Business First-Columbus articles from April 2000

Business First-Columbus archives from April 2000

Adena, Grubb & Ellis link up.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Realty powerhouse reaching into area brokerage business with May 1 agreement Grubb & Ellis Co., one of the nation's largest commercial real estate firms, will enter the Columbus brokerage market May 1 through an affiliation with Adena...

Accountant consolidates into offices at Pen West.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Dublin-based accounting firm Norman Jones Enlow & Co. is moving to downtown Columbus. Chief Executive Officer Andy Coen said the 46-year-old accounting firm will relocate to quarters being constructed by Arshot Investment Co. at 530 W....

WAL-MART, WESTERVILLE, WORRY.
April 28, 2000... Plans for retail supercenter heading for a June showdown that some think could end in lawsuits, ballot referendum Renovator Charles Moon greets neighbors as he walks through Westerville's Uptown neighborhood, about three city blocks of...

Riverside idles 3 ORs in face of nurse shortage.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Central Ohio's nursing shortage has forced Riverside Methodist Hospital to close three operating rooms for at least 10 weeks, causing a week delay in most elective surgeries and a rerouting of up to 30 emergency patients a month. "We've...

Home is where the giant floating ocean liner is.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... When HER Realtors joined Christie's Great Estates network last year, little did its agents know they could soon begin marketing luxury housing on the high seas. Christie's is marketing the World of Residensea, a tony ocean liner...

Birthdays.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Some notable upcoming birthdays: * Jim Livecchi, vice president and director of specialized marketing, SBC Advertising: May 1. * Ronald L. Barnes, general manager and CEO, Central Ohio Transit Authority: May 2. * Brian McCann,...

Trail mix.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... John Tonti had a good reason for missing CNBC Bancorp's April 25 annual meeting. Tonti, a director of the Worthington-based bank, was in day five of his five-month quest to walk the entire Appalachian Trail. Tonti is using the walk to...

A course beginning.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Tee times at Longaberger Golf Club are so scarce that the basket-making entertainment company in Licking County plans to go ahead with a second course as soon as possible. Though details are sketchy, the 18-hole course will be developed...

Need an activity?(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... The second edition of the Columbus Sports Facility Guide has been released. The 42-page guide for 2000-01 offers information about the area's arenas and stadiums, convention facilities, auto and horse racing venues, hockey rinks, soccer...

Corrections & Amplifications.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... A financial profile of the Columbus Foundation, published April 14, contained incorrect data due to a Web site glitch. The foundation reported assets of $651.3 million for 1999, with grants of $61.4 million and gifts of $78.9 million last...

With Sun TV revenue gone, hauler forced to reorganize.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Fallout from 1998's failure of Sun Television & Appliances is continuing as a national trucking firm based in Columbus has filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors. SST & Associates Inc., which operates from its hub on Williams...

Alliance to bring Custer Capital new venture capital opportunities.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... New Albany-based Custer Capital Inc. expects to finalize a referral relationship with EMC Corp. before the end of April to become a primary venture capital provider for EMC-referral companies. EMC Corp., based in Hopkinton, Mass., is the...

State offers heavy incentive for SmartPipes' operations.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... SmartPipes Inc. has received one of the largest tax breaks ever handed out by the Ohio Department of Development for a project that would create 354 jobs with wages projected at above $40 an hour. The state Job Creation Tax Credit...

CheckFree Corp. dismisses 44 as part of worker upgrading.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... CheckFree Corp. has trimmed 44 Central Ohio employees from its payroll as part of an upgrade of the company's work force. The Atlanta-based CheckFree told the employees of the cuts on April 17. The 44 employees, representing 4.6 percent...

Corporate driving school accelerates firm team building.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Your typical corporate golf outing, it's not. While a fair share corporate retreats for employees or clients involve golf, an amusement park or the zoo, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course's Mid-Ohio School offers something different to...

Alta Analytics adds 58 jobs in relocation to Columbus.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... A Westerville-based technology company will more than double its staffing within two years as it expands the market for its fraud-detection software. Alta Analytics creates application software that allows businesses to sift through...

