Business First-Columbus articles from December 1997

Business First-Columbus archives from December 1997

Haydocy acquires Schmidt Olds. (Haydocy Pontiac GMC Truck; Schmidt Oldsmobile)
December 26, 1997... Inventory moves to Haydocy's W. Side showroom A 40-year-old Oldsmobile dealership in the heart of Columbus has been sold to the Haydocy family, operators of another 40-year-old Columbus dealership. Paul and Jack Haydocy, owners of Haydocy...

Worker shortage vexes employers. (Columbus metropolitan area employment status)
December 26, 1997... Metro jobless rate among lowest, in U.S. study says The Columbus metropolitan area easily has the lowest unemployment level in Ohio and has one of the lowest jobless rates in the United States, a new Franklin University study shows. The...

Personal growth, reward cultivate employee loyalty. (Columbus, Ohio employment)
December 26, 1997... Companies that commit to employees' personal growth and reward them for their efforts stand the best chance of retaining workers, anew survey shows. Those two factors were considered more important to employees than work satisfaction or a...

Wolfes take stock of Ohio Co., sell brokerage to Fifth Third.
December 26, 1997... The Ohio Co. has entered a new era as a brokerage house owned by a Cincinnati bank rather than the prominent Wolfe family, which founded it in 1925. In a deal announced Dec. 23, Fifth Third Bancorp will acquire the Columbus-based brokerage...

Anthem looks to expand niche care network concept. (Anthem Inc)
December 26, 1997... Heartened by the cost-cutting success of its coronary services network, Anthem Inc. is expanding its Ohiowide niche network concept to other medical specialties. As many as a dozen niche networks, including breast cancer treatment and...

Docs want law so Ohioans can sue their HMOs, PPOs. (laws to govern Ohio's health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations)
December 26, 1997... Ohio physicians want to open the door for their patients to hold managed-care companies liable for medical negligence. The Ohio State Medical Association, a physician trade group, hopes to convince state legislators to introduce a bill in...

Sun's small-market strategy gives company new shine. (Sun Television and Appliances Inc)
December 26, 1997... Money-losing Sun Television & Appliances Inc. says it's on a turnaround tear under the consumer electronics retailer's new management. Though still losing money, Sun's earnings have shown steady improvement in recent quarters. And...

Development veteran takes Ruscilli Development helm. (Ruscilli Development Co)
December 26, 1997... The new president of Ruscilli Development Co. plans to step up his employer's acquisition of new commercial and industrial properties and expand its investor base. William J. Tippmann joined the Ruscilli Cos. division in October after...

AEP merger part of trend toward power consolidation. (American Electric Power)
December 26, 1997... Mergers such as the one proposed by American Electric Power and Central and South West Corp. will gather stem as power companies seek a "critical mass" of customers and states deregulate utilities, analysts predict. AEP announced Dec. 22...

Ohio Galvanizing outperforms projections: new unit added. (High Safety Corp)
December 26, 1997... MARION - Highway Safety Corp. of Glastonbury, Conn., has one successful operation in Marion and has started another. Ohio Galvanizing went into operation in February 1996 and has set a record pace for volume of tons steel galvanized. The...

Regulators try to piece together PIE leftovers. (PIE Mutual Insurance Co.)
December 19, 1997... PIE Mutual Insurance Co. rode high and fell hard. With two-thirds of Ohio's medical malpractice market in the late 1980s, PIE steadily lost the confidence of ratings firms, insurance brokers and many policy holders. But it was not until...

Region paces state in service-sector growth. (Columbus metro area; Ohio)
December 19, 1997... But lower share keeps economy strong Services employment market share RANK/ SERVICES MARKET LABOR MARKET SHARE 1. Las Vegas ...

Max & Erma's sets menu for gourmet pizza concept. (Max and Erma's Restaurants Inc.)
December 19, 1997... Max & Erma's Restaurants Inc. plans to test a gourmet pizza-and-pasta concept to bolster its flat bottom line. The first of the as-yet unnamed restaurants will open in March within a stop shopping center at Sawmill and Hard roads. Up to four...

Bank One, First USA offer small-business Visa card.
December 19, 1997... First USA and Banc One Corp. have introduced an experimental credit card for small-business customers. The banking giants, who merged this year, began marketing the Bank One Platinum Visa card by direct mail and telemarketing early this...

Mental Matrix: Malkoff makes package of mental health care. (Matrix Integrated Psychological Services; owner Kurt Malkoff)(Small Busines Strategies)
December 19, 1997... Kurt Malkoff Ph.D., took action about nine years ago when managed care companies kept chiseling away at his pay check. He started direct contracting with employers for psychological services. In the late 1980s, Malkoff wanted to capitalize on...

