Business First-Columbus articles from December 2000

Business First-Columbus archives from December 2000

Greater Columbus SBA loan recipients.
December 1, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

MARKETS.
December 1, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

BANK RATES.
December 1, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

INDICATORS.
December 1, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

L&J Fasteners Inc.(receives awards from Dana Spicer Heavy Axle and Brake)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... L&J Fasteners Inc. received the Dana Spicer Heavy Axle & Brake Division award for cost-savings ideas and improvements for 1999-2000.

Urban Environments Inc.(receives awards)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Urban Environments Inc. received a Grand Award and a Merit Award for landscape maintenance in the 2000 Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association Awards Program. The awards were for the freeway interchange at Tuttle Crossing and for the Easton Oval...

Lidding County Convention & Visitors Bureau.(receives award)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... The Lidding County Convention & Visitors Bureau received a second place Ruby Award in the video promotion category from the Ohio Travel Association for its "Back Where 1 Belong" video.

David Eblin and Billy Sanders.(Mycarco automobile dealership)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Mycarco dealership owners David Eblin and Billy Sanders received the Ohio State Quality Dealer Award 2000 from the Automobile Dealers Alliance of Ohio, recognizing high standards of customer satisfaction, sales volume, community involvement and...

Class action suits remain effective ways to unite claims.(regulations)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Class actions have come under attack in recent years by tort reform advocates. Recent cases demonstrate, however, that class-action litigation shows a vitality that is likely to survive efforts to curb its use. Limitation opponents ...

HOLIDAY LIABILITY.(office party legal liabilities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Don't let your company crash the party If grandma gets run over by a reindeer, you better hope that reindeer wasn't drinking alcohol at your holiday office party. Liability during holiday parties is something more and more companies in...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.
December 1, 2000... ADVERTISING, MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS Hallett Gerbig Snell/Weisheimer & Associates Inc. hired Teresa Clayton as administrative assistant, Amy Erbskorn as senior vice president, Ashley Fujii as medical information specialist, Ed...

Online legal eagles may not be what they promise.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... "Be careful" is what Lynda Shely tells people looking for legal advice, a lawyer or a law firm on the Web. "There are a lot of people on the 'Net today giving legal advice who are not licensed by the Supreme Court of Arizona," said Shely,...

Breakup of business partnership isn't easy thing to do.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Statistics show 49 percent of all marriages in the United States result in divorce. It is not surprising that a large number of business partnerships suffer a similar fate. What is surprising is how ill-prepared businesspeople are to deal with...

Lawyers find career boost in developing CPA smarts.(Certified Public Accountant)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Every college student has tough decisions to make about what degree will be both most practical and most personally fulfilling. For those who ask, "Would I be better off going into law or accounting?" the answer maybe an uncomplicated "Yes."...

Privacy conference materials available on Web.(Privacy2000.org)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Privacy2000.org, a Web site created for a November privacy conference in Columbus, will remain online and offer conference materials and summaries. The conferences keynote presentation was delivered by Peter P. Swire, chief counselor for...

New employer guide available online, in print.(Ohio)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... A new guide detailing employer responsibilities with orders of garnishment is now available online and in paper form. The Employer's Guide to Processing Continuous Orders of Garnishment includes updates to Ohio's wage garnishment law made...

Recruiting old co-workers can result in court action.(Limited Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Lane Bryant Inc. wants its former controller to give back some of his stock option profits. The Limited Inc. unit isn't unhappy with the former executive's performance; it's upset a colleague joined him in his new endeavor. The...

Web site aims at law firms' buying power.(LawCommerce.com)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Seriously -- can anyone still get excited about the launch of yet another new Web site? Well, yes. David Johnson can. One of the senior attorneys at Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C., Johnson serves on the board of...

The Best Lawyers in America.(Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... The following lawyers from the Columbus office of Vorys Saner Seymour and Pease LLP are listed in the 2000-2001 edition of "The Best Lawyers in America," based on a peer-review survey: Mary Ellen Fairfield, Thomas B. Ridgley, Stephen R....

