Business First-Columbus articles from July 1995

Business First-Columbus archives from July 1995

Director may make play for temple. (Masonic Temple in Columbus, Ohio)
July 3, 1995... The Masonic Temple, located at 34 N. Fourth St., is possibly in the twilight of its existence. But Jim Semmelman has different ideas. The independent artistic director out of New York City wants to turn the temple into a professional music...

Workers see bright horizon for child care. (Bright Horizons Children's Centers Inc.)
July 3, 1995... Riverside, Grant opt for name provider One of the nation's leading providers of on-site corporate child care will be feeding, hugging, and changing diapers for the children of Riverside Methodist Hospitals and Grant Medical Center employees....

Symix, ex-president to battle in court. (Symix Systems Inc.; O. Kent LaRoque)
July 3, 1995... Federal and county courts are being asked to resolve an impasse in settlement talks between Symix Systems Inc. and its recently departed president and chief operating officer. O. Kent LaRoque, who was fired in May, filed a lawsuit June 22 in...

Firm to open 'hospital within hospital' at Park. (American Transitional Hospitals Inc.; Park Medical Center)
July 3, 1995... A new kind of hospital is opening in Columbus next month to treat patients who no longer need the services of an intensive care unit but who are too ill to return home. The facility, operated by Franklin, Tenn.'s American Transitional...

Quantum Software files $20M suit over dispute. (Quantum Software Inc.)
July 3, 1995... Quantum Software Inc. of Columbus has filed a $20 million lawsuit against two of its board members, a business owned by the two members, Cincinnati Bell Information Systems Inc. and another individual for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary...

City bonds to fund Old North Columbus face lift. (Columbus, Ohio)
July 3, 1995... When Ed Cooper opened Sunflower Natural Foods in 1982, he figured he could make it work despite the crumbling neighborhood. Cooper was typical of business owners along High Street between campus and Clintonville. They worked independently,...

Scotts grows its business through brand equity. (Scotts Co.)
July 3, 1995... Theodore "Ted" Host likes the fact that gardening is one of the fastest growing pastimes in America. It is his intention to capitalize on the growing number of do-it-yourself gardeners. Host, president and chief executive officer of...

Manufacturer builds success on sifting sands. (Ohio Central Steel Co.)
July 3, 1995... Twenty-some years ago, Bernard Cohen came to Columbus and started making mining machinery. Today, nearly his whole family contributes to the success of Ohio Central Steel Co. and its monstrous portable screening device, the Screen Machine....

Bull market sweeps local stocks upward. (stock market; Columbus, Ohio companies)
July 3, 1995... Local stocks are benefiting from the bull market that has swept Wall Street in 1995. Companies such as Applied Innovation, Banc One Corp., Worthington Foods, Danninger Medical Technology, Cardinal Realty and State Auto have seen significant...

Accel International Corp. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 3, 1995... ACLE Nasdaq Accel International corp. is an insurance holding company founded in 1978 as the successor to Acceleration Corp., an Ohio corporation organized in 1969. The company sells, and underwrites group life and health insurance, credit...

Cities fight to regain flow control. (garbage disposal)
July 3, 1995... Right to direct trash key to financial health "Flow control" may sound like a subject that traffic experts or sewage technicians might mull over. But flow control concerns garbage, and it's been debated by Congress and scrutinized by the...

Dead streams at Meigs mine recovering.
July 3, 1995... In 1993, Meigs mine owners pumped millions of gallons of acid-tainted water into Southeastern Ohio creeks following a flood that nearly cost a dozen men their lives. On the evening of July 11, 1993, more than a billion gallons of toxic iron...

Groups fight law to build Ohio nuclear waste dump.
July 3, 1995... Environmentalists are plotting their strategy on how best to fight the decision by Republican state lawmakers to build a six-state, low-level radioactive waste dump. But GOP Gov. George V. Voinovich, who signed the bill to build such a...