Building a future: old scout ties cast Karlsberger Cos. into training future architects.
December 19, 1997... Stephen Ivanko, a sophomore from Pickerington High School, has designed a library and is now working on his dream house. Ivanko participates in a career awareness program which introduces youth to architectural design professions. When he was...

Technograds earn $30K with 2-year degrees. (computer programmers)
December 19, 1997... The demand for trained computer programmers and related workers is so great in Columbus that many young people are routinely being offered $30,000-a-year or more for entry-level jobs. Herman L. Slonecker, chairman of the computer science...

Pizzuti readies Miranova's first phase. (Pizzuti Cos.' Chmn and CEO Ronald A. Pizzuti; Miranova office and residential development project)
December 12, 1997... 28-story condo tower, 16-story office tower anchor project Developer Ronald A. Pizzuti expects to break ground next summer on his revised Miranova office and residential development along the downtown riverfront and 1-70. The $100...

Minshall buys Key property; 88 E. Broad St. tower sells for reported $19M. (Minshall Capital Corp's purchase of KeyBank building)
December 12, 1997... Maryland-based Minshall Capital Corp. is buying the 20-story KeyBank Building at 88 E. Broad St. for a reported $19 million. Sources expect the new owner to spend another $3 million to upgrade the 250,000-square-foot multitenant tower, built...

SBC Advertising seals the deal for Thompson's products account. (SBC Advertising Inc's contract for Thompson's Water Seal television commercials)
December 12, 1997... Beginning in April, the television commercials for Thompson's Water Seal will be the work of Westerville-based SBC Advertising Inc. SBC was named agency of record for Thompson's and other products under the umbrella of Memphis-based Consumer...

Other carriers hope for slice of PIE's businesses. (PIE Mutual Insurance Co)
December 12, 1997... The financial woes of PIE Mutual Insurance Co. have meant opportunity for others in the medical malpractice industry. In the wake of nearly a month of reports on the financial condition of Cleveland-based PIE, insurance agencies and other...

Duke joins the court at Easton. (Duke Realty Investments Inc's real estate development projects in Easton, Ohio)
December 12, 1997... Duke Realty Investments Inc. has extended its Columbus office market aspirations to the Easton mixed-use development in Northeast Columbus. The Indianapolis-based developer will break ground in mid-January on the first of nine Easton...

4 new players set to enter Medicare HMO fray in '98. (Anthem Cos Inc; United HealthCare of Ohio; Mount Carmel Health System; OhioHealth Group HMO)
December 12, 1997... Central Ohio can expect an additional wave of Medicare HMOs to hit the market next year. Four Medicare HMOs are now doing business in Franklin County, according to the Health Care Financing Administration, the federal branch that administers...

Nationwide Health Plans adopts regional strategy.
December 12, 1997... Just months after toying with the idea of either getting out of or going national with its managed-care business, Nationwide Health Plans is forging ahead with a new regional strategy that will take its HMO statewide within. a year. The...

Three-C dents Lancaster market with new facility. (Three-C Body Shop Inc's collision repair facility at Lancaster, Ohio)
December 12, 1997... Three-C Body Shop Inc. is opening its second collision repair facility outside Franklin County. A 6,000-square-foot facility with the capacity to repair 1,000 cars annually and employing a dozen workers is set to open this month at 2188 E....

Mathews Click splitting property management unit. (Mathews Click and Associates)
December 12, 1997... Mathews Click & Associates has split its property management division and opened a third office outside Columbus to accommodate growth in its owner-occupied management business. In November, Columbus-based Mathews Click opened an office in...

First class action suit filed involving Year 2000 snafu. (Atlaz International's lawsuit against Software Business Technologies)
December 12, 1997... A small New York computer equipment seller has filed the first class-action lawsuit that involves reprogramming of computers for Year 2000. Atlaz International is suing San Rafael, Calif.-based Software Business Technologies for $50 million,...

Century Surety to expand through new acquisitions. (Century Surety Group)
December 12, 1997... What a difference a year has made for Century Surety Group. The small specialty risk insurer based in Columbus has become a key player in a rapidly growing business services company controlled by Canadian business maverick Michael G....

Ohio Periodicals, Scherer Cos. dispute IRS rulings on taxes. (Ohio Periodical Distributors Inc)
December 12, 1997... WASHINGTON - Ohio Periodical Distributors Inc. and Scherer Cos. have filed petitions asking the U.S. Tax Court to overturn the IRS rulings that could cost them thousands of dollars. Dublin-based Scherer Cos. is appealing an order to pay more...