Roser sentenced to prison time in securities case.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... A chapter in the mid-1990s OSU campus-area bar saga has closed with the April 12 sentencing of Kevin Roser to two years in prison. Roser pleaded guilty in February to six felony counts of violating the Ohio Securities Act resulting from...

Payback from D.H. Blair due some Ohio investors.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Ohio investors who were customers of D.H. Blair & Co., a New York brokerage, are eligible for a share of a $2.25 million restitution fund. The Ohio Commerce Department's Securities Division said at least 277 former D.H. Blair customers...

OSU upbeat despite East Hospital's $9 million loss.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... A year under a new owner hasn't done much to stem the financial bleeding at Ohio State University East Hospital. But university officials say changes are being made to turn around an expected $9 million loss for fiscal 2000 into a...

Hospitals, physicians to occupy $6.8M Omni development.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals, Children's Hospital and area physicians are likely tenants for a $6.8 million medical facility a mile south of the Easton development in northeast Columbus. Columbus-based Omni Management Group Ltd....

State bill bans stiff fees from check cashers.(Ohio)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... The trade association for check cashers is applauding a ban on triple-damage fees for bounced checks put in place by state legislators. The Ohio Association of Financial Service Centers, until last year the Ohio Check Cashers Association,...

Dominion Homes unveils HomeStore selling center.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Shopping for & new house from Dominion Homes has become as convenient for time-starved buyers as walking into a store. The Dublin-based homebuilder has opened its HomeStore at Karric Square Shopping Center on Frantz Road, down the street...

Exel rebrands, expands.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Third-party logistics provider Exel plc has launched an expanded business-to-customer fulfillment and home delivery service to serve the emerging electronic retailing market as well as manufacturers and traditional retail outlets. The...

Construction work OK'd.(on Greater Columbus Convention Center)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... The Franidin County Convention Facilities Authority has approved $7.56 million in contracts for renovations to older sections of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Miles McClellan Construction Co. received a $1.26 million contract for...

Home sales higher.(in Columbus, Ohio)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Housing sales in Greater Columbus rose during the first quarter by a mere 18 contracts, according to the Columbus Board of Realtors. The board's Multiple Listing Service, showed 3,578 closings through March 31, vs.3,560 sold during the first...

Miranova saleswoman.(Pizzuti Cos. hires Raean M. Foust)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Pizzuti Cos. has added a veteran of developer Don Kenney's residential sales organization to its Miranova sales team. Raean M. Foust joins Pizzuti after selling condominiums in Worthington and Grove City for Kenney's Triangle Real Estate...

Feinknopf Macioce Schappa Architects.(receives Hilliard, Ohio school projects)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Feinknopf Macioce Schappa Architects has snagged the design contract on three Hilliard City School District projects. The contract calls for the Columbus design firm to design two elementary schools based on prototypes the firm developed...

Turner Construction Co.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Turner Construction Co. will serve as construction manager on the projects. Hilliard voters funded the projects last fall with approval of a $20 million bond issue.

Penn Traffic workers view closure as job springboard.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Fifty-five warehouse workers who lose their jobs June 4 when Penn Traffic Co. closes its health, beauty aids and cosmetics warehouse on Interchange Road are treating their termination like a new lease on life. Bob Love, international...

Mum's the word.(Abercrombie and Fitch planning new retail concept)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Columbus-based Abercrombie & Fitch, which will host its annual meeting next month at its Reynoldsburg headquarters, is working on a new -- and highly confidential -- retail "concept" to debut at Easton Town Center this summer. Easton...

Opening the Gate.(new Gateway Country in Columbus, Ohio)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Gateway Inc., which has sold customized PCs by mail order and over the Internet since 1985, has opened its second area Gateway Country retail store -- the newest at Easton Town Center. Gateway operates a 9,300-square-foot store on Sawmill...

The Shoe fits.(Shoe Sensation opens new Ohio location)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Shoe Sensation, a division of Indiana-based Acton Enterprises, has opened at Northland Mall in space formerly occupied by Zanesville-based B-Wear. Acton also operates three other shoe stores: Kicks, Kicks for Kids and Sports Sensations,...