Black market battle seen over upcoming Freon ban.
July 3, 1995... Conversion to 'ozone friendly' CFC is costly The coming ban on certain CFCs - chlorofluorocarbons - for air conditioning systems have made some car owners and automotive repair shops hot under the collar. While the changes in legal CFCs is...

Household toxic waste collection lauded as model.
July 3, 1995... Fewer than 1 percent of Columbus residents participate in the monthly collections of hazardous household wastes, yet the program is seen as wildly successful. "This is the largest mobile household collection program in the U.S.," said Fred...

Tax-free lunch gets nod from small biz reps.
July 3, 1995... Small business owners care most about regulation and taxation if the results of the White House Conference on Small Business is any indication. According to David Sheffler, Lancaster business owner and co-chair of the Ohio delegation, at least...

Incubator hatches minority businesses. (Redwood Development Center)
July 3, 1995... Sam McDaniel is a man who gestures for emphasis. What he likes to emphasize these days is the success and the ever-flowing change of his 11-year work in progress, Redwood Development Center. As he talks about motivation for business success...

Ma and Pa demand more franchise rights. (Ma and Pa America)
July 3, 1995... Susan Kezios talks a lot about Ma and Pa America. In her mind, these people, not Ray Kroc's corporate empire, are the ones running that McDonald's down the street. Kezios represented Ma and Pa America at the White House Conference on Small...

Small businesses join data base bandwagon. (database marketing)
July 3, 1995... Believing that the one with the most data wins, Fekete + Co. Inc. is teaching small businesses to do database marketing. A database is more than names and addresses, said Sandy Fekete, president of the advertising and marketing firm. It has...

Consolidated on attack, sues ex-president. (Consolidated Stores ex-Pres. Brady J. Churches)
July 17, 1995... Retailer alleges Churches tried to hire away workers Consolidated Stores Corp. is at odds with its recently departed president Brady J. Churches. The giant Columbus-based discount retailer and liquidator issuing Churches and another former...

Legent may lose legions. (LEGENT Corp.)
July 17, 1995... Feds continue their probe into takeover of computer firm If the U.S. Justice Department allows Computer Associates International to take over Legent Corp., as many as half of Legent's 200 employees in Columbus could lose their jobs, analysts...

State workers find cheapest health plan the best. (Ohio)
July 17, 1995... For the scores of health insurers doing business with the state, spring is courting season - a chance to lure state employees away from competing health plans. In this year's rite of spring known as open enrollment, 13 health insurers offered...

Podiatrist finds satisfaction, niche in surveying. (MedSurv owner Jeffrey Oster)
July 17, 1995... Three years ago, Jeffrey Oster, an Upper Arlington podiatrist, began wondering how satisfied his patients were with his medical practice and how well he measured up against other doctors. Oster found no convenient, scientific way to get his...

Auto makers, dealers tout value of used cars.
July 17, 1995... Carla Barone, an engineer with a San Francisco peninsula software company, recently bought a used Lexus. While the appearance and comfort of a new Lexus appealed, the price didn't. "I wanted someone else to cover first-year depreciation," Barone...

Duo takes aim at designing billiard balls. (Elephant Balls owners Tom Simpson and Joe Oshins)
July 17, 1995... Tom Simpson, 43, and partner Joe Oshins, 49, are taking their cue to break into a new market. Their company, Elephant Balls Ltd., has created collectable instructional and designer billiard balls. Both avid amateur pool players, Simpson and...

NBD Bancorp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 17, 1995... Established in 1972, NBD Bancorp is the 18th-largest bank holding company in the U.S. With $47 billion in assets, it operates banks with more than 600 offices in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Canada and overseas. Its bank-related subsidiaries...

Downtown rental space remains tight. (Columbus, Ohio office buildings)(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... Prime downtown office property is, for the most part, scarce. And there's not much opening up, either. Gregory Schenk, senior associate with the CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc., said the downtown market is not very active at this time....

