Business First-Columbus articles from April 1996

Business First-Columbus archives from April 1996

Galbreath restructures corporate office.
April 12, 1996... A corporate restructuring at Galbreath Co. has some industry observers questioning whether the real estate titan plans to stay in the development arena. But Lizanne Galbreath, the Columbus-based company's chairwoman and chief executive,...

Specialists come under scalpel of managed-care's cost cutting.
April 12, 1996... Cardiologist Ronald Frazier remembers when he and other medical specialists could order test or surgery and insurers paid without placing limits or asking questions. That seems like ancient history now. Two managed-care companies in Central...

Tosoh sees growth through flat screen. (Tosoh SMD Inc.)
April 12, 1996... Grove City company starts work on plant expansion Two manufacturers in Columbus are backing two different television-screen technologies. They both may be right. For the past 50 years, Techneglas Inc. has produced the glass for cathode ray...

Cincy company sets up center using 'open' MRI technology. (magnetic resonance imaging)
April 12, 1996... A Cincinnati medical testing company has entered the Greater Columbus market, bringing with it an "open" MRI machine designed to ease the anxiety of claustrophobic patients. Cincinnati-based ProScan International predicts the MRI, the first of...

Soaring business lifts Executive Jet expansion. (Executive Jet Inc.)
April 19, 1996... Company plans to triple facilities, work force A rapidly growing Columbus company that supplies jets for corporate use is planning a major expansion on Port Columbus' north side. Executive Jet Inc., with annual revenues of $300 million,...

Perkins franchisee sets table for expansion in Columbus. (Reading Restaurants Inc.)
April 19, 1996... The local Perkins restaurant franchisee plans to fill the plates of more Columbus diners in the coming years. Reading Restaurants Inc., based in the Cincinnati suburb of Kings Mills, plans to expand into Columbus after concentrating much of the...

Builder sees foundation for residential growth in modular construction. (homebuilder Tom Parenteau)
April 19, 1996... Finding enough subcontractors to keep construction jobs moving doesn't vex Columbus homebuilder Tom Parenteau much anymore. The owner of Parenteau Builders Inc. has in recent years moved production of single-family homes and condominium...

Landowners seek annexation of 338 acres in Plain Township.
April 19, 1996... New Albany Co. and a Plain Township family have asked county commissioners to approve annexation of more than 338 acres of farmland into New Albany. Columbus and New Albany officials have designated the proposed annexation, north of Central...

Machinery designer charts move to larger facility in Grove City. (Tooltex Inc.)
April 19, 1996... A Columbus machinery designer plans to move into a new production facility by August. Tooltex Inc., 1145-B Chesapeake Ave., plans to start construction soon on a 14,000-square-foot facility within the Grove City Industrial Park on Route 665....

O'Brien Business parent acquires Scot Business. (Alco Standard Corp. acquires Scot Business Machines Co.)
April 19, 1996... The parent company of O'Brien Business Equipment has purchased Scot Business Systems and will undergo a nationwide name change. O'Brien, whose lines include copiers, faxe machines and laser printers, is owned by Alco Standard Corp. of Valley...

Call & Post parent to sell presses under bankruptcy plan. (P.W. Publishing)
April 19, 1996... The parent company of the Columbus Call & Post is auctioning its printing presses as part of an effort to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Cleveland-based P.W. Publishing will sell the presses at a public auction April 30 at its...

Lawmaker seeks to license viatical brokers, investors. (Ron Mottl)
April 19, 1996... It's a thankless business, buying and selling the life insurance policies of the terminally ill. "Actually it's morbid, waiting for someone to die to make money," said Cornell Bosley, owner of Bosley Financial Services, a Columbus insurance...

Bankers take aim at erasing credit unions' tax advantage.
April 19, 1996... Bankers have griped for years that credit unions have an unfair advantage because they are tax-exempt and free from many of the regulations with which banks must comply. For the first time, Ohio banks are making a concerted effort to level the...

Catering to each according to his taste buds. (caterers)(Inside Report: Hotels, Meetings and Travel)(Industry Overview)
April 19, 1996... Area caterers and meeting planners are aiming to please. Thousands of events take place in Columbus each year, with even more attendees having different tastes and needs. To cope, meeting planners and caterers are devising lunch and dinner...

High bed tax but low rates mark Columbus hotel trade.(Inside Report: Hotels, Meetings and Travel)(Industry Overview)
April 19, 1996... The Columbus market may be booming, but with the highest bed tax in the country, Columbus area hotels are feeling a pinch. Greater Columbus hotels had a 66.5 percent occupancy rate in 1995 - 1 percentage point above the national average. The...

Contractors sweat utility service plans. (air conditioning and heating contractors)
April 26, 1996... Local air conditioning and heating contractors are concerned that looming energy deregulation will allow powerful utilities to take away their business. Behind those fears are efforts by utilities in other states to build on their brand name...

Hotel developer will return part of tax break to schools. (HBE Corp.)
April 26, 1996... Columbus plans to extend a 10-year, 100 percent tax abatement to HBE Corp. for its renovation of the old Sheraton Hotel downtown. But the St. Louis-based developer has agreed separately to reimburse more than two-thirds of the proposed $4.4...

Kidz Time hits growth spurt, adds markets, programming. (Kidz Time TV)
April 26, 1996... A fledgling children's television network is expanding its programming hours and cracking new markets across the country. Columbus-based Kidz Time TV, formerly known as the Children's Cable Network, has added two hours of programming between 3...