Business First-Columbus articles from April 2000, page 5

Business First-Columbus archives from April 2000

Pickaway gets new development head.(Pickaway County, OH, appoints Jeff Green economic development director)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... CIRCLEVILLE -- Pickaway County joins a growing number of outlying Central Ohio communities that have hired their own economic development director. For the past three months, Jeff Green has been gathering information about the community...

Olson Building bought to further expansion goals.(of Woodward Opera House)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... MOUNT VERNON -- The group working to restore the historic Woodward Opera House has acquired a piece of real estate that is key to the project's completion. The Woodward Development Corp. (WDC) recently paid $200,000 to buy the Olson...

Delaware County Bank's headquarters to move south.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Delaware County Bank and Trust Co. will put the emphasis on "county" by moving its headquarters from Delaware city to Orange Township in fast-growing southern Delaware County. Bank officials say they tried to find a suitable place in...

Elian case shows hypocrisy of current immigration policy.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... It would be a sin to deport Elian Gonzalez. To send a child to rot in the prison of Cuba for the alleged sake of his own well-being is criminal hypocrisy. To send him there to preserve his father's rights is absurdity, since there are no...

Getting down to business of song-writing.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Each weeknight on VH-1's "The List," a panel of celebrities with varying degrees of critical qualifications panders to a live audience with opinions on such weighly topics as "Artist You Most Want to Spend the Night With" (Shania Twain won),...

MILLION DOLLAR ADVOCATES.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Exclusive group provides networking option for large, complex cases For a one-time $300 fee, about 30 Central Ohio attorneys have earned membership in an exclusive, invitation-only Santa Cruz, Calif.-based association that, at least for...

New group hopes to boost juror participation counts.(Ohio Jury Management Association)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Jury managers around Ohio are looking to boost juror participation rates and satisfaction by forming a new association aimed at providing better service to those serving jury duty. The Ohio Jury Management Association was created to...

Firms can protect workers, avoid suits resulting from violence in workplace.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Who was at fault when a terminated worker shot and killed three people and wounded another at Union Butterfield Corp.'s tool distribution center in North Carolina in 1995? Obviously, James Floyd Davis, who pulled the trigger, was at...

Case ponders if bad taste is cause for malpractice.(Just for Feet Inc.'s lawsuit against Saatchi & Saatchi Business Communications)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Birmingham-based Just for Feet Inc. hoped a 1999 Super Bowl ad would launch a $20 million to $25 million campaign that would establish the company nationally among consumers who bought athletic shoes. But within 24 hours, the Alabama...

Ohio State Bar honors area attorneys.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Eight Central Ohio attorneys were recently recognized by their peers for their long tenure in the profession during an annual meeting of the Ohio State Bar Association's District 7, which is Franklin County. Recognized for 50 years of...

Angela Mounts.(of GreenScapes Landscape Co. becomes Certified Nursery Technician -- Landscape)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Angela Mounts and Maria Sambuco of GreenScapes Landscape Co. have met the requirements to obtain status as an Ohio Certified Nursery Technician -- Landscape.

Adam T. Hill.(of Maxwell Financial Management gets certified as financial planner)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Adam T. Hill of Maxwell Financial Management, an affiliate of Steinhaus Financial Group, has earned the certified financial planner designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Jo Kesterson.(of Coldwell Banker Grand Traditions Realtors honored)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Jo Kesterson, Larry Hunt and Bonnie Helt-Adams of Coldwell Banker Grand Traditions Realtors, Worthington office, were named to the company's International President's Circle, an honor awarded to the top 12 percent of agents worldwide.

Henry L. Walker Jr.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Henry L. Walker Jr. of Steinhaus Financial Group/Lincoln Financial Advisors has earned membership in the Million Dollar Round Table's Court of the Table, which is reserved for round table members whose production is at least three times the...

Coldwell Banker Grand Traditions Realtors.
April 14, 2000... Coldwell Banker Grand Traditions Realtors has been named to the Coldwell Banker Chairman's Circle. From 1,535 Coldwell Banker companies, 97 affiliate firms were selected for the honor, which recognizes companies with an adjusted gross...