Dale K. Perdue and James E, Arnold.(attorneys' awards)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Dale K. Perdue and James E, Arnold, partners with Clark Perdue Roberts & Scott, are listed in the 2000-2001 edition of "The Best Lawyers in America," based on a peer-review survey.

Oberfield.(contract construction awards)(Ohio)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Oberfield's presented the following award in its hardscaping contest, rewarding outstanding contractor-based projects using Oberfield's concrete pavers and mortarless retaining walls: two residential awards to Reichle Bros., and two residential...

Pickaway project looks to annexation.(South Bloomfield, Ohio)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Developers have proposed annexing 826 acres into the Pickaway County village of South Bloomfield so a 100-suite hotel conference center and YUU homes could be built at Cooks Creek Golf Course. The golf course makes up about 330 acres of the...

New COO to help redefine Metatec.
December 1, 2000... Metatec International Inc. will usher in 2001 by turning its day-today business operations over to a veteran of the supply-chain services industry. Christopher A. Munro, 40, has been named chief operating officer of Dublin-based Metatec, a...

STARBUCKS POURS IT ON.
December 1, 2000... Five new units planned Starbucks Corp.'s expansion plans for Central Ohio continue to percolate. The Seattle-based coffee shop chain has five new shops planned for Greater Columbus, three of which are scheduled to open in mid-December....

Heritage Financial investors likely left out in cold.
December 1, 2000... Julie Adams says she knew it was coming, still she hated to see it happen. When Heritage Financial Net-work Inc. consented to its liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Adams figured the $5,000 she and her boyfriend invested in viatical...

Study sparks speculation of new state office tower.
December 1, 2000... Is a new state office tower being considered for downtown Columbus? A mid-November report to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft on how government agencies can improve their operations has sparked speculation that a new state office tower could be in the...

U.S. EPA's diversity practices under review.
December 1, 2000... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has been accused of discriminating against minority employees, retained a law firm to review its "workplace fairness and diversity practices." The team from Holland and Knight is led by...

Maybe OSU could name trees after Tiger.
December 1, 2000... Golf king Jack Nicklaus is going to join a very select club at Ohio State University. The OSU Board of Trustees was expected to approve a proposal Dec. 1 to name a campus roadway after the Golden Bear. The road that runs from the Woody...

Duke project gets OK.
December 1, 2000... Developer won't confirm job for Liebert Westerville's planning commission has approved construction of a 150,000-square-foot office building off Cleveland Avenue and Polaris Parkway, but developer Duke-Weeks Realty Corp. apparently is...

UDF looks to pump up gas sales through Exxon Mobil partnership.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... United Dairy Farmers, Cincinnati's home-grown dairy and convenience store chain with a strong Columbus presence, is shifting gears to keep pace with its giant competitors. Mobil signs will soon hang over UDF gas pumps, and the company's...

Air Force One acquires Star Mechanical Services.
December 1, 2000... Dublin-based Air Force One Inc., a mechanical, environmental and energy management contractor, has agreed to acquire Star Mechanical Services Inc. of Hamilton. The purchase price wasn't disclosed. W. Gregory Guy, Air Force One vice...

Cardinal Health forges vendor deal with Kettering.
December 1, 2000... Dublin-based Cardinal Health expects to generate annual revenue of $25 million from a new agreement to provide a variety of health-care products and services to Kettering Adventist Healthcare of Dayton. Kettering said it will purchase...

Kiplinger Foundation awards $2M to OSU.(Ohio State University)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... A gift of $2 million from the Washington, D.C.-based Kiplinger Foundation will augment the existing endowment supporting the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State University. OSU administrators said the funding will...

In face of judgment, IHN pushes into a new season.
December 1, 2000... "Bill Frank's Forever Young," a locally produced television show shown twice daily on the national Health Network cable channel is gearing up to produce a new season of episodes, according to IHN Awareness Inc., the company backing the show....

Buckeye Egg hits Lloyd's insurers with $15M lawsuit after tornado.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Buckeye Egg Farm LP has priced the damage to its operation from a Sept. 20 tornado at more than $15 million. Now the Croton megafarm wants underwriters for Lloyd's of London, through which it purchased insurance coverage, to pay up. ...

