
September 8, 1997... The managed care price war appears to be over, judging by profits at the state's health maintenance organizations. Three of the area's 10 HMOs turned a profit in the first half of 1997, according to fillings with the Missouri Department of...

First Union courts Mercantile. (First Union Corp; Mercantile Bancorporation Inc)
September 8, 1997... First Union Corp. has joined the growing list of banks believed to be talking to Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. about a merger. First Union, the sixth-largest bank in the United States, did not aggressively pursue a deal with Barnett Banks Inc....

Dining in but still dining out: Provisions latest to offer home meal replacement. (Provisions gourmet store)
September 8, 1997... Elaine Morros, a University City resident who had popped into the newly opened Provisions store while running Saturday errands, was clearly delighted. "This is so not-St. Louis. It's so Boston, so. Chicago, so wonderful." That kind of...

Workers' comp insurers reduce rates 12.5 percent.(Insurance/Workers' Compensation)
September 8, 1997... Workers' compensation insurers are on track to set a new record in rate reductions for 1997. So far this year, the Missouri Department of Insurance has received filings for rate reductions that average 12.5 percent from 218 of the 293...

Toronto company purchases Met Square for $140 million. (TrizecHahn Corp)
September 8, 1997... Toronto-based TrizecHahn Corp. is paying $140 million for downtown St. Louis' most prestigious corporate office property - Metropolitan Square. The Canadian company, formed in November 1996 from the merger of Trizec Corp. and Horsham Corp.,...

State estimates 32% of city drivers don't have insurance. (Missouri)(Insurance/Workers' Compensation)
September 8, 1997... A new state law should keep more uninsured drivers off the road. The state legislation, effective Jan. 1, requires motorists to show proof of liability protection when they register a vehicle in Missouri. In addition to showing proof of...

Duke pays $100 million for Baur, Maryville Centre. (Duke Realty Investments Inc; Baur Properties)
September 8, 1997... After 43 years in business, Baur Properties is being bought by Duke Realty Investments Inc. for more than $100 million. Last month, Duke signed a letter of intent to acquire Baur, known for its Maryville Centre office park. The deal includes...

Merenda: steps can lower workers' comp rates 30%. (Aon Risk Services of Missouri Vice Pres Gina Merenda; workers' compensation)(Insurance/Workers' Compensation)
September 8, 1997... Workers' compensation costs companies millions of unnecessary dollars every year. However, there are steps an employer can take to proactively reduce their workers' comp insurance rates. According to Ed Wilson, general manager of RTW, there are...

You don't have to work for a company to be an insider; court rules anyone using insider tips can be prosecuted.
September 8, 1997... For nearly 20 years, the term "insider trading" was reserved for corporate executives and directors. But a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has created a whole new breed of insiders. With its decision in United States vs. O'Hagan, the court...

State cracks down on workers' comp rate discounting. (Missouri; workers' compensation)(Insurance/Workers' Compensation)
September 8, 1997... Worried about ill-considered discounting, Missouri is shortening its leash on underwriters of workers' compensation insurance. Brokers of workers' comp insurance say the new restrictions will be good for the stability of the industry but think...

Rams legal counsel takes extra position at Armstrong. (St. Louis Rams legal counsel Kevin Warren; Armstrong, Teasdale, Schlafly & Davis)
September 8, 1997... Kevin Warren, who came to the St. Louis Rams in June as vice president of player programs and development and legal counsel, has added a part-time job with Armstrong, Teasdale, Schlafly & Davis. "I had interviewed with a couple of other firms,"...

Homestead Village enters market for extended stay.
September 8, 1997... Building $9 million hotel in Bridgeton Homestead Village is building a $9 million, 136-unit extended stay hotel on Lone Eagle Drive in Bridgeton. Dallas-based Homestead Village caters to business travelers and those relocating to a new city....

Unity key to attracting jobs, expert tells area task force.
September 8, 1997... A task force of St. Louis business groups committed to attracting 100,000 new jobs to the area by the year 2000 were told that the key to their efforts is unity. "Unity is key. If you're fighting with yourself, it's awfully hard to convince...

Stutz: fundamental changes will keep health costs lower. (St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition executive director James Stutz)(Insurance/Workers' Compensation)
September 8, 1997... Employees and retirees of large corporations will not see huge increases in their costs for health insurance in the near future, recent data suggests. According to a survey by Towers Perrin in February, the cost of health care is increasing...