Design Central and Flexible Footwear Technologies Ltd.(receives award)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Design Central and Flexible Footwear Technologies Ltd. have won a gold award from the American Society on Aging 2000 Product Design for the New Millennium: A Universal Design competition. Design Central also received a silver award for the...

GREATER COLUMBUS STOCKS.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... GREATER COLUMBUS STOCKS From Price previous 52-week Company Symbol 4/12 week ...

Nationwide Global buys stake in Thai firm.(Thai Prasit Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Nationwide Global has acquired a 25 percent stake in Thai life insurance firm. The international subsidiary of Columbus-based Nationwide bought the stake in the life operations of Thai Prasit Insurance Co., the eighth largest life insurance...

M/I sets quarterly records.(M/I Schottenstein Homes Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... M/I Schottenstein Homes Inc. reported the number of homes delivered was the highest ever for a quarter, reaching 743. That's an 8 percent increase over 689 homes delivered in 1999. The Columbus-based home builder also reported record highs in...

Primedia signs up Kroger.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Central Ohio's largest supermarket chain, Kroger Co., will allow, the nation's largest distributor of apartment and new-house guides into its stores. Primedia Inc. has won rights to distribute its guides in Kroger stores. By getting access to...

Share value at heart of lawsuit.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... First Chicago NBD shareholders are suing Bank One Corp., claiming they didn't get enough value for their shares when the erstwhile Columbus-based company merged with the Chicago bank. In the suit, the stockholders alleged information in...

AEP begins refueling nuclear plant.(American Electric Power)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... American Electric Power has begun refueling the reactor at its Cook Nuclear Plant Number 2. Company officials expect the process will be completed before the summer peak energy demand. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will perform a...

Oak Hill plans stock buyback.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Oak Hill Financial Inc. plans to buy back some of its stock. The bank holding company, whose subsidiaries include Oak Hill Banks, Towne Bank and Action Finance Co., intends to buy 320,000 shares, or roughly 6 percent of its outstanding common...

Funding earmarked for Lincoln Theater renovation.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... State lawmakers have earmarked $1.4 million to redevelop the historic Lincoln Theater Building on East Long Street, a move seen as key to revitalizing the East Long Street corridor. The funding for the project on Columbus' Near East Side...

St. Louis franchisee signs on for 4 Max & Erma's.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Columbus-based Max & Erma's Restaurants Inc. has signed a development agreement with St. Louis-based Primo Restaurant Management Inc. to open four restaurants in the St. Louis area. The first restaurant is set to open in September. Another...

ESOP put in place at IT provider Quick Solutions.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Quick Solutions Inc., a Columbus-based information technology services provider, has implemented an employee stock ownership plan, putting ownership of the company into the hands of its 300 employees. The ESOP allows a privately held...

State high court rules producers must pay sales tax on temp help.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled manufacturers must pay sales tax when they contract for temporary workers. In a 4-3 ruling April 12 that reversed a state Board of Tax Appeals decision, the high court said neither the resale nor the...

Maersk-Rail Van.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Sales hit a record high in 1999 for Rail Van Inc., now Maersk-Rail Van. The third-party logistics company in Worthington reported gross sales rose 26 percent to more than $513 million from $398 million the year before. In January, the company...

Wendy's International.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Wendy's International reported strong sales growth in March for its Wendy's and Tim Hortons restaurants. Same-store sales at Wendy's company restaurants in the U.S. rose 5.4 percent in March. Tim Hortons same-store sales in Canada increased...

Consolidated Stores Corp.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Sales were up in March for Consolidated Stores Corp. Sales rose 8.8 percent to $304.3 million from $279.7 million during the same period last year. Comparable store sales for all stores open two years at the beginning of the fiscal year...

Limited Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Sales dropped in March for Limited Inc., although comparable store sales were up 4 percent. For the five weeks ended April 1, sales were $799.8 million, vs. $831.1 million for the same period the year before. Net sales for the previous year...

Salient Systems Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Earnings rose sharply for Salient Systems Inc. during its fourth quarter, but the company reported a loss for the year. Net income hit $318,000, or $0.09 per common share, compared to $17,000, or $0.00 per common share, in the fourth quarter...

CNBC Bancorp.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... First-quarter earnings rose nearly 40 percent for CNBC Bancorp, parent of Commerce National Bank. Earnings hit $702,176 for the period ended March 31, compared to $503,961 last year. Diluted earnings per share were 0.50, a 22 percent increase...