RFC Capital forges $10M deal with SingleSourceIT.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Two downtown Columbus firms forged in the New Economy and doing business mostly outside of Ohio have hooked up in a deal for working capital. RFC Capital has approved a $10 million credit facility for SingleSourceIT, the first deal for RFC...

Freshmen lawmakers look to make their own marks.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Greater Columbus' unprecedented crop of freshmen state lawmakers, being ushered in next month because of term limits' first-time turnover effects, are planning an eclectic plate of legislation largely tied to their professional backgrounds. ...

OhioHealth, Children's see newborn ICU partnership.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... The final piece in a new partnership puzzle between Children's Hospital and OhioHealth's hospitals should be in place by the end of December. Children's expects to be managing the Newborn Special Care Unit at Doctors Hospital West by then,...

Time Warner expanding telecom to reach northwest.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Time Warner Telecom Inc. will deploy its telecommunications services for businesses in the city of Delaware, Cheshire Center and in parts of Marion County in January. A spin-off of Time Warner Inc., the Littleton, Colo.-based telecom...

SmartPipes center in Dublin running.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Redwood, Calif.-based SmartPipes, a provider of managed Internet protocol services, says its 80,000-square-foot, carrier-class Americas Network Intelligence Center is fully operational. Based in Dublin, the SmartPipes Americas NIC is the...

BWC Dolphin Web site to see upgrades.(Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... The second wave of the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation's new e-business system will make its splash Dec. 18. Employers and injured workers will see significant upgrades on the bureau's Dolphin Project Web site, at www.ohiobwc.com,...

Axis Group hires Gruber to conduct crisis training.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Columbus-based Axis Group is tapping television journalist Steve Gruber to launch a new business program. Gruber, formerly an investigative reporter with WCMH, left the station to develop day-long media training workshops for Axis Group...

Axis Group expanding into warehouse space.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Gruber's new duties with the Axis Group is only one element of the company's growth. Axis Group traces its roots to a company named Promohouse founded by Grossman and partner Michael Levin in 1994. Today, Promohouse is a division called...

SBC's KrazyGlue.com garners national attention.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Columbus-based SBC Advertising Inc. is enjoying national media attention for one of its Web sites. KrazyGlue.com, a consumer Web site developed by the agency's interactive division, has been lauded by Netscape, Yahoo and USA Today ...

Mills/James lands Detroit airport work.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Columbus-based Mills/James Productions Inc. will bring both light and music to a 700-foot tunnel linking Northwest Airlines' international and regional terminals at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Mills James' work is a small piece of the...

Choice One launches telecom service in Columbus.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Rochester N.Y.-based Choice One Communications has turned on its telecommunications service in Columbus. The company is an integrated telecommunications provider selling voice and data services to medium-sized businesses. Choice One...

Modest group made Neil award flourish.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... When 1,000 people gather in Columbus Dec. 8 to honor child advocates from around the world, they will help the event's organizers achieve goals for the award about five years early. Now in its third year, the Kellogg's Hannah Neil World of...

Used-car retailer iMotors.com drives into Columbus.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... A San Francisco-based dotcom that finds, certifies and sells late-model used cars will start making deliveries Dec. 15 from a bare-bones center on Schrock Road. The company, iMotors.com, is moving into Columbus as part of a swift national...

Columbus State planning new tech degree programs.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Workers looking to advance in the construction trades may have to master Shakespeare as well as blueprints if Columbus State Community College gains approval to create a new associate degree program in applied technology. The two-year...

Bank One trims its lease at prominent Dayton high-rise.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Kettering Tower's biggest tenant, Bank One, has shed more than half of its space, leaving the prestigious Dayton office building with the biggest vacancy in its history. Bank One reduced its space by 100,000 square feet this month when it...

HBK steps in with merger deal for Evendale systems firm.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Evendale-based accounting systems firm Martin and Associates has become part of a large national company with plans for aggressive growth in Ohio, including Columbus. Partners Kevin Martin and Rick Wilson, along with their 20 employees,...

