Business First-Columbus articles from August 1996

Business First-Columbus archives from August 1996

OSHA takes aim at health-care providers. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
August 2, 1996... Accreditation body partners with feds in monitoring effort WASHINGTON - The nation's largest hospital accreditation agency plans to pressure the institutions it inspects to adhere more vigorously to federal workplace safety rules. The...

4 ex-employees accuse owner of Wildman's with harassment. (Wildman's Leather-N-Lace and ZZ Boots)
August 2, 1996... The Ohio Civil Rights Commission is charging a Columbus leather lingerie and boot dealer with repeated physical and verbal sexual harassment of four former employees. After an investigation earlier this year, the commission found that it is...

Tobin drives Pontiac-Buick dealership to Sawmill. (automobile dealer Dan Tobin; Sawmill Road, Columbus, Ohio)
August 2, 1996... Daniels rankled by GM's backing of competitor Plans by auto dealer Dan Tobin for a Pontiac-Buick dealership off Sawmill Road are being fought by a fellow General Motors dealer. Dan Tobin, president of Dan Tobin Pontiac Buick, is building a $2...

Trade subzone status seen as hot development tool.
August 2, 1996... Overseas competition is prompting area businesses to seek foreign trade subzone advantages. The Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories Inc. in Columbus, for example, has an application pending before the U.S. Foreign Trade Zone Board to...

K.G. Marx hopes to party on with proceeds from offering. (K.G. Marx Inc.)
August 2, 1996... K.G. Marx Inc. plans to seek a secondary public offering once it emerges from receivership. The Westerville-based retailer of party supplies and equipment has filed a registration application with state securities regulators seeking to raise...

Plastic surgeon hopes to get lift from outpatient center.
August 2, 1996... A pair of Columbus plastic surgeons is developing an outpatient surgery center specializing in cosmetic and reconstructive procedures. The Sullivan Centre, to be owned and operated by Dr. Michael Sullivan and his wife and partner Dr. Christine...

More employers accommodate breastfeeding moms.
August 2, 1996... When Stacy Lash, a corporate accounting secretary at Nationwide Insurance, had her first child two years ago, she was determined to breastfeed her baby and continue doing so after returning to work. She knew from talking to other breastfeeding...

Ohio residents send more than Uncle Sam gives back.
August 2, 1996... The tax burden in the Midwest and parts of the West are subsidizing the rest of the country, an analysis of federal tax data shows. The Northeast-Midwest report shows Ohio received $50.5 billion in total federal spending in 1995, amounting to...

New trade program adviser hopes to open doors in Japan.
August 2, 1996... With his appointment in June, Ko Yamashita became the third Japan External Trade Organization senior trade adviser to Ohio since the program was established in 1990. The JETRO program provides Ohio manufacturers with Japanese export counseling...

Cancer society educates public, fights for cure.
August 2, 1996... Nancy, who asked that her real name not be used, enrolled in the American Cancer Society's Breast Education, Screening and Treatment. Program for Women because she had heard that it was important for a woman her age to have annual mammograms....

The great coverup: carpeting provides color and offers image.
August 2, 1996... If you're planning to carpet a "flex" office, one that's pulled together quickly to accommodate a temporary need, cheap carpeting will do the trick. Otherwise, when it comes to carpetings, David Cooke, a principal with Design Collective Inc.,...

OSHA foes fail to gut ergonomics. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
August 2, 1996... Despite predictions that the ergonomics section of a Labor Department appropriations bills would be dead on arrival, on July 11 in Washington the House proved the pundits wrong. In a 216-205 vote, 35 House Republicans joined Democrats in...

Multi-function machines make home offices mighty.
August 2, 1996... Some multi-function fax machines can do the typing for you. Changes in technologies are opening doors for many small-business people, making machines with more features within the financial reach of home-based business people, says Joe Stopiak,...

Right programming cuts computer utility bills.
August 2, 1996... Energy saving options are often ignored Businesses that depend heavily on computers, fax machines, printers and copiers to operate, may be able to save hundreds of dollars in utility bills. Andy Franklin, president of Ontosystems Computer...

Advanced laptop good enough for office use.
August 2, 1996... I recently returned from a trip where I flew in the coach section, stayed at moderately priced business hotels and drove a midsize rental car. But my computer was strictly first-class. I was carrying IBM's new ThinkPad 560. The Concorde of...