GREATER COLUMBUS BANK RATES.(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... GREATER COLUMBUS BANK RATES mortgage rates 30-yr fixed 15-yr. fixed Financial institution...

INDICATORS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2000... Annual golf spending By type of golfer, 1998 Although avid golfers make up only 21% of the golfer population, they account...

Cash-poor 'I' stocks don't warrant investors' help.
April 14, 2000... Dear Mr. Berko: The day Palm Pilot came public at $50 a share, I bought 200 shares at $153. As you know, it went to $170 that day but now trades at $60. Should I buy 200 more shares and average down so my cost basis would be about $105 a...

America West linking city with Hartford over 3 flights.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... America West Airlines will expand its service to New England from Port Columbus International Airport in late June, introducing nonstop routes to Hartford, Conn. America West will run one flight daily on a 124-seat jetliner and its...

2-year search yields executive director at CATCO.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... After a two-year search, the CATCO has named an executive director to lead its business affairs. David Edelman joins Contemporary American Theatre Co. after more than eight years as managing director of the Delaware Theatre Co. in...

Identify purpose to ensure golf outing can be success.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... When planning a golf outing for employees, a networking opportunity or a charity event, the most important bit of advice is this: Know what you want to achieve. A couple of other tips from the experts: Plan far in advance, and meet all...

Make business round pay off.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... When taking part in an annual corporate golf outing, we often forget what's important. An opportunity to play golf at a beautiful course, all expenses paid, will lead some of us to drop our guard. Just because we are not restricted to...

Turning the area's tournament greens to gold.
April 14, 2000... Before pros tee it up, Executive Sports pulls together details that make Memorial, New Albany Classic glitter It's a Thursday afternoon in late March and the Players Championship golf tournament is tuned in on a television at Executive...

Taking on the ABCs of golf instruction.
April 14, 2000... Even seasoned professionals need a teacher to get most out of their game It is easily discernible even to the most casual observer that golf is a sport experiencing strong growth. The public is pouring onto golf courses in unprecedented...

Illegal gear won't measure up to a good lesson.
April 14, 2000... If you're thinking of using some of the new golf equipment on the market to turn you into the next Tiger Woods, think again. Golf professionals and the USGA said there isn't any gear that can replace practice and lessons. "There is no...

How to know whether golf will play in your portfolio.
April 14, 2000... The 2000 golf season is ready to get under way. After a long winter, players fidget with excitement and eagerness to be out on the links. Should golfers have the same excitement about the companies whose equipment they use to perfect...

In the shadows, collecting golf gear burning brightly.
April 14, 2000... It started out innocently for these four men. In each case, someone gave it to them for free, or sold it to them at a discount. Before long they were hooked, all spare time spent satisfying the urge. Most survived to lead normal lives,...

Building a better golf track.
April 14, 2000... Central Ohio course designers always seekeing an edge to please golf purists as well as the game's newcomers James Kenlen, a retired engineer from Newark, and 31 of his golf-loving buddies yearn for the day when spring hints it is...

Birthdays.
April 14, 2000... Contributors: Katy Hoke and Brian Ball Some notable upcoming birthdays: * Gary Bachinski, president and CEO, Fuzzy Zoeller Golf Management: April 14 * Craig Fusco, mortgage specialist, Olde Lighthouse Mortgage & Funding Ltd.:...

Lou Fabro lives!(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Contributors: Katy Hoke and Brian Ball Lou Fabro didn't retire in 1997. He just moved to another project. After leaving his long-time role as spokesman for Nationwide, Fabro plunged into historical research and writing. After three...

Kids rule.(business travel and family obligations)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2000... Contributors: Katy Hoke and Brian Ball Who's the boss? The kids, of course. At least when it comes to business travel, that is. A study just released by Sheraton Hotels & Resorts reports 67 percent of parents polled say they have...

Arts Council intrigue.
April 14, 2000... Contributors: Katy Hoke and Brian Ball If you haven't noticed the arts marketing initiative undertaken by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, there's a good reason for that: It's a closely guarded secret. Business First has learned...