Eastland additions.(Eastland Mall, Columbus, Ohio)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... At Eastland Mall, Weather Vane, a division of Connecticut-based junior clothing retailer New Weathervane Retail Corp., has opened. Sports apparel retailer Finish Line is expanding into space once occupied by Bakers shoe store. When...

Penney saved.(J.C. Penney not closing Columbus stores)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Though no Central Ohio stores are among the estimated 40 J.C. Penney stores to close this year, executives say Cincinnati and Cleveland won't be as lucky. Penney will close its catalog outlet in Cincinnati in June. Its outlet store...

Chute Gerdeman honors.(Chute Gerdeman wins 3 retail design awards)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Columbus-based retail designers Chute Gerdeman Inc. garnered three awards in Chicago March 25 at the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers' Retail Design Awards. The firm received a grand prize for design of Larry's Shoes...

Executives' forum focuses on sharing e-business effort.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... A new forum has been created to give Central Ohio executives an outlet to bounce Internet strategies off one another. The eBusiness Consortium of Central Ohio was formed' late last year to bring executives together to share strategies and...

Ernst & Young LLP lauded for its security prowess.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Ernst & Young LLP has been recognized as a leader in Internet security. Wisconsin-based Information Systems Security Association Inc. has named E&Y's Information Systems Assurance and Advisory Services, based in Cincinnati, as the...

Apartment high-rise, offices aimed at Cincy riverfront.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Sports facilities development on Cincinnati's riverfront is attracting a non-stadium project. Florida investor Robert Levinson has teamed with Cincinnati-based Brown Architects Inc. in looking for another partner to build a $30 million...

UD Arena, playing fields earmarked for renovations.
April 28, 2000... The University of Dayton will sport a new look at many of its sports facilities in the next few years. The university will spend millions of dollars to renovate and add corporate luxury suites to its 30-year-old UD Arena, where the...

Card maker in talks to merge online efforts.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Cleveland-based American Greetings Corp. is considering, merging its online operation with Egreetings Network Inc. of San Francisco. American Greetings said in regulatory filings that talks with the California company are exploratory. The...

West Chester development landing Jacobson store.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Jacobson Stores Inc. plans to build a department store in the booming Union Centre development off Interstate 75 between Cincinnati and Dayton. The retailer will join high-end merchants Chanel, Armani, DKNY and Joseph Abboud at the...

Lowe's distribution center headed for Allen Township.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Home improvements retailer Lowe's Cos. would use tax and inventory abatements to build a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center near Findlay. The center, expected to eventually employ 600 workers, is projected to cost $100 million,...

Seed fund forming to aid biomed business.
April 28, 2000... The Cincinnati area's burgeoning bio-medical industry could soon have another $45 million to fund the earliest stages of business development. BioVentures Development Fund, a for-profit seed capital firm, plans to invest in local and...

Geon Co.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... * Avon Lake-based Geon Co., a top producer of vinyl compounds, will shut its Newton Upper Falls, Mass., factory next year, saving the company $1 million a year and eliminating 80 jobs. Production will be moved to four other plants.

LTV Corp.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... * LTV Corp. plans to close its aging tubular products factory in its hometown of Cleveland this year. The 85-year-old plant's 94 workers will be transferred to other LTV operations or are expected to retire.

Drugmax.com.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... * Drugmax.com, an electronic retailer based in Largo, Fla., has acquired Youngstown distributor Valley Drug Co. for $5.4 million. The 4-month-old Drugmax.com distributes pharmaceuticals to independent drugstores.

Crawley to supervise merged communications unit.
April 28, 2000... Gail Crawley has been named the deputy director of the Ohio Department of Development's communications/marketing and special projects office. She replaces Michael Jackson, the outgoing special projects director. Crawley will...

Gore likely to temper his environmental stances if elected elected.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Despite Al Gore's "far more inflammatory rhetoric," the environmental policies of a Gore administration would not differ greatly from those of a George W. Bush administration, predicts Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber...

Safety engineers: OSHAs ergonomics rule flawed.
April 28, 2000... The American Society of Safety Engineers favors an ergonomics standard for the workplace, but not the one proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA wants to require employers to implement programs to reduce...

