Business First-Columbus articles from August 1997

Business First-Columbus archives from August 1997

Region's job machine keeps humming. (Columbus, Ohio)
August 1, 1997... Columbus second in the Midwest in job creation Greater Columbus employment snapshot SECTOR EMPLOYMENT 1994 1996 1994-96 SHARE OF CHANGE 1996 JOBS Total nonfarm jobs...

Federal agencies plan to reserve more contracts for small business.
August 1, 1997... WASHINGTON - Federal agencies promise they will buy more from small businesses in coming years. At least. that's what they said in an internal survey to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. According to the survey, almost 70 percent of...

Dillon Capital acquired by Loomis Sayles & Co. (Dillon Capital Management L.P.; Loomis Sayles and Company L.P.)
August 1, 1997... Dillon Capital Management, a $100 million money management firm in Columbus. has been sold to a firm that is part of a company managing $100 billion in assets. The sale for an undisclosed amount to Loomis Sayles & Co. LP was completed July 28,...

Lawmakers look to change insurance agent licensing. (Ohio)
August 1, 1997... Insurance agents would receive a lifetime license under a major overhaul of the insurance agents licensing law. Bills introduced July 22 in the Ohio House and Senate would provide the first major revamping in 30 years of the way insurance...

Union Savings plants second branch in Franklin County. (Union Savings Bank; Ohio)
August 1, 1997... With one ATM and a toehold in the competitive mortgage lending market, Union Savings Bank plans to open its second office in Central Ohio in September. The Cincinnati-based thrift will open a branch on Morse Road in space formerly occupied by...

Organized labor group hits BWC with suit over managed care. (Bureau of Workers' Compensation)
August 1, 1997... The Bureau of Workers' Compensation has been hit with a lawsuit that claims its managed-care program for injured workers is unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed June 30 in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the Northwestern Ohio...

Public Storage Inc. brings concept to Gateway park. (Gateway Business Park)
August 1, 1997... The first tenant within Grove City's Gateway Business Park will be a new concept from Public Storage Inc. Public Storage Pickup and Delivery has agreed to lease 51,200 square feet within Building 1 of the Ruscilli Real Estate Services-developed...

Mergers become part of fabric of insurance biz. (Columbus, Ohio)
August 1, 1997... Mirroring the national insurance industry, Columbus brokerages are seeing mergers and divestitures on a regular basis. Two recent developments illustrate the trend. On July 15, Anthem Insurance Companies completed its merger with Acordia....

Employers work to curb telecommuter liability risks. (Ohio)
August 1, 1997... When an employee works at home, companies need to think about extending an insurance roof beyond the firm's walls. Most telecommuters work in home offices and face similar workplace safety issues as clerical or managerial employees. At...

Providers step up marketing of Medicare HMO products. (health insurers)
August 1, 1997... Health insurance companies have discovered a way to market their Medicare HMO products and save local businesses money on retirement health benefits. United HealthCare of Ohio Inc. and Mount Carmel Health System have been marketing Medicare...

Strike brings UPS and downs for local firm. (impact of the United Parcel Service strike)
August 8, 1997... Some local businesses are reeling, others are benefiting, and despite fears to the contrary, the post office says it's handling the extra load created by the ongoing United Parcel Service strike. "Everybody's just up in arms," said Cheryl...

New CFO gives Donatos ingredient in growth recipe. (Donato Pizza's expansion program)
August 8, 1997... Donatos Pizza has added the former CFO of Quality Dining Inc. as the final topping to its management team as it prepares to turn up the heat on expansion, perhaps through a public offering. Mike Sosinski offers the Columbus-based chain as much...

Chicago realty firm primes way into Columbus market. (Prime Group's acquisition of eight Greater Columbus industrial properties)
August 8, 1997... A private Chicago-based real estate development and investment firm has entered Ohio with the acquisition of eight Greater Columbus industrial properties. Prime Group's purchase of the former Standard Management Co. warehouse portfolio Aug. 4...

MicroSearch sees big future for its small-cap investors. (MicroSearch Investments LLC focus on small-cap investors)
August 8, 1997... If you have at least $100,000 to invest in stocks few people know about, Craig Brunton wants to talk to you. In May, Brunton founded MicroSearch Investments LLC., specializing in investment management services focused on small-cap and micro-cap...