Price wars spawn suits by Blue Cross, Consolidated. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri; Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan)
September 8, 1997... The HMO price-cutting binge may be over, but the hangovers linger Consider the dueling lawsuits filed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri and the Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan, the organization that buys health insurance for...

LaserSight sells stock to cover purchase of IBM patents. (LaserSight Inc)
September 8, 1997... Patents for excimer lasers cost $1 4.9 million LaserSight Inc. sold $16 million in preferred stock, to finance its purchase of the IBM patents for the technology used in vision-correcting excimer lasers. Michael Farris, president and chief...

Forging $1.5 million metal business: Bossomo planning expansion for north side company. (Boss Metal Fabricators founder Bob Bossomo)(Small Business)
September 8, 1997... Business activity: During the 27 years he worked for another company, Bob Bossomo dreamed of owning his own business. That dream came true in 1988, when Bossomo established Boss Metal Fabricators Inc. in a mainly residential neighborhood of north...

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)
September 8, 1997... August A. Busch III Chairman and President Anheuser-Busch Cos. is the world's largest brewer and one of the largest theme park operators in the United States. The company is also the second-largest U.S. manufacturer of aluminum beverage...

Sly Fox snares $190 million. (Harbour Group Ltd. Chmn. and CEO Sam Fox)
September 22, 1997... Ranks 7th on Wall Street list On any list of Wall Street movers and shakers, the names most often at the top are Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts. Now you can add St. Louisan Sam Fox. Fox, 68, chairman and chief executive of...

When Merc sells, Siteman will reap $166 million. (Mercantile Bank of St. Louis Chmn. Alvin Siteman)
September 22, 1997... Oil and real estate mogul Alvin Siteman made a splash in the banking world in 1986, when he purchased most of the Mark Twain Bancshares stock held by Mark Twain founder Adam Aronson for $11.1 million. Now, Siteman, the chairman of Mercantile...

SSM DePaul posts $6.7 million loss. (SSM DePaul Health Center)
September 22, 1997... One of 3 hospitals in the red Managed health care was a major headache for SSM DePaul Health Center in 1996. Low reimbursements from managed care plans, along with costs associated with becoming part of the SSM Health Care System, were...

Kohler grandsons press on. (Kohler and Sons Inc.; Kevin and Kent Kohler)
September 22, 1997... Take over 75-year-old printing company Kevin and Kent Kohler have defied the family business odds. They bought out their uncles to take control of Kohler and Sons Inc., a nearly 75-year-old business founded by their grandfather. During...

Color.Art scores points printing Rams programs. (Color-Art Inc.; St. Louis Rams)(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... It gets pretty crazy around Color*Art Inc.'s Sunset Hills printing operations on the days before the St. Louis Rams play at the Trans World Dome. That's because the Thursdays before the home games are deadline days for printing the Rams' "Game...

Copyright laws are Greek to ad agencies, their clients.(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... S.R. Hoeft Direct unveiled a direct mail campaign for its big financial client, Bank One, earlier this year, carrying the quote "Only the educated are free." The words came from the Greek philosopher Epictetus. He died 1,950 years ago, but the...

Security Capital pays MGI $15 million for 5 properties. (Security Capital Industrial Trust; MGI Properties)
September 22, 1997... Security Capital Industrial Trust paid MGI Properties $15 million for its St. Louis real estate portfolio, which includes 459,643 square feet in five buildings in Earth City, Hazelwood and West Port. It's the second deal the Denver-based real...

Output Technology mails 100 million pages locally. (Output Technologies Inc.; Missouri)(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... Imagine: 1.3 billion pages worth of documents sent out in 900 million letters - enough mali laid end to end to go around the equator five times - and every piece addressed to an individual by name. Output Technologies Inc. does that every year...

Postal Service rules force mailers to verify addresses.(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... A new regulation implemented on July 1 by the U.S. Postal Service is forcing bulk mailers to clean up their first-class mailing lists or face higher postage rates. While it is too soon to measure the financial impact on the bulk mailing...

Haffner, Lander finish off the job with final stitches. (The Bindery Inc. Pres. and owner David Haffner; Lander Binding and Finishing Corp. VP Steve Lander)(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... If printing was like baseball, then binderies would be relief pitchers. In printing, as in baseball and most other pursuits, the finish is key to creating a winner. Bill Fechner, chief executive officer of Advertisers Printing Co. Inc.,...