Mentor-protege program made permanent at FAA.
April 28, 2000... The Federal Aviation Administration is making its mentor-protege program permanent. The program, which started as a pilot project three years ago, helps small businesses work on FAA contracts by pairing experienced contractors with...

Mt. Carmel Foundation hosts Internet auction.
April 28, 2000... Mount Carmel Foundation will debut the area's first charity Web auction May 5-8. The auction, at www.mountcarmelfoundation.org, will benefit Mount Carmel programs such the outreach mobile coach, which provides health care to the area's...

THE LIST: Great Columbus moving & storage cos.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... THE LIST Greater Columbus moving & storage cos. Ranked by number of full-time employees LOCAL 1999: BUSINESS: ...

Keeping up with times needed in age discrimination statutes.
April 28, 2000... The time for building consistency into the laws that govern age discrimination is long overdue. I'm not suggesting we gut the laws, but a facelift of sorts is needed to make them fair to employers and keep them in line with our changing work...

Central Ohio marketing awards scheduled.
April 28, 2000... Thirteen area companies and professionals will be honored for their marketing prowess by the Central Ohio chapter of the American Marketing Association at the organization's 2000 Marketer of the Year Awards program. The program is...

Race for the Cure organizers' hopes run eternal for remedy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... Breast cancer survivor Nancy Brinker started Race for the Cure in Dallas 17 years ago after promising her sister, who did not survive the disease, that she would make a difference in the lives of other suffering women. Now, the Susan G....

PEOPLE.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... On the move ADVERTISING, MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS John Frees has been hired as a writer at Lord Sullivan & Yoder Inc. Resource Marketing Inc. has named Lisa Bethel, application solutions engineer; Vicki Jackson, coordinator,...

MOST IMPORTANT ROOM.
April 28, 2000... Family's lifestyle dictates a house's kitchen design Probably no single room of the house has evolved more over the years than the kitchen. While the type of kitchen most of us grew up in was not meant to be seen, most kitchens today...

THE LIST: Greater Columbus new-car dealerships.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Illustration)
April 28, 2000... THE LIST Greater Columbus new-car dealerships Ranked by number of retail new models sold and leased in 1999 COMPANY NAME ...

Protective measures needed for family business, wealth.(Family Limited Partnerships)
April 28, 2000... Procrastination. That's what many successful business owners do, instead of effectively planning for the future. Now that they have accumulated sizable wealth, they become immobilized by seemingly conflicting concerns: how to retain...

Successful business partnerships require same elements as winning marriages do.
April 28, 2000... When approached by Business First to write an advice column on how to successfully balance running a business along with playing a meaningful role in a family, I figured I would need at least enough space for a novel as opposed to the 400 to...

One Group Mutual Funds.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... One Group Mutual Funds will be the title sponsor of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's Pops Series for three seasons beginning with the 2000-2001 50th anniversary season. The sponsorship, at a total commitment of $600,000, is the largest...

Chile Verde Cafe.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... Chile Verde Cafe will sell the Stoneridge Shopping Center location in Gahanna. The original restaurant at Carriage Place, 4852 Sawmill Road, will remain open and can be reached at 614-442-6630.

RFC Capital Corp.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... RFC Capital Corp. has joined a lending syndicate for TriVergent Communications Inc., a bundled communications provider serving the Southeast. RFC, a specialty finance company that began funding TriVergent in 1998, is contributing $15 million...

Sterling Commerce.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... National Wholesale Druggists' Association and Sterling Commerce are offering an e-community development program for the Web-based Health-com Catalog Service. The service, accessible at www.healthcom.com, allows pharmaceutical manufacturers...

EWI.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... EWI has been approved as an authorized provider of continuing education and training programs by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training. EWI is a nonprofit industrially driven engineering organization.

CamSys Communications Inc.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... CamSys Communications Inc. has available a fully equipped, public videoconferencing room. The room is available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends, holidays and off-hours by appointment.

Metatec Internet Product Group.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... DPC Data. Inc., based In Fort Lee, N.J., will use Metatec Internet Product Group's Metatec Express as the foundation for a new group of financial information products for the municipal securities market.