Security makes intranets private corporate medium.
August 2, 1996... The technology that allows one to explore the graphical pages of the Internet has started to return to its origin: internal corporate computer networks. Called intranets, the electronic networks represent a visual and functional enhancement of...

Laptops plus projectors make wall displays easy.
August 2, 1996... Advances in computer display technology have extended the uses for the already indispensable laptop computer. Computer display technologies for small and midsized audiences typically fall into one of two categories. The older technology...

Trade office offers cheap overseas exposure. (Ohio Department of Development Division of International Trade)
August 2, 1996... Exposure is everything in an increasingly global marketplace. That's why the International Trade Division of the Ohio Department of Development has set up a series of two-day catalog trade shows for Ohio companies that want to export products....

Chretiens keep it all in the family. (computer consulting firm of A. Michael Chretien and son Matthew L.)
August 2, 1996... For two years, not a penny rolled into the computer consulting firm that A. Michael Chretien and his son, Matthew L., created in 1994. But now the Chretiens are busy at Avatar Group, as they try to manage the company's growth in creating CD-ROM...

Inventors blind to views of investors.(Column)
August 2, 1996... All too often entrepreneurs enraptured by their new products exhibit diode (or one-way) vision when dealing with financiers. By responding in an irrational manner to financier requests, they immediately label themselves as inexperienced in...

Rented CFOs upgrade small firm finances.
August 2, 1996... A temporary CFO? It's a trend that may be here to stay. Independent contracting and outsourcing of financial management functions is becoming more common in today's changing business environment. The growth of small businesses and a...

D.C. investor bullish on Worthington. (Minshall Capital Corp.; Worthington, Ohio office complex)
August 9, 1996... Minshall Capital snaps up Officescape complex for $11M A Washington D.C.-area real estate investment firm has placed a second $11 million bet on the Worthington office market. A Minshall Capital Corp. partnership has purchased the...

American Health benefits from recognition. (American Health Holding Inc.)
August 9, 1996... American Health Holding Inc. is not exactly a household name in its hometown, perhaps not even among the 50,000 people in the area covered by its services. But that doesn't bother officials of the Columbus-based company, which provides medical...

Schottenstein nestles in on 'empty nester' condos. (developer Howard Schottenstein)
August 9, 1996... Multifamily developer Howard Schottenstein plans to turn a vacant parcel at Cleveland Avenue and Route 161 into a $4.5 million, 60-unit condo project. Schottenstein's firm, Markpoint Development, expects to begin construction of utilities and...

M/I Schottenstein Homes. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 9, 1996... M/I Schottenstein Homes Inc. constructs and sells single family homes under the M/I Homes and Showcase Homes tradenames. The company markets a wide range of homes at prices that appeal to first-time, empty nesters and upgrade buyers. M/I...

Golden Touch founder has tarnished past. (Golden Touch Demos Inc. founder Barbara A. Markin)
August 16, 1996... The founder and president of Golden Touch Demos Inc. has filed to liquidate her personal assets in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here. Barbara A. Markin filed the Chapter 7 petition Aug. 1 in the wake of mounting lawsuits seeking more than $12 million...

Growth plan for Galyan's could see 50 stores by 2000. (Galyan's Trading Co. Inc.)
August 16, 1996... Limited Inc.'s plans for its Galyan's Trading Co. division will start to take shape late next summer when the sporting goods and apparel chain opens its prototype within the Easton development. The Market at Easton will feature a...

New laser providers eye growing surgery market. (LCA-Vision Inc.; Summit Vision Centers)
August 16, 1996... Two publicly traded companies new to Central Ohio hope to boost the market for corrective eye surgeries performed by the excimer laser. The $500,000 machine - approved by the FDA last year - removes layers of tissue from the cornea. The two...

Max & Erma's Restaurants. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 16, 1996... NASDAQ MAXE Max & Erma's Restaurants Inc. owns and operates 26 restaurants under the name Max & Erma's Neighborhood Gathering Place. The restaurants are in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky, and offer popular...

Obetz makes move for land, business: begins work on annexation of 456 acres. (Obetz, OH)
August 23, 1996... Obetz is starting to nibble on the 5,000 acres of expansion territory to which the village gained access last year. Property owners controlling 456 acres of Hamilton Township farm land along Alum Creek Drive have asked the Franklin County Board...

Child support delinquency could cost professionals: state will begin license suspensions to prod payment. (Ohio)
August 23, 1996... If you're a professional licensed by one of Ohio's disparate state boards and you haven't paid your child support beware: Beginning Nov. 15, there's a good chance your professional practice license will be stripped. That's the date a new state...