Children's drops Total HMO.
April 7, 2000... When pact ends, firm won't have county hospital in its Medicaid HMO network Total Health Care Plan Inc., reeling from deepening losses and declining membership, will be dealt another blow April 30 when Children's Hospital of Columbus...

ADC cuts deal with Web tech specialist.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Two privately held homegrown companies have struck a deal that will allow each to become more adept at serving different segments of the Internet economy. ADC Information Technologies Inc. plans to disclose April 7 that it's acquiring...

Is Ohio tax policy primed for change?(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... A variety of converging complex events likely will lead to dramatic changes in the way taxes are determined in Ohio, a former state tax commissioner is cautioning corporate Ohio. The next General Assembly -- largely being elected this...

Partners picking Hudson St. for hotel.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Two Columbus development groups have formed a venture to build a 64-room Holiday Inn Express on Hudson Street just east of Interstate 71. Dublin-based hotel developer Castrop Wolfe Development Ltd. will join landowner JAS Group Ltd. to...

Ohio entrepreneurs, unite: You've got your own site.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Entrepreneurs and the people who fund them soon will have a place to meet online. OhioAngels.com, a Web site designed to help improve the flow of private investment in Ohio, is in the final testing stages ahead of its planned debut...

Radio waves.
April 7, 2000... Columbus-based Quantum Marketing Group, which specializes in generating so-called nontraditional revenue for radio stations, need look no further than its Cincinnati parent for business opportunities. In January Blue Chip President Ross...

$300 test for free.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Vascular surgeon Dr. Jean Starr is looking for a few good patients. Starr was trained last fall on how to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms with a less invasive procedure. Instead of cutting through the breast bone, the new procedure...

Nationwide sets incentives to retain Gartmore execs.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Nationwide is making sure its $1.6 billion investment in overseas asset management will continue to pay off for years with incentives for management to stay and produce. The Columbus-based financial services giant March 30 outbid other...

Cardinal signals it is time to raise philanthropic role.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Cardinal Health Inc., the largest publicly traded company based in Central Ohio, has named its first full-time community affairs coordinator. Beth Catlett, a former marketing coordinator at Retail Planning Associates in Columbus, said...

State mulls starting HMO to help cover its workers.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... As a measure to curb rising health care costs, the state of Ohio is considering creating a health maintenance organization to cover its workers. The state awarded a $241,770 contract to Columbus-based consultant Watson Wyatt and Co. to...

Columbia Gas set to move 44 jobs from Toledo to area by end of July.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Columbia Gas of Ohio has told the 44 employees at its call center in Toledo that their jobs are being moved to the company's customer service operation on Dublin Road, near Marble Cliff. In February, Business First reported Columbia...

Cable TV providers set schedule for Crew games.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Time Warner Communications and Insight Communications say they will air coverage of eight Columbus Crew away games through their Sport TV partnership. Sport TV was created by the cable providers in 1998. The channel shares time with...

OSU-SonicRim accord gives partners technologies, skills.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Ohio State University's College of the Arts and SonicRim Ltd. have agreed to a three-year partnership as part of a new university initiative -- the Research Partners Program. The program intends to be a portal for businesses to access the...

Under just 2nd president, Sarcom plots its next steps.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... For about 17 years, since he founded Sarcom Inc., Randy Wilcox was the information technology company's only president. That changed last November, when he handed the reins of the Columbus company's day-to-day operations to Jeffrey H. Sopp....

Art museum, CCAD sketch effort toward 'cultural hub'.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Expansion of the Columbus Museum of Art may be a few years away, but the institution and other Discovery District neighbors hope building a master plan for their area can create a "cultural hub" six blocks east of Capitol Square. ...

With tax credits as a draw, 5/3 revs home lending plan.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Wayne Koehler says to expect more low-income housing activity from Fifth Third Bancorp. The manager of Fifth Third Community Development Corp. wants to help the bank increase its low-income housing lending and investments to keep pace...

Report: Insurance losses in Ohio hit $375M in '99.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Insurance losses from catastrophic events in Ohio doubled last year to $375 million, Insurance Services Office Inc. reports. Severe storms in January 1999 and a spring tornado in suburban Cincinnati were the major culprits for the jump in...