Nelson revs into position as top Lamborghini dealer. (Nelson Auto Group, top Lamborghini dealer)
August 8, 1997... When Greg Nelson contacted Automobili Lamborghini USA Inc. in 1995 to become the company's 22nd new car dealer in the United States, Lamborghini officials looked hard at his Marysville location. The location "certainly did not lend itself" to...

Banc One exec joins KPMG to build practice for 'EVA.' (Eleanor J.E. Bloxham, KPMG's director for economic value management for financial institutions)
August 8, 1997... KPMG Pete Marwick has lured a Banc One Corp. executive to head up its national efforts in touting a new analytical tool to evaluate financial companies. Eleanor J.E. Bloxham, vice president at Banc One, will begin her job as KPMG's director...

Southern to offer electric and gas marketing services. (Southern Energy Inc electric and gas marketing)
August 8, 1997... The Columbus office of Southern Energy Inc., a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., is gearing up to provide electric and gas marketing services. The move comes in the wake of the announced combining of operations with Vastar Resources Inc.,...

Pi deals commissary unit to franchisee. (Mark Pi restaurant chain commissary affiliate Cornerstone Foods Inc.)
August 15, 1997... The Mark Pi restaurant chain's commissary affiliate has moved to liquidate its business after selling its major assets to the chain's largest franchisee. The company hopes the Aug. 1 Chapter 7 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbus allows...

Hog operation breeds developer discontent.
August 15, 1997... Farmers, builders latest stink surfaces near Pickerington When the piglets arrived last spring at the farm across the road, developer Mike Hiser wasn't particularly concerned. He thought the mud wallowers numbered about a dozen. But in...

Hospitals find medical group acquisitions can lose money. (Greater Columbus hospitals)
August 15, 1997... Greater Columbus hospitals continue to lose money on physician practice acquisitions, a new surety says. A report from Columbus-based Center for Healthcare Industry Performance Studies finds that hospitals nationwide struggle to turn a profit...

Columbus State plans $1.3M for 'distance learning.' (Columbus State Community College)
August 15, 1997... Columbus State Community College plans to spend $1.3 million on technology upgrades to advance its "distance learning" efforts. The downtown community college hopes to offer its first teleconferencing-style course in a year. But a lot of...

Purchase lets WZJZ simulcast jazz format. (WZJZ-FM 104.3)
August 15, 1997... East Side "Smooth Jazz" enthusiasts don't have to travel across town anymore to tune into Dublin-based WZJZ-FM. Beginning Aug. 15, WZJZ (104.3) began simulcasting its music format on a second frequency - 103.5 FM, formerly oldies station WSWZ...

Hot market for commercial helps move Worthington Mall. (sale of Worthington Mall)
August 15, 1997... The sale of Worthington Mall to an affiliate of a Dallas-based pension fund adviser is another example of a heated market for retail properties, local brokers say. Columbus Retail Inc., an affiliated of Sarofim Realty Advisors, acquired the...

New Charley's Steakery president ready to put sizzle into chain. (Charley's Steakery Inc.)
August 15, 1997... Charley's Steakery Ohio State University YEAR NO. YEAR- SYSTEMWIDE Junior Charley Shin, END SITES SALES then 22, opened his 1993 19 $5.8 million first Charley's...

Great Mall project helps put Glimcher on national map. (Glimcher Realty Trust)
August 15, 1997... Glimcher Realty Trust has emerged as a national acquirer and developer of retail real estate, breaking its image as a regional player since its January 1994 IPO. The Aug. 14 opening of the Great Mall of the Great Plains is the first launch of...

Kelley, Weiler partner on housing project in Dublin. (Donald W. Kelley & Associates Inc. and Robert Weiler Co. joint venture)
August 15, 1997... A Donald W. Kelley & Associates Inc. and Robert Weiler Co. joint venture has opened 48 acres for executive housing in Dublin. Townsend Construction Co. has completed utility and road work for 95 homes in the first phase of Hawk's Nest - located...

Student, neighborhood input shapes campus-area plan. (Ohio State University's Campus Partners hires Goody, Clancy and Associates for campus development)
August 15, 1997... A Boston planning firm hired to form a development strategy for the Ohio State University campus area has completed an extensive information gathering with initiative local officials, business owners and students. Boston-based Goody Clancy &...

