Business First-Columbus articles from August 1999

Business First-Columbus archives from August 1999

Retirement village being sold.(First Community Village)
August 6, 1999... Purchase of 1st Community Village step toward Ohio expansion for ACTS First Community Village, one of Central Ohio's first retirement centers, is in talks to be purchased by one of the nation's largest nonprofit continuing-care retirement...

Will Ironwood take root?(Ironwood Cafe)
August 6, 1999... Max & Erma's wrestles with expansion of its new restaurant line When Max & Erma's Inc. cooked up its Ironwood Cafe in Columbus last year, the company planned to operate eight of the pizza-and-pasta restaurants before the new millennium....

Tech incubator preparing for fall expansion.(expansion of the Business and Technology Center in Columbus, Ohio)
August 6, 1999... Center spending $5M to double size of Kinnear Road operation When Dave Cattey took over the city's technology incubator in 1990, it sat at the corner of what he calls the "cross-hairs of Columbus' high-crime area." Nowadays, the...

Too few people....(high employment growth and low population growth in Central Ohio)
August 6, 1999... Can't keep pace with jobs rise, study cautions Central Ohio's population growth has remained well below its employment growth for years, a "debilitating situation" that cannot be sustained and could soon trigger a rise in area unemployment,...

Freedom center contract puts Cramer in new league.(Hodge Cramer and Associates)
August 6, 1999... Dublin firm heads effort to raise $90 million for Cincinnati project Dublin-based Hodge Cramer & Associates will direct efforts to raise $90 million for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, proposed as part of Cincinnati's...

Where crafting landscapes means restoring the ecology.(Genius Loci Inc.)
August 6, 1999... Genius Loci saves plants from builders' bulldozers, returns them in designs The entrepreneurial light bulb turned on for Craig Limpach several years ago when he was watering plants at an office building on Stelzer Road. Outside the...

Glimcher ad campaign bids to distinguish Jersey mall.(Glimcher Realty Trust's retail mall in New Jersey)
August 6, 1999... Tough market prompts tack to 'brand' Jersey Gardens Columbus-based Glimcher Realty Trust, fighting to build its Polaris Fashion Place retail mall north of Columbus, is elbowing its way into the competitive New York market in another new...

Spata hopes to make waves with its Net-use technology.(Spata Communication Corp.)
August 6, 1999... An employee of a local company travels to Los Angeles on business, laptop computer in tow. In L.A., she wants to use the Internet but her Internet service provider doesn't permit access from such a distance, leaving her with limited options....

Perimeter extension planned.(Ruscilli Development Co.'s Perimeter Center in Dublin, Ohio)
August 13, 1999... Ruscilli bidding for more of a hot Dublin office market Ruscilli Development Co. plans to extend Perimeter Center in Dublin with an 83-acre Class A office park off Post Road and Route 33 west of Avery Road. Documents filed with the...

N.Y. firm to chase billions in school work.(Albany, New York-based BBL Construction Services entry into Columbus, Ohio)
August 13, 1999... A New York construction services company is opening its first Ohio office in Columbus next month to better handle its state contracts managing up to $300 million in school facilities construction. Albany-based BBL Construction Services...

Tight squeeze.(manpower shortage in Delaware County, Ohio)
August 13, 1999... Firms with tax abatement deals caught between rock and hard place: Although required to hire workers, they can't seem to find any Too many people in Delaware County, don't need jobs. That's a way of looking at the job crunch in that...

OHA, Total trading swipes over HMO's financial health.(Ohio Hospital Assn; Total Health Care Plan Inc.)
August 13, 1999... The Ohio Hospital Association is putting a spotlight on the financial stamina of Total Health Care Plan Inc., a measure executives at the Medicaid HMO likened to "political whacking." In a July 21 letter to 31 OHA members that have...

Without a history, Jackets pick novel way to sell seats.(Columbus Blue Jackets professional hockey team)
August 13, 1999... Infomercial will anchor club's season-ticket sales blitz How do you market a team when there won't be players on the club until next summer? The Columbus Blue Jackets are embarking on their final months-long push to sell at least...

With phones and fax machines, HR types take on telecommuters.(human resources management for home-based employees)
August 13, 1999... As if it isn't hard enough for human resources managers o keep track of employees, technology has created the opportunity for workers to earn their keep from home - that much farther from the HR department's reach. But though managing...

Credit unions at odds over rules to serve low-incomers.(the Ohio Credit Union League and the proposal by the National Credit Union Administration for the documentation of goals to serve low-income members)
August 13, 1999... Making credit unions spell out how they're serving low-income communities, as one regulator has proposed, "doesn't make sense" and is the wrong way to promote such services, according to the head of Ohio's credit union trade group. Paul...

The aim: giving HR types a little less to worry about.(personnel supply services)
August 13, 1999... With temporary agencies, the drill is usually the same: an employee from the agency goes to a client's site, working in whichever position is empty at the time, then heads out the door when the client doesn't need him anymore. But two...

Mixed message.(employee recruitment technique)
August 13, 1999... Scrambling for workers, employers are tagging 'Help Wanted' pleas onto ads for their products or services Columbus car dealer Keith Dennis tells radio listeners they can visit his dealership for a new Pontiac - or a well-paying job. With...

Too Inc. is 3rd retailer unshackled by Limited.
August 20, 1999... When Limited Inc. creates Central Ohio's newest public company, spinning out its Limited Too operations Aug. 23, it will-provide the retailer's strongest division the kind of independence its parent now enjoys. The planned spin-off will...