Jeep's new Toledo factory ready to give automaker its Liberty.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... DaimlerChrysler will begin building its Jeep Liberty vehicle at its new plant in Toledo, starting early next year. The Liberty, set to hit dealership showrooms in mid-2001, would stretch to four the automaker's line of Jeep sport utility...

Lawsuit claims park taken for ride by coaster's makers.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Paramount's Kings Island is suing three companies involved in building its $15 million Son of Beast roller coaster, alleging shoddy design and construction forced the Mason amusement park to close the ride last summer. The suit says the...

Nordstrom no longer interested in putting store in downtown Cincy.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Nordstrom Inc. is backing out of a proposed $48.7 million deal to build a department store on prime city-owned land in downtown Cincinnati. The Seattle retailer, which is scheduled to open a store at Easton in Columbus next year, said it's...

P&G indicates in SEC filing it wants Clairol product line.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. has acknowledged in regulatory papers that it is interested in acquiring the Clairol hair care line from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The Securities and Exchange Commission filing appeared to be an attempt...

Mount Carmel sees gain despite parent Trinity's loss.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Mount Carmel CEO Joseph Calvaruso seems to be rolling with the punches pretty well for someone whose parent company recently revealed an operating loss of $73.8 million for the past fiscal year. The financial news from Trinity Health's...

Crucial goal of team unity test of leaders' character.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Unity, or oneness, is the hallmark of an effective team. But few organizations succeed in launching and sustaining teams that remain "one" and "on mission" in our diverse culture. For a real solution we need to move beyond the business...

Wal-Mart heads downtown to try a reverse strategy.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... There's another interesting trend afoot in the downtown revitalization industry. Big-box companies like Wal-Mart are experimenting with a new retail concept: Namely, they're setting up small versions of the superstores that sucked...

SHOPPING AROUND.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Smaller cities look for businesses to help revitalize their downtowns Wanted: A few good businesses. Must be able to open early, close late, treat customers like family, change the merchandise and front window often and sweep the front...

CONNECTIONS.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Ann and Gary Ralston President (Ann), senior consultant (Gary) Ralston Consulting Inc. 877-724-4099 E-mail: info@ralstonconsulting.com Web site: www.ralstonconsulting.com How long have you been in this position or...

WWW.GARAGE.COM.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Company or organization: Silicon Valley-based Garage.com is a venture capital investment bank that provides funding services for high-tech startups. Since 1999, Garage.com has helped more than 60 technology startup companies raise more than...

Canal Winchester center opens for small businesses.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... CANAL WINCHESTER -- Small businesses in Fairfield County and southeastern Franklin County can find free business expertise at the newly opened Ohio Small Business Development Center in Canal Winchester. "I'm assisting business owners with a...

I'd like a first-class seat -- but hold the bacon, please.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Pigs do fly. The other day I read the USA Today account of US Airways letting a pig on the plane. The passenger claimed it was a 13-pound "service animal" and got a letter of doctor's approval to prove it. The pig was 250 pounds, and it...

Frontstep Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Fremont, Calif-based Centegy Corp. joined Frontstep Inc.'s e-partner program and will market and deliver the Frontstep E-Business Suite. Frontstep, formerly Symix Systems Inc., can be reached at 614-523-7000, or visit www.frontstep.com.

Edward Howard & Co.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Edward Howard & Co. entered a partnership with Connecticut-based Rivel Research Group to market Rivel's Outreach investor targeting program. Edward Howard & Co. can be reached at 614-224-4600. Fort Lauderdale-based Parkstone Medical Information...

CallTech Communications LLC.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... CallTech Communications LLC to provide support services and general product information for its physician customers by responding to inquiries and providing user support via phone, e-mail, fax and instant messaging 24 hours a day.

It can be business as usual after a top-dog transition.(executive transitions)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... The news of General Electric CEO Jack Welch's pending retirement created a stir among the news media, business world and investment community, as speculation rose as to who would replace Welch and what impact the formidable chairman's departure...