Contractor advice cuts office cost. (Miles-McClellan Construction Company Inc.)(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... They can save time, money, builders say If you've hired an architect to design your next commercial or light industrial building, you may have already lost your best chance to save money, according to several central Ohio commercial builders....

Lennox plans '96 opening for new shopping center. (developers of Former Lennox Industries site; Don M. Casto Organization; Continental Real Estate Cos.; Columbus, Ohio)(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... Retail developers of the former Lennox Industries site hope for a mid '96 shopping center opening, although ownership transfer of the 37 acres wasn't scheduled to take place until this month. Lease agreements with prospective major tenants are...

Despite potential, no one wants Smith Bros. building.(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... The top floor has a great view of downtown and an attractive view of Short North rooftops punctuated by the Greek Orthodox church. The site is close to the convention center and a quick sprint from Interstate 670. The 69-year-old Smith Bros....

Money is returning to commercial real estate deals.(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... Since the early 1990s, the major investors in U.S. commercial real estate have waited on the sidelines as property values, rents and occupancies dropped dramatically. Now, a new influx of capital is coming back into the market as investors...

Franklin County landfill hurt by trash plant closing. (Ohio)(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... Franklin County is running out of places to dump its trash and local government officials are trying to come up with a solution. Currently, trash in Franklin County is sent to the landfill at 3851 W. London-Groveport Road. The dump handles...

CAD speeds work, but some wary. (computer-aided design)(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... Slow to catch on, yet CAD's future assured Building managers and owners, interior designers and office interior companies are joining architects on the computer-aided design bandwagon. Today a computer can even be taken on site to access...

Architects: It's difficult to design against terrorism.(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... The World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings have awakened Americans to the threat of terrorism in public buildings. But architects say they've been considering security issues in buildings for years. "It really all started with the...

Wright was right: open spaces better. (architect Frank Lloyd Wright; building design)(Commercial Real Estate Quarterly)
July 17, 1995... Open interiors can aid crosstalk, productivity In 1902, convinced that buildings should foster democracy, Frank Lloyd Wright designed his first office tower, the Larkin Building. Its governing feature, a sky-lit open office floor, encouraged...

Capital hedges its bets on law school site. (Capital University)
July 24, 1995... Capital University hasn't decided yet where it wants to relocate its law school, but it has acquired its preferred site. In transactions worth $1.7 million, Capital bought two retail properties along Main Street from a partnership controlled by...

Downtown retailers applaud Phantom. (Phantom of the Opera)
July 24, 1995... Broadway show may add $15M to coffers Downtown hotels, restaurants and retailers are cashing in on the "Phantom of the Opera" as the Broadway Series show continues its seven-week run here. And the show's cultural benefits aren't bad, either....

Wilkins plans statewide push at U.S. Health. (U.S. Health CEO William W. Wilkins)
July 24, 1995... U.S. Health Corp.'s new CEO, William W. Wilkins, plans to live up to his reputation as an aggressive cost-cutter and at the same time expand the company into a full-service health care system that extends its reach around Ohio. "We're going to...

Limited, Pizzuti speculate in NE. (Limited Inc.; Pizzuti Development Inc.)
July 24, 1995... M/I Schottenstein Homes won't have to wait long for neighbors in its new home because one will be building right next door. Pizzuti Development Inc. has been working with Limited Inc. and Georgetown Co. on a 120,000-square-foot speculative...

Damon's International living up to its name.(Company Profile)
July 24, 1995... Damon's International Inc. Company-owned restaurants: 15 Franchised restaurants: 66 Annual sales per restaurant: $2.4 million Average check per person: $6 at lunch; $14 at dinner Damon's International will soon be cookin' up the Far East....

Feds tap Columbus for Medicare project. (Columbus, Ohio)
July 24, 1995... Columbus is one of nine cities to pioneer new kinds of managed care health plans for Medicare recipients. The federal Health Care Financing Administration has chosen Columbus to participate in Medicare Choices, a three-to-five-year...