Area home builders enjoy health 1st half.(Central Ohio)
August 20, 1999... Though not among the nation's hottest areas for new-home building, Central Ohio out-paced major Midwestern cities in permits for the construction of single-family houses in the first half of this year, an industry research firm reports. ...

Wendt Bristol will wrestle with losses for rest of 1999.
August 20, 1999... Chairman says start-up costs, writedowns came too fast for firm to avoid On the eve of its annual shareholders meeting, Wendt Bristol Health Services Corp.'s chairman says the company's profitability likely won't be restored before the...

Sale of Jacobs' area malls tied to their redevelopment.(real estate developer Richard E. Jacobs Group Inc.)
August 20, 1999... On Aug. 16, Cleveland developer Richard Jacobs said he would sell much of his real estate company's multistate holdings of hotels, office buildings and shopping malls as means to plan his estate. But two days later, the 74-year-old Jacobs,...

Ex-Click execs buying back residence business from CB.(former Mathews Click & Associates executives Rob Click,Terry Mathews and Doug Jackson; CB Richard Ellis Inc.)
August 20, 1999... Three former Mathews Click & Associates principals are part of a group that will buy back the residential management business their former employer sold last year to CB Richard Ellis Inc. Rob Click, Terry Mathews and Doug Jackson will join...

Blue Star hoping to become red hot with electronics firms.(Blue Star Material Technologies Inc.)
August 20, 1999... Phillip E Myers got out the history books to study California's famed gold rush as he prepared to get his indium tin oxide manufacturing plant running this week. The president of Columbus-based Blue Star Material Technologies Inc. was...

Honda putting engine plant production into overdrive.(Honda of America Manufacturing Inc.'s facilities in Anna and East Liberty, OH)
August 20, 1999... Production at Honda's engine factory in Anna and its assembly plant in East Liberty is being stepped up as the automaker moves into its 2000-model year buoyed by its hot-selling minivan. Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. this month began...

MLS hopes new commish gives league marketing kick.(Major Soccer League; Commissioner Don Garber)
August 20, 1999... Sponsorship packages come up for renewal after season concludes Major League Soccer has landed a highly regarded former NFL executive as its new commissioner, but now Don Garber has to persuade sponsors to invest in soccer and breathe new...

Teamsters end bid at Honda.(Teamsters Local 413 fails in bid to organize workers at three Honda auto plants in Central Ohio)
August 27, 1999... Too few worker signatures, threat of vote clash with UAW curtail organizing effort A bid by Teamsters Local 413 to organize workers at three Honda auto plants in Central Ohio is finished - the union local's organizer saying the effort had...

Garnishment law criticized for errors, complexity.(Ohio state wage garnishment law)
August 27, 1999... A new state wage garnishment law shifts the legal burden from creditors to employers for the first time and exposes employers to civil liability as a result, legal experts said. The law change, which took effect March 30, also contains a...

Lawsuit: UPS took checks to collect on unpaid bills.(Midwest Productions sues United Parcel Service)
August 27, 1999... A Kentucky company is suing United Parcel Service in a Franklin County court, alleging the delivery business opened its packages, took out checks and deposited them as a way to collect unpaid bills. Midwest Productions, a Manchester,...

Catellus' first investment in area made at SouthPark.(Catellus Development Corp.)
August 27, 1999... Firm buys 3 Pizzuti-built projects from pension fund A California real estate investment and development company has taken a major stake in Grove City's industrial market with a $27 million acquisition of three SouthPark properties. An...

Columbus becoming center of community bank funds.(Ohio)
August 27, 1999... Diversified Capital forms sector mutual fund for investors in small banks Investors interested in community bank stocks will have two mutual funds to choose from starting next month - and both will be based in Columbus. The U.S....

Stage still being set to sway voters in shopping malls tiff.(movement for repealing tax increment financing mounted in Columbus, Ohio)
August 27, 1999... PR experts say message will likely take aim at 'future of Columbus' When voters are courted this fall on the contested tax program that paid for roads at Polaris, communicators on both sides of the debate will need to position their...

COTA's tax levy pitch won't be a mass-media campaign.(Central Ohio Transit Authority)
August 27, 1999... Complex message shapes how authority will seek support from voters In the political lull before Labor Day, a campaign staff of two has moved into offices in the Short North. From there, Joe King and Tracy Maxwell are working out myriad...

Overseas areas appetizing for growing Steak Escape.
August 27, 1999... Chain sees stand-alone restaurants fitting into mix of expansion effort Escape Enterprises Ltd. is kicking its growth plans into high gear with a burgeoning overseas expansion program aimed at whetting appetites for Philadelphia-style...

Lagging sales prompting jobs cutback at Westfield.(Westfield Cos.)
August 27, 1999... Westfield Cos. is cutting 61 jobs at its Polaris offices after sales at one of the insurer's subsidiaries failed to meet expectations. The Medina County-based company is moving another eight jobs to its Northeast Ohio headquarters as part...

Fairfield Medical CEO speaks out against competitor.(Fairfield Medical Center CEO Creighton Likes)
August 27, 1999... Likes reiterates stand that second hospital not needed in county LANCASTER - Taking a swipe at a competitor planning to enter his market, Fairfield Medical Center President and CEO Creighton Likes said another hospital is not needed in...