Jack Klema Construction Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... Jack Klema Construction Inc. has been awarded a $1.8 million contract by Photonic Integration Research Inc. for a two-story building expansion of its 2727 Scioto Parkway facility. Jack Klema Construction can be reached at 740-927-1524;

Macola.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Macola has formed a strategic alliance with Austin, Texas-based Works.com. The companies will deliver integrated purchasing management to Macola customers as Works.com becomes a core part of Macola's e-business offerings.

ECOutlook.com.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... ECOutlook.com will build, manage and maintain Pentacon Inc.'s Advanced Inventory System. Houston-based Pentacon is a distributor of fasteners and other small parts and a provider of related inventory management services.

Pathlore.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Pathlore and Centra, a provider of infrastructure software for e-business collaboration, together will bring live Web-based collaboration to e-learning programs and will allow Pathlore to manage course delivery and student records.

newproducts.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Tracewell Systems Inc. has made available its Tracewell T-Frame for Compact PCI-H 110. The development system for computer telephony integrates a time division multiplexing bus along with the CompactPCI bus to support real-time voice or...

Charter schools are vital alternative to public education.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... Ohio's first online charter school -- eCOT -- is set to open its virtual doors July 1. This school represents the latest in a stream of innovations from Ohio's charter school program and places the state at the threshold of a new era in...

Stocks' plummet doesn't signal bear market, only self-correction.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... A worse-than-expected consumer price index report April 14 sent the stock market into a tailspin. Even before the report, the market looked choppy, but writing about the market's volatility was no longer news. Neither was discussing the...

Advertising slogans may be the tool managers seek to motivate employees.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Much ado is being made these days about the topic of motivation. Numerous books are being published about the motivational techniques used by everyone from Attila the Hun to Gen. George S. Patton Jr. Generally speaking, to be honest, they're...

Knox plans to draw workers from rural villages.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Residents would ride MOTA buses to jobs in Mount Vernon MOUNT VERNON -- Local officials hope expanded, low-cost public transportation will give a lift to the unemployed and working poor in the Knox County villages of Centerburg, Danville...

State may chip in on Newark's proposed city garage.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... NEWARK -- Newark's plans for a new city garage to aid development of a proposed conference center and hotel could get a financial boost from the state -- but city Mayor Frank Stare says the state's commitment is too small. The state...

Fairfield County seeks help with transportation of social service clients.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... LANCASTER -- Fairfield County is applying for a state transportation grant to help better coordinate the transportation needs of Fairfield County social service clients. The county has until Oct. 1 to apply for the $75,000 Ohio...

Four walls of windows attract design firm to restored watch factory offices.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... When Tim Tope went looking for a new place for his creative services firm, he decided to look on the Internet. "I typed in 'office space' 'lease' 'Columbus' 'Ohio' and this happened to come up," said Tope. "This space was the perfect...

Intelligent office space flexes as businesses needs change.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... The buzzword in businesses today is creative teams. For companies attempting to transform creative workers into functioning teams, Continental Office Environments has introduced wall systems that allow firms to grow and restructure without...

Latest office has everything going digital.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Multitasking continues to spread into all sorts of formerly stand-alone office equipment. Offices already have copiers that can function as scanners and printers, cellular phones that can send e-mail, and electronic scheduling organizers...

Designers say proper energy flow makes cash flow, too.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Sterling Financial Investment Co. became one of the largest investment banking firms in South Florida in just three short years. Could the crystal hanging near the office entrance be the firm's lucky charm for success? Owner Charles...

Courier offers filing service to build niche in law market.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2000... Ten years ago, it wasn't unusual for a downtown law firm to rely on cab drivers to rush important documents to clients in and around Columbus. When same-day courier service providers exploded onto the scene in 1991, a company called Rainbow...

Boise Cascade buys local dealer.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 28, 2000... Boise Cascade Office Products has purchased Corporate Environments of Ohio, also known as CEO. The move is expected to add more than 350 new customers to Boise's existing base in Central Ohio. Founded in 1988 by Mark Bailey, CEO was a...