Pakmark sees new orders pour after flood of '93. (Pakmark Corp.)(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... Keith Kovacik learned lessons in business and in life when the Missouri River flooded the Chesterfield Valley in 1993, all of which are embodied in the products his company manufactures: Stick to it. Kovacik's company, Pakmark Corp., makes...

Chronic starts pilot union tenure by blasting TWA. (Air Line Pilots Assn. Chmn Joe Chronic; Trans World Airlines Inc.)
September 22, 1997... Joe Chronic, the new head of Trans World Airlines' pilots union, appears to have already hit a pocket of turbulence. Chronic took office as master chairman of the TWA branch of the Airline Pilots Association Sept. 12, and kicked off his tenure...

Guerra, Stallings pump $500,000 into Color Process. (Color Process Co. owners Joe Guerra and Gary Stallings)(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... When Joe Guerra and Gary Stallings bought Color Process Co., there was some work to be done. The 51-year-old company didn't have any computers, its Bridgeton headquarters looked like it hadn't been painted in a dozen years and the furniture...

Fox divests holdings in Allied Healthcare Products. (Harbour Group Investments III L.P. owner Sam Fox)
September 22, 1997... An investment fund controlled by financier Sam Fox has severed its ties with Allied Healthcare Products Inc. Although Fox and his family retain about 4 percent of the company's stock, they have dropped off the list of Allied's largest...

Pioneer's Thompson bets the farm on $500,000 press. (Pioneer Printing Pres. Dennis Thompson)(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... Dennis Thompson said he was enamored by it when he first saw it and for three years he couldn't stop thinking about it. "I had to have one," he said. And he finally did on June 30, almost two years after he ordered it. He even had an open...

Selecting printer depends upon requirements of job.(Printing and Direct Mail)
September 22, 1997... The information age, it seems, has given anybody with a computer and a decent printer the ability to chum out high-quality color documents at minor expense. But for that slick marketing packet or annual report, businesses still need to find a...

Opera Theatre to launch $8 million-$10 million drive. (Opera Theatre of St. Louis)
September 22, 1997... Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, having recently completed its 1997 season, is already setting the stage for the next century. The company is expected to announce in early October an $8 million to $10 million endowment campaign designed to offset...

HMOs dispute state's complaint index. (Missouri; consumer complaints)
September 22, 1997... BlueChoice, CIGNA call measure misleading Of the area's health maintenance organizations, consumers complain about BlueChoice and CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis the most, according to the Missouri Department of Insurance, but both companies...

Mental health professionals seek 'parity.' (Missouri)
September 22, 1997... Missouri may soon join the handful of states that make insurers and health maintenance organizations cover mental illnesses the same as any other, but the state faces some resistance from managed care companies and employers. A bill that...

St. Mary's Medicaid plan can save Illinois $1 million. (St. Mary Hospital)
September 22, 1997... The Illinois Department of Public Aid could save more than $1 million annually on Medicaid in St. Clair County, under a managed care program sponsored by St. Mary's Hospital of East St. Louis. It's the first managed care program for Medicaid...

Making a splash. (Waterway Gas & Wash)(Company Profile)
September 22, 1997... Waterway Gas & Wash expands to Denver; named as one of 10 largest full-service firms Business activity: Having kept cars clean in the state of Missouri for more than 27 years,Waterway Gas &Wash is looking for other areas to conquer, with...

Reforms target small firms' abuse of bankruptcy code.(Going for Broke)
September 22, 1997... Lloyd Falconer, chairman of the Illinois Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Business, knows firsthand the pain a bankruptcy can cause. Seward Screw Products Inc., where Falconer is secretary-treasurer, lost more than...

Bill introduced to make it tougher to file bankruptcy.(Going for Broke)
September 22, 1997... WASHINGTON - Banks and credit lending institutions scored a major lobbying victory Wednesday when a bill to curb bankruptcy abuses was introduced in Congress. Reps. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., and Rick Boucher, D-Va., introduced the Responsible...

Falcon Products Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
September 22, 1997... Franklin A. Jacobs Chairman and chief executive officer Falcon Products Inc. designs, manufactures and markets furniture products for the foodservice, office furnishings, hospitality and health-care industries nationally and internationally....