Business First-Columbus articles from August 1998

Business First-Columbus archives from August 1998

Dublin scores 'nongolf' country club; Cinci developer plans $13M project at Blazer Park. (Cincinnati, OH-based Five Seasons Sports Country Club Inc.)
August 7, 1998... Developers hope to break ground in Dublin in January on an upscale $13 million country club catering to sports enthusiasts and their families who don't golf. And in golf-crazed Central Ohio, a well-heeled Cincinnati developer says it's tapping...

Castro venture rolls on $65M Albany Park project. (Don M. Castro Organization's mixed-use development)
August 7, 1998... Don M. Casto Organization and two development partners will move forward this month on the $65 million first phase of a long-awaited Northeast mixed-use development. The first phase of Casto's 500-acre Albany Park development consists of: ...

Plumbing supplier takes plunge Groveport; Duke lands Waxman at Southeast center. (Groveport Commerce Center; Duke Realty Investments Inc.; Waxman Consumer Products Group)
August 7, 1998... A Cleveland-based specialty products company will anchor the initial Groveport Commerce Center industrial project. Developer Duke Realty Investments Inc. has secured Waxman Industries Inc. for 113,000 square feet of its 354,000-square-foot spec...

OhioHealth Group strikes unified deal with insurer Aetna. (Aetna U.S. Healthcare)
August 7, 1998... OhioHealth Group Ltd. is one step closer to a final contract with Aetna U.S. Healthcare - a deal that could mean as many as 100,000 more patients for the Columbus health-care provider network. OhioHealth Group - a 50-50 partnership between...

For upscale New Albany, corporate projects to match.
August 7, 1998... Developers of the New Albany residential community have turned their attention to creating an equally upscale commercial section to sustain the village's growth into the next century. The village's commercial development will focus on more than...

Corporate Courier acquires competitor Lightning Delivery. (Lightning Delivery Service Inc.)
August 7, 1998... Reynoldsburg-based Columbus Corporate Courier Co., a 10-year-old courier service primarily serving Central Ohio, has acquired a Dublin-based competitor. Corporate Courier acquired assets of Lightning Delivery Service Inc. of Dublin, owned by...

Qualified, Everhart finally jump the fence with merger. (Qualified/Financial Advisors; Everhart Financial Group Inc.)
August 7, 1998... Two Columbus financial planning firms have merged and restructured to separately focus on middle-income and affluent clients. Qualified/Financial Advisors and Everhart Financial Group Inc. merged their operations in July after sharing office...

Acordia acquires Dayton agency. (Acordia of Ohio; Pottinger & Co.)
August 7, 1998... Dayton-based Pottinger & Co., an independent insurance agency, has been acquired by Acordia of Ohio. Robert Halstead, president of Pottinger, said he was approached by Acordia last fall and the two companies have since been negotiating. The...

Rental boom sparks concern. (overbuilding of apartments in in Great Columbus, Ohio)
August 14, 1998... Analyst says 'building glut' could harm market For a few years now, real estate consultant Ken Danter has waved a yellow flag to developers about potential overbuilding in the Greater Columbus apartment market. Now, a 7,900-unit spike in...

Fund targets Columbus for 'mezzanine' investment. (Ohio Mezzanine Investment Fund to invest in Columbus, Ohio)
August 14, 1998... Businesses stuck in the financing niche between bank loans and venture capital have new sources for money as "mezzanine" "investment funds come to Columbus. Cleveland-based Ohio Mezzanine Fund announced Aug. 11 that it has decided to look for...

Grant/Riverside expands services for mental health. (Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals)
August 14, 1998... Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals is expanding its mental-health services after a major downsizing only three years ago. Central Ohio's largest health-care provider is pumping more than $2.5 million into the development of a full-service...

Retail labor shortage hits 'crisis state.' (labor shortage in retail industry of Greater Columbus, Ohio)
August 14, 1998... Greater Columbus' retail sector has reached a "crisis state," caught between the economic oil-and-water of too-rapid expansion and too-low unemployment, according to the latest Franklin Forecast. And, the forecast says, as the mammoth Easton...

East of Chicago goes south with Columbus expansion. (East of Chicago Pizza Co to open new sites in Greater Columbus, Ohio)
August 14, 1998... A Willard, Ohio-based pizza chain plans to step up development of sites in Greater Columbus as well as outside the state. East of Chicago Pizza Co., headquartered in North Central Ohio, opened a franchise site in Newark in mid-July and plans to...

Telecom rollouts offer prospect of faster speeds, lower prices. (telecommunication in Columbus, Ohio)
August 14, 1998... Columbus business and residents can look for faster speeds, higher bandwidth and, most likely, lower cost for telecommunications services next year as competitors bring more choices to the market. Recent announcements by Sprint and Nextlink,...

Zero Base cooks up brand campaign for Cameron's. (Zero Base Advertising Inc; Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC)
August 14, 1998... Cameron Mitchell plans to spend $250,000 this year to indelibly brand his six restaurants on the hearts minds and stomachs of Central Ohio diners. Mitchell, president of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC, has named Zero Base Advertising Inc....

OB-GYN service group adds four physician practices. (MaternOhio Management Services LLC)
August 14, 1998... Four OB-GYN groups have joined MaternOhio Management Services LLC, creating one of the area's largest obstetrics and gynecological practice networks. The new members are: * Northwest Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates Inc. * Sarah...

Moving up ... spreading out. (acquisition activities of Columbus, Ohio, companies)
August 14, 1998... Are corporate acquisitions a quick profit source? Or do they hedge against future periods of lower productivity and less revenue? For Columbus companies, the answer to both questions is "yes." But the driving force within a company may differ...