Tax cuts benefits small business, but could cost treasury billions.
August 15, 1997... WASHINGTON - The recently passed tax bill offers some long-awaited tax relief for small businesses. But it could be expensive for taxpayers: Tax cuts aimed at small businesses will cost the Treasury an estimated $30 billion over the next 10...

Carnie pitches. (state fair 'product demonstrators' in Columbus, Ohio)(Small Business Strategies)
August 15, 1997... Hard-sell fair hucksters show how to close a deal They are the last of the Willie Lomans, out there selling on a shoeshine and a smile. Every day a new audience and every week a new town. August brings the state fair to Columbus - and with...

Neoprobe survives thin years, looks to product success. (Neoprobe Corp.)(Small Business Strategies)
August 15, 1997... If independent analysts and company officials are a good guide, now might be the right time to purchase Neoprobe Corp.'s stock. The Dublin-based cancer-treatment developer is on the verge of having its innovative surgical treatment system...

'Coach' carves out niche in aiding others' careers. (career coaches)(Small Business Strategies)
August 15, 1997... Does life get in the way with achieving your personal goals? Are excuses, fear or the lack of time preventing you from reaching that goal? Well, maybe you need a personal coach. Patricia Meiburg wanted to return to work after staying at home...

Fast talking. (local telecommunications providers)(TechNow)
August 15, 1997... Local-phone providers all promising faster, better, MORE... They come to your offices smiling, and outstretched, hale fellow well met. Some are dressed in suits and ties, others in golf shirts with the company logo neatly embossed above the...

Phone giants see future, and its internet. (Internet telephony software)(TechNow)
August 15, 1997... Two years ago, I said hello into my PC's microphone and then listened with amazement as some stranger's voice came crackling back over the Internet. It was the first generation of Internet telephony software, made by a tiny Israeli start-up...

Shelter Board tackles roots of homeless. (Community Shelter Board; Columbus, Ohio)(Corporate Caring)
August 15, 1997... If you build it, they will come. That was the fear in Columbus five years ago when community leaders, realizing the success of the Community Shelter Board, insisted that agencies serving the Columbus homeless community limit their shelters to...

Math still divides by gender. (math gender gap)(Inside Report)
August 15, 1997... Long after high school geometry and calculus have become distant memories, fear of math continues to haunt many women. They choose from a smaller menu of career choices, usually with more limited earnings potential. They stay clear of top...

Vocational ed may face funding hit. (school financing and other programs affecting vocational and adult education programs)(Inside Report)
August 15, 1997... Job-linked training not reform priority As the Ohio Legislature wrestles with the issue of school financing and other reforms, the state's manufacturers have raised the alarm about how these changes will affect vocational and adult education...

Private colleges woo students with financial aid. (Central Ohio's private colleges)(Inside Report)
August 15, 1997... For many, going to a private college means majoring in debt, but Central Ohio's private colleges are offering many more sophisticated financing methods to help students fund the education of their dreams. Area experts advise students and...

Walkout at UPS helps unions gain momentum. (United Parcel Service)
August 22, 1997... In the wake of the Teamsters Union declaring victory against United Parcel Service, there are signs that union clout is growing in Central Ohio as well. "I walked into work today feeling pretty good about the (labor) movement," Harold Powell,...

Cassady seeks investors for Dalt's, Rax expansion. (Cassady & Associates; restaurants)
August 22, 1997... A Worthington-based land and business development company plans to bolster expansion of the Dalt's casual dining and Rax fast-food chains through a new capital-raising affiliate. Cassady & Associates' C&A Financial Co. division also will seek...

Dispatch shift in ad firms tied to update of strategy.
August 22, 1997... The Columbus Dispatch has tapped a new advertising agents, to develop a new long-range strategy and brand. After 16 years with Columbus-based Burkholder Flint Associates Inc., the Dispatch has named Dublin-based Fahlgren Inc. its advertising...

On impulse! (t-shirt designer Impulse Wear Inc.)
August 22, 1997... T-shirt designs cool enough to steal Impulse Wear Inc., a designer of art transfers, is a successful, growing business with a common problem: Some people want to steal some of its business. The Blacklick-based business can handle the...