Savvy credit strategies can help cut borrowing costs.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... In today's fast-paced business environment, many business owners find themselves financing individual transactions, rather than planning their business growth. But it's vital to evaluate the payback of each potential new financing transaction...

Ohio Dominican College hired Conrad Phillips & Vutech.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Ohio Dominican College hired Conrad Phillips & Vutech as the first outside agency to handle advertising and branding assignments for the college.

$2.5M VC funding secured by ECNext.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... ECNext Inc., a Powell-based provider of online business intelligence, has received $2.5 million in its first institutional round of funding. River Cities Capital Funds of Cincinnati and Athenian Venture Partners of Athens will provide...

Sterling taps global marketing director.(Sterling Commerce; Steven Bell)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Sterling Commerce has appointed veteran e-business consultant and analyst Steven Bell as senior vice president of global marketing for the Dublinbased firm. Bell most recently served as founder and principal of iCommerce Consulting, where...

Capital creates new lab with Battelle funding.(Capital University)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Capital University has received a grant for $209,216 from Battelle Memorial Institute to support development of an undergraduate program called Computational Science Across the Curriculum. CSAC received a $400,000 award from the National...

DIGITAL MORPH.
December 1, 2000... Local firms diversify, take their software solutions to the open market It feels good to be in a position to know your business, embrace change and the mechanisms of delivery of information, and help those who depend on that information to...

Q&A.
December 1, 2000... Does your company allow workers to listen to audio CDs on their computers while at work? NATIONAL REGISTER COLUMBUS INC. Dave Molnar President "No. We're a highly intensive telephone business, and the listening would be...

WEB INSITE.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... URL: www.SurpriseltsColumbus.com Group: Greater Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau Contacts: Paul Astleford, president and CEO; Beth Ervin at 614-222-6127 or bervin@columbuscvb.org Site design: LSYinteractive, Columbus ...

COOL TOOLS.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Can't remember how to install memory chips or change your printer cartridge? Call up Techadvice.com. The site's multiple search options allow you to search by product, manufacturer or model number for software, hardware and peripheral...

Slow decisions may test e-tailers' holiday shipping.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... A local research firm's study of 20,000 online shoppers shows they're ready to buy -- but they just aren't sure where to shop, yet. Columbus-based BigReseach polled online shoppers in mid-November and found 51 percent were planning to buy...

Local firms recognized among emerging leaders.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Aelita Software Corp. of Powell and SingleSourceIT of Columbus have been selected as two of Computerworld's Top 100 Emerging Companies. Aelita was one of six companies selected in the network systems management category SingleSourceIT was one...

Make your workspace come alive with sound of music.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... We've come along way since data meant little green or amber text characters against a black screen. Today, more and more people are abandoning their old stereo equipment and listening to their data instead. It's true. A computer-based...

Wendy's closes 18 stores in Argentina, raises EPS goal.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Wendy's International Inc. dosed 18 underperforming restaurants in Buenos Aires, effective Nov. 28. The company had previously announced that its pretax operating loss in Argentina through the end of September was $3.2 million. As a result of...

Home sales activity slows in Columbus area.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Home sales activity in the Columbus area slowed slightly in October Local sales of new and existing homes totaled 1,447, a 1.8 percent drop from the 1,473 sales posted last year, according to figures compiled by the Ohio Association of...

Limited Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Comparable stores sales were up 3 percent in November for Limited Inc. The Columbus-based retail chain also reported net sales rose 4 percent to $869.9 million for the four-week period ended Nov. 25, compared to $838.8 million in 1999. Year to...

Intimate Brands Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Intimate Brands Inc.'s net sales rose 2 percent in November to $407.3 million from $400.0 million in 1999. Comparable store sales dropped 3 percent during the month, however. Year to date, the parent of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works...

Federated Department Stores Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2000... Federated Department Stores Inc. reported sales of $1.72 billion for the month of November, a 1.4 percent increase over the $1.70 billion reported last year. Comparable store sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 25 also rose 1.4 percent over...