Business First-Columbus articles from July 1999

Business First-Columbus archives from July 1999

Zell REIT buys Lexford.(Equity Residential Properties Trust owner Sam Zell plans to acquire Lexford Residential Trust)
July 2, 1999... Equity Residential of Chicago paying $730M for debt-laden owner of apartments Lexford Residential Trust will be acquired by a Chicago real estate investment trust in a deal valued at more than $730 million. The planned purchase puts...

Mt. Carmel's parent plans merger with Mercy Health.(Holy Cross Health System Corp)
July 2, 1999... The parent of Franklin County's second-largest hospital operation has a tentative agreement to merge with the nation's 10th-largest health-care system. Holy Cross Health System Corp. of South Bend, Ind., the operator of Columbus'...

Wilkins, Metatec on European adventure.(Metatec International CEO Jeff Wilkins plans to tap the European CD-ROM market)
July 2, 1999... Jeff Wilkins has some real estate decisions to make. Those decisions, however, have nothing to do with the explosion of bricks anti mortar in Central Ohio. Rather, the chief executive of Metatec International must decide whether the...

Is Nationwide about to be on Huntington's side?(Nationwide allegedly interested in acquiring Huntington Bancshares)
July 2, 1999... Add Nationwide to the laundry list of companies rumored to be interested in Huntington Bancshares. Speculation over the Columbus bank's future and whether it might be an acquisition target has become something of a sport for months, but...

CalPERS-LaSalle venture buys big at GreenPointe.(California Public Employees Retirement System)
July 2, 1999... A joint venture between the California Public Employees Retirement System pension giant and LaSalle Investment Management has taken a major stake in the southeast Columbus industrial market. Cal East Industrial Investors paid $7.2 million...

CheckFree campus is sold to group with building plan.(Apollo Realty Finance Ohio Ltd acquires CheckFree Corp)
July 2, 1999... Apollo Realty pays $8M for complex, 28 acres; 2 office buildings planned Columbus developer Ron Huff and his Apollo Realty Finance Ohio Ltd. partners have purchased the former CheckFree Corp. property north of Worthington with plans to...

Athens Co. bank moving to capture Route 33 growth.(Community Bank to move in downton Lancaster, Ohio)
July 2, 1999... An Athens County bank is moving to Lancaster in a bid to create a franchise along the Route 33 corridor, including Pickerington and Canal Winchester. The Community Bank, formerly Glouster Community Bank, will move later this summer into...

Deal for Unimag collapses amid vendor shift at Kroger.
July 2, 1999... A dispute over distribution vendors for Kroger Co. stores in Cincinnati and Detroit was resolved last week when New York-based Murdoch Magazines Distribution and Hearst Distribution Group Inc. agreed to supply two new vendors with the magazines...

Sense of history.(Benjamin D. Rickey and Co helps Columbus, Ohio-based businesses exploit federal income tax benefits)
July 2, 1999... Businesses may be able to enjoy tax savings in opting for historical digs Business owners who buy or lease one of the quaint, historical buildings dotting the Columbus landscape can qualify for a federal historic rehabilitation tax credit...

Maintaining architectural integrity.(building rehabilitation policies in Columbus, Ohio)
July 2, 1999... If a business's property lies within the boundaries of an area of Columbus with an architectural review commission, any exterior work or rehabilitation will require a "certificate of appropriateness." Such areas include German Village, the...

Waterfront viewpoint.(Inside Report: Commercial Real Estate)(design and construction of One Miranova Place in Columbus, Ohio)
July 2, 1999... Miranova combines river view for tenants with imposing addition to downtown skyline Described by its architect as acting as a "bookend," One Miranova Place will anchor the southern end of the Columbus skyline in a big way. With a...

1 Columbus draws $51.5M.(sale of Equity Office Properties Trust's office building to Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc.)
July 9, 1999... Equity Office Properties Trust of Chicago has sold the One Columbus office building downtown for $51.5 million to Atlanta-based Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. Lend Lease. a manager of pension fund-owned properties, completed...

It's serious when cukes get dragged into fight; insurance agents seek kind of respect afforded Ohio crops.(Professional Insurance Agents Ohio's complaint against Geico Direct's advertisement)
July 9, 1999... What's the difference between an insurance agent and a cucumber? According to one agents trade group, it is against the law in Ohio to defame a cucumber, but it's OK for direct-market insurance companies to denigrate agents. The...

In a league of their own.(Dan Meis, Ron Turner and Michael Hallmark of NBBJ's Sports and Entertainment division)
July 9, 1999... Threesome took their innovative design concept to NBBJ where they fashion ballparks and arenas with an 'edgy' flair In sports architecture, sometimes what's least is what's most. Columbus-based architecture firm NBBJ's Sports and...

Value City interested in Starter inventory; retailer bids with Logo Athletic for assets.
July 9, 1999... Retailer bids with Logo Athletic for assets Value City Department Stores and licensed apparel company Logo Athletic Corp. plan to make a new offer to acquire the assets of financially troubled Starter Corp. Starter and its lenders...

Calvaruso: parent's merger could help Mount Carmel.(Mount Carmel Health System Pres. Joseph Calvaruso; merger between Holy Cross Health System and Mercy Health Services)
July 9, 1999... Mount Carmel Health System could gain some advantages if its parent company completes a merger with the 10th-largest health system in the country. As Business First reported July 2, South Bend, Ind.-based Holy Cross Health System, Mount...

H.H. Gregg powering up its push into Central Ohio.(H.H. Gregg Appliances & Electronics)
July 9, 1999... 6 appliance, electronics stores will run up against rivals that killed Sun TV H.H. Gregg Appliances & Electronics joins the competition for consumers' dollars this weekend when it marks the opening of four stores in Central Ohio with...

Aetna care reviews receive mixed welcome at hospitals.(Aetna U.S. Healthcare's on-site care-review)
July 9, 1999... Mount Carmel going along with program, but Grant/Riverside balking Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals is saying "no" to an on-site care-review program Aetna U.S. Healthcare wants to start in Columbus, while Mount Carmel says it will work...

AmeriLink has it wired.(Inside Report: Telecommunications)(merger with Tandy Corp.)
July 9, 1999... Cable installer AmeriLink Corp. is no stranger to the ups and downs of the telecommunication industry. Since its beginning as a small upstart in 1971, it has found itself up to its ears in tile highs of the cable boom of the late '80s and...

Air time: businesses become tangled in wireless phone service.(Inside Report: Telecommunications)
July 9, 1999... Ameritech's Carol Damit is well aware some Columbus businesses feel overwhelmed when trying to find the wireless plan best suited to their needs. A half-dozen cellular carriers are rushing to offer bundled wireless packages for business...

Cincy Bell goes after share of local business service $.(Inside Report: Telecommunications)(Cincinnati Bell)
July 9, 1999... Competition is ringing the bells of local business phone customers in Central Ohio, taking away connections once held by only Ameritech. New competition comes from Cincinnati Bell. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in May decided to...

Ameritech offers service to check e-mail by telephone.(Inside Report: Telecommunications)
July 9, 1999... Traffic jams, down