Image bugaboo costs city a convention, 1,500 visitors.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The image issue that dogs Columbus has bitten again, leading to the loss last month of an international convention for downtown. What Columbus lost, Austin, Texas, gained with the March 2001 show of the 27th Environmental Symposium and...

Safelite, lenders reach accord over bank debt.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... Safelite Glass Corp. has entered into a waiver agreement with its senior bank lenders. The Columbus company, the largest in the automotive glass replacement industry, said in February it was in danger of violating financial covenants on...

Obetz terminal set to shut under AmeriServe cutbacks.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... In the continuing fallout from what Forbes magazine calls "one of the biggest fiascoes to ever hit the restaurant trade," AmeriServe Food Distribution Inc.'s facility in Obetz is expected to close next month, idling at least 74 workers and...

BMW Financial gears up bank to sell its dealerships' customers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2000... BMW Financial Services Inc., which for the last year has been rolling out a series of expanded products for its BMW and Land Rover vehicle customers, is gearing up for more. The company, which manages $11 billion of assets and has 320,000...

Grocer eyes Morse Center site abandoned by Big Bear.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Lamar Cos., the Morristown, N.J.-based real estate company that specializes in turning around ailing shopping centers, is talking with a grocer for its Morse Center plaza. Big Bear closed its store there when it opened a larger...

World Market no. 4.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... San Francisco-based Cost Plus Inc. is opening its fourth Cost Plus World Market store in Central Ohio, this one at Easton Market. Cost Plus is a 40-year-old retailer that imports casual home furnishings, house-wares, gifts, decorative...

Some sweet deals.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Chris Cochran, who owns and operates the franchise shop Cookies By Design in Dublin, is finding business among several Columbus companies. She has baked specialty cookies on sticks in the form of lace brassieres for Intimate Brand Inc.'s...

Walgreen's expansion.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... Walgreen Co., which built its first Columbus store at the busy Morse Road and Cleveland Avenue intersection near competitor CVS, is planning to build another store at the southwest corner of James Road and Livingston Avenue. It is scheduled...

Pickerington site set for newest World Gym.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2000... The fitness industry in Columbus continues to develop. World Gym opened a 4,000-square-foot preview center at 1266 Hill Road in Pickerington April 1. World Gym plans to build a 20,000-square-foot facility in Pickerington near the...

Hand-to-hand debate rises over ergonomics regulation.
April 7, 2000... U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., did not need a lobbyist to convince him OSHA's proposed ergonomics regulation would hurt small companies. "As a small manufacturer myself, I can understand the problems and costs small manufacturers will...

Clinton, Congress sizing up stock options bill for a fall.
April 7, 2000... Kent Hoover is Washington bureau chief for Business First. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman traveled to Capitol Hill to endorse legislation that would overturn the Labor Department's ruling that profits from stock options must be included...

More firms may soon get interest on checking.
April 7, 2000... Kent Hoover is Washington bureau chief for Business First. Banks would be allowed to pay interest on business checking accounts under legislation passed by the House Banking Committee. Small-business groups and community banks wanted...

Bill gives small business tax break for software.
April 7, 2000... Kent Hoover is Washington bureau chief for Business First. Small businesses could immediately deduct the full cost of computer software instead of writing it off over three years under legislation introduced by Rep. Christopher Cox,...

Armey tells producers to have workers push China.
April 7, 2000... Kent Hoover is Washington bureau chief for Business First. House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-Texas, says small manufacturers need to enlist their employees in the lobbying effort for permanent normal trading relations with China. ...

Business leaders No. 1 in helping urban schools.
April 7, 2000... Kent Hoover is Washington bureau chief for Business First. Public school officials in the nation's largest urban areas rate business executives and foundations as the most helpful outside groups. Congress and the news media ranked at...

Heavy claims forcing cutbacks at Ohio Casualty.
April 7, 2000... Hamilton-based Ohio Casualty Corp., under pressure from a falling stock price, will cut its work force by 4 percent, chop expenses by eliminating first-class air travel, and trim or curtail some bonuses for executives. The elimination of...

Steris launches shakeup to stem revenue decline.
April 7, 2000... Restructuring charges for Steris Corp. are expected to reach $40 million in the medical device maker's fiscal fourth quarter as the company prepares to report reduced revenue for the three months. At the same time, Mentor-based Steris...