Nothing can be finer sitting outside at a diner.
July 24, 1995... Columbus-area diners are finding more places to eat al fresco. Whether it's on the city sidewalk or tucked onto restaurant property, the popularity of outdoor seating is on the rise. Eleven restaurants have leased sidewalk space from Columbus...

Furnishing speculation: Banc One dips into Atlanta. (Atlanta, Georgia)
July 24, 1995... While everyone else speculates about whether Banc One will enter the Atlanta market, an affiliate is busy making loans to Atlanta shoppers. Bank One, Dayton, operates home equity loan offices out of five Roberds furniture stores in the Atlanta...

Teaching hospitals decry status quo in funding.
July 24, 1995... Each year, Ohio pays Medicaid HMOs millions of dollars to help teaching hospitals pay for residency programs. The problem is, Medicaid HMOs aren't required to contract with teaching hospitals, and when they do, the HMOs aren't required to pay...

Zanesville shops Columbus for businesses.
July 24, 1995... The Muskingum County Port Authority markets the city of Zanesville as "the heart of the Heartland." The authority is hoping that the city will increase the pulse of its business activity. Mark Litten, executive director of the authority, has...

To pass go, give a tax break. (Columbus, Ohio)
July 31, 1995... Development tool or corporate welfare? Columbus wishes every abatement could be like Akzo Nobel Coatings'. Thanks to $1.4 million in tax breaks, Akzo Nobel is putting $32 million into expanding its inner-city headquarters and will be hiring up...

Tight times: schools squeezed by growth. (Columbus, Ohio)
July 31, 1995... For the last five years, Judy Noonan has been teaching fifth grade in what is ironically called a "temporary classroom." About half the size of a normal classroom, the temporary has no insulation and no water service. Despite its problems,...

No cyclical affair, bikes are big in Columbus. (Ohio)
July 31, 1995... If you've ever wanted to tell out-of-town friends something Columbus is famous for but found yourself at a loss, you now have an answer: motorcycles. A recent report on lifestyles across the nation found interest in motorcycles to be the...

Short North to percolate with more coffee houses. (Columbus, Ohio)
July 31, 1995... Like gallery owners before them, aspiring coffee retailers in Columbus see the Short North as their neighborhood of opportunity. It holds the promise of supporting a coffee house on every corner, they say, fondly conjuring images of java meccas...

After 77 years, Capital Auto drives into sunset. (Capital Auto Parts Co.)
July 31, 1995... Two days before closing its doors, Capital Auto Parts got requests for a fuel pump for a '56 Oldsmobile, a universal joint for a '78 Pontiac, a head gasket for an '87 Mazda and a pair of disc rotors for a '92 Mitsubishi. "I had half the parts...

If you build it downtown, buyers won't always come. (housing development in Columbus, Ohio)
July 31, 1995... Jim Edwards thought he had a gold mine, but now he says he ended up with something less when he and a friend jointly purchased two condominiums at the Rich Street Lofts. "They're gorgeous," said Edwards, a 40-year-old artist who lives in a...

COLIs will allow firms to insure employees. (corporate-owned life insurance)
July 31, 1995... A vehicle to fund benefit plans, with the unappetizing acronym of COLI, has been making waves recently in the world of employee benefit managers and insurance executives. COLI, or corporate-owned life insurance, has been touted as a...

Bargain shopper: retailer's clout seals the deal. (Consolidated Stores Corp. expands operations in Columbus, Ohio)
July 31, 1995... To keep Consolidated, city, state gave breaks When Consolidated Stores Corp. considered expansion sites for its distribution operation in 1992 and again this year, it did what comes naturally to the closeout merchandiser - it shopped for deals....

As breaks expire, city to gain $6.7 million annually. (tax incentives; Columbus, Ohio)
July 31, 1995... For Columbus, the practice of using tax breaks will finally begin to pay off over the next five years as a 13 projects come on the regular tax rolls for the first time. In fact, three of the projects rank in Columbus' top five abatements, based...