GM parks parts center. (General Motors Corp.'s plans to open a distribution center in Columbus, Ohio)
August 21, 1998... Columbus one of three distribution sites for ACDelco division General Motors Corp. has its eyes set on Columbus for one of only three major facilities nationwide to serve its ACDelco parts distribution division. The nation's No. 1 automaker...

Doctors exec says decision drawing closer. (Doctors Hospital CEO Richard Vincent's decision to merge or remain independent)
August 21, 1998... Speculation over which of Doctors Hospital's reported suitors will win the health system's hand is peaking as a final decision by officials over the hospital's future appears imminent. A decision whether to merge or remain independent could...

Merchandise, store improvements help Value City battle big boys. (Value City Department Stores Inc.)
August 21, 1998... After a new management team was named at Value City Department Stores Inc. last year, some of the new bosses went from store to store for several months and took inventory. What they saw, they didn't like. Though stores were packed with...

Germains taking shine to Phoenix. (Columbus, Ohio-based automobile dealership's plans to expand in Phoenix, Arizona)
August 21, 1998... Dealership eyeing Valley of the Sun for expansion The Germain brothers may add Phoenix to the list of markets where the family-run business has an auto dealership. The Germain dealerships now number eight, with locations in Columbus and...

Bar sells online service to partner for $7 millon. (Ohio State Bar Association; Professional Electronic Networks)
August 21, 1998... Attorney Shawn Flahive needed to find a nurse who had disappeared with no forwarding address. An important medical malpractice case could turn on her vital testimony, he said. "She was a very key witness, and nobody knew where she was," said...

Local group teaches abroad without ever leaving home. (MUCIA Global Education Group Inc.)
August 21, 1998... Promoting a U.S. education overseas doesn't go very far if it's too costly to send professors abroad to demonstrate its virtues. A group with that mission - MUCIA Global Education Group Inc. of Columbus - has solved that problem by turning to...

Staying alive in the info jungle. (Macola Inc.)(TechNow)
August 21, 1998... Macola Software has found success in the small and midsized client/server applications market, growing at 30 percent annually since 1990. But the Marion-based company may face some challenges ahead. Last year's revenues reached $24 lion, and...

Cushy courses: Precision pampers students in luxury classrooms. (Precision Concepts Inc.)(Education & Development)
August 21, 1998... If learning can be enhanced by physical surroundings, students at Precision Concepts' new Dublin training center will have a cushy edge. The state-of-the-art technology education center opened this summer in Tuttle Crossing business district...

There's no escaping Net for off-campus students. (partnership between University of Dayton and Williams Communications Solutions)(Education & Development)
August 21, 1998... The University of Dayton is getting wired for sound. And video. And data. The private university has entered into a five-year partnership with Williams Communications Solutions, the nation's largest voice, video and data integration company,...

Takeover hits turbulence. (Ohio Co.'s merger with Fifth Third Bancorp)
August 28, 1998... The Ohio Co.'s merger with Fifth Third Bancorp is just two months old, but computer problems and cultural clashes have led to broker defections, customer complaints and investigations by securities regulators, according to many familiar with the...

With the deal done, work begins on integrating systems. (OhioHealth's merger with Doctors Hospital)
August 28, 1998... Officials at OhioHealth and Doctors Hospital intend to begin meeting next week to plan the months-long process of merging the hospital systems. OhioHealth officials say a firm plan on how Doctors will fit into Columbus' largest health-care...

Insurers: merger likely to raise prices. (OhioHealth's merger with Doctors Hospital)
August 28, 1998... The hospital giant that would be created from OhioHealth's purchase of Doctors Hospital has raised worries among some managed-care companies that the reduced competition locally could raise health-care costs. But antitrust law experts say...

Merger of mid-tier agencies creates large realty player. (Prudential Residential One Realty merges with Platinum Services Organization)
August 28, 1998... Realtors Joanne Figge and Michael Mahon will combine their mid-tier residential real estate companies Sept. 1 to create one of the market's top firms. The merger of Figge's Prudential Residential One Realty with Mahon's Platinum Services...

Lynch family buys Post: plans expansion into other markets. (Lynch Communications Ltd. acquires Empower Publishing Ltd.'s controlling interest in the Columbus Post)
August 28, 1998... The family that runs the Columbus Post has bought out the newspaper's majority owner and is going ahead with plans to use the paper as a base for a diversified "urban marketing" business. The deal was financed in part by the first-ever loan...

ICG promises callers savings with long-distance network. (ICG Communications Inc.)
August 28, 1998... Residents and small businesses in Columbus and 30 other cities are now able to make domestic long-distance voice calls for as little as 5.9 cents a minute on a data network supplied by ICG Communications Inc. ICG Netcom's IP Long Distance is a...

Toll Brothers nails down more land for development. (housing developer buys land in Columbus, Ohio)
August 28, 1998... Toll Brothers Inc. has expanded its Greater Columbus land holdings as it steps up the pace of regional housing development. In early June, the semi-custom production builder based in suburban Philadelphia lined up 71 acres from an Edwards Land...

Adecco rolls out kiosks to bring prospects to jobs. (employee placement company's automated Job Shop kiosks)
August 28, 1998... Kiosks that take job applications online have begun appearing in shopping malls and colleges in Columbus and elsewhere. The Job Shop kiosk concept has been pioneered by Adecco, an employee placement company, in an effort to meet the growing...