... Just me and my doppelganger: Great Size Graphics lets buyers double their image cheap. (Great Size Graphics Corp)(Small Business Strategies)
December 12, 1997... Bruce Hoffman does stand-up, but don't look for him at the Comedy Club. Instead, try his basement in Powell. Hoffman is the president and - except evenings, when his wife Annette helps out - the only employee of Great Size Graphics Corp....

Hospital, MDs partner on diagnostic clinic. (Plans for Fairfield Diagnostics clinic established through a joint venture between Fairfield Medical Center and Fairfield Imaging Associates)
December 12, 1997... Lancaster - A $5 million clinic slated to open next summer in Lancaster will provide state-of-the-art X-ray and other diagnostic imaging services to a rapidly growing outpatient population. Plans for Fairfield Diagnostics - a joint venture...

Women athletes take it to The Edge, where workouts can lead to national fame. (The Edge Athletic & Fitness Center)(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
December 12, 1997... Megan Tornstrom has been working out for a long time - first as a high school athlete and, in recent years, as a fitness enthusiast pushed to the limit by a personal trainer. Tornstrom had never gone up against a challenge like that presented...

Education debate puts kids' health insurance on hold.(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
December 12, 1997... Insuring near-poverty children hostage to school funding Ohio legislators were on the cutting edge in expanding Medicaid for uninsured children of low-income families. But the state may lose out on federal assistance if its plan does not...

OSU charts brain trauma from accident to aftercare. (Ohio State University Medical Center)(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
December 12, 1997... Ohio State University Medical Center is one of five U.S. medical institutions picked to develop a program for long-term care of traumatic brain injuries. The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research will give OSU...

Keim steers dealership to West Side: Ford dealer plans $5M facility at West Hill Center. (Bob Keim Ford Inc.)
December 5, 1997... Bob Keim Ford is gassing up for a drive to the West Side. On Nov. 26, Jim Keim, president of Bob Keim Ford, purchased 8.5 acres of land off 1-70 at Hilliard-Rome and Renner roads for an undisclosed price. The property is one of six parcels...

PIE Mutual CEO says claims will be covered. (PIE Mutual Insurance Co. CEO Larry E. Rogers)
December 5, 1997... The medical malpractice claims will be paid. That was the main message from Larry E. Rogers, president and CEO of PIE Mutual Insurance Co., in a wide-ranging interview Nov. 22 with Business First. Rogers put a positive spin on the...

Court order brings 2-year slumber for sleep center. (Mount Carmel Health Regional Sleep Disorder Center)
December 5, 1997... Columbus Community Hospital's gain is Mount Carmel Health System's loss, at least for the next two years. The Mount Carmel Health Regional Sleep Disorder Center shut down Nov. 21 for two years as part of a covenant-not-to-compete clause in an...

Precision hopes to clean up with carwash-auto service combo. (Precision Auto Care Inc.)
December 5, 1997... Columbus figures into company's plans following $19M IPO Virginia-based Precision Auto Care Inc. plans to expand its auto service and carwash operations in Columbus with the Nov. 6 completion of an initial public offering. Precision Auto...

Nat City gets strategic fit with First of America buy. (National City Corp.; First of America Bank Corp.)
December 5, 1997... National City Bank could have a new name after its parent digests a $7.1 billion acquisition of First of America Bank Corp. Like Cleveland-based National City Corp., First of America, based in Kalamazoo, Mich., has about the same name...

New China Gate at Mill Run tests menu items for chain.
December 5, 1997... A nephew of Mark Pi International Inc.'s founder has opened a full-service restaurant under the China Gate moniker as the financially straggling chain seeks to create a new avenue of growth. Jim Roo, former director of real estate development...

Big Bear parent CEO espouses need for new corporate culture. (Penn Traffic Co. CEO Phillip E. Hawkins)
December 5, 1997... Big Bear and its sister stores at Penn Traffic Co. need widespread cultural change for survival of the troubled supermarket firm. That's according to Phillip E. Hawkins, CEO of Syracuse-based Penn Traffic and point man for sharp cutbacks...

Regulators say strict oversight would prevent dereg abuses.
December 5, 1997... An audit of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. last week that showed the California utility improperly subsidized its nonregulated sister companies reveals the dangers brought on by electric deregulation. Most Ohio officials, however, say the state...

Whirlpool picks Pizzuti for Pa. distribution project. (Whirlpool Corp.; Pizzuti Co.)
December 5, 1997... It took five years and three attempts, but Pizzuti Cos. has finally landed a Whirlpool Corp. build-to-suit industrial project. The Columbus real estate developer expects to break ground in early January on a 414,600-square-foot distribution...