Feds may force banks to adopt new standards: effort aimed at curbing cases of discrimination. (federal bank regulators)
August 23, 1996... WASHINGTON - Banks and other financial institutions may soon have to adopt uniform examination standards to reduce the rising number of fair-lending discrimination cases involving small businesses and individuals. A report from the General...

DLZ engineers $60M contract in India; $500M pact looms. (Columbus, OH-based engineering firm DLZ Corp.)
August 23, 1996... In what amounts to a departure in policy for the Indian government, Columbus-based DLZ Corp. has been able to enter into a $60 million agreement to design, build and operate 19 hydropower plants in three Indian states. Collectively, the $60...

Great-West HMO to enter area's managed-care fray. (Great-West Life Assurance Co. to offer health-maintenance-organization products in major Ohio markets)
August 23, 1996... Great-West Life Assurance Co., a provider of retirement benefits, life and health insurance to medium-sized employers nationwide, plans to offer an HMO product in Ohio's major markets - including Columbus - by springtime. The move is part of a...

Docs to take greater stake in Grant/Riverside centers. (physicians given greater financial stake in outpatient surgery centers of Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals)
August 23, 1996... Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals is giving physicians a greater than anticipated financial stake in its outpatient surgery centers. At the same time, Grant/Riverside has decided not to give HealthSouth, the $417 million surgery-center...

Deals put Kahiki on national menu; Wal-Mart, chain in Chicago stock Chinese entrees. (Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to sell items from Kahiki Foods Inc.)
August 30, 1996... Agreements with a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. division and a Chicago grocery store chain should triple the wholesale business of Kahiki Foods Inc. The Columbus-based food manufacturer and restaurant company this month begins shipping cases of frozen...

Columbus charts hefty per-capita income growth. (Columbus, OH, is no. 6 in per capita increase from 1991)
August 30, 1996... Columbus and Ohio's other metros are leading the charge in the Midwest's resurgence in personal income growth. Of America's largest 80 metropolitan areas, Greater Columbus ranked sixth in per-capita personal income growth, a Business First...

Southgate's owners invest to upgrade Heath center. (Columbia-Pacific Properties Ltd. spend on renovations of Southgate Shopping Center in Heath)
August 30, 1996... A Los Angeles investment group has mixed regional and national retailers to reposition its Southgate Shopping Center in Heath. Columbus-Pacific Properties Ltd. bought the property in July 1995 for $6 million and has poured another $1.5 million...

'B' is for 'basket' ... also for 'building.' (Longaberger Co. building to be shaped after its popular market basket)
August 30, 1996... New Longaberger HQ mimics main product The Longaberger Co.'s "giant basket building" in Newark is only a giant steel skeleton at this point, but already it's weaving reaction from local architects and developers. Longaberger officials are a...

Public housing that's designed to sell. (low-income housing via Lancaster's Project HOPE)
August 30, 1996... Lancaster affordable homes have private market appeal to tenants Think that good ideas come only in expensive packages or that public housing projects are all alike? Take a look at Lancaster's Project HOPE, a pretty package of 50...

Center helps urban business design for future. (Columbus Neighborhood Design Assistance Center offers design and planning services to Columbus commercial businesses)
August 30, 1996... Restoring Columbus' urban core by offering design expertise to local businesses the goal of the Columbus Neighborhood Design Assistance Center. Since the center was founded in 1982 its work has led to an estimated $17 million worth of building...

Dye maker casts solutions in creative mold. (A.E. Cole Co.)(Company Profile)
August 30, 1996... When a Big Three auto company had a problem earlier this year in a manufacturing task, it turned to the A.E. Cole Co. of Columbus for a solution. The auto firm got its answer in two weeks, saving thousands of work hours to the auto maker and...

Benefits, training reduce small-firm turnover.
August 30, 1996... Good benefits, flexible scheduling and skills enhancement are all good ways for small and medium-sized companies to prevent employee turnover. With the small business climate flourishing, many companies are doing all they can to retain a...

Ranch gives troubled kids a second shot. (Buckeye Ranch caters to children with emotional and learning problems)(Company Profile)
August 30, 1996... Chores and classes finished for the day, Jonathan walks to the Argo building and knocks on Les Bostic's door. After receiving permission to enter, the 17-year-old youth walks over to Bostic's desk, carefully opens a glass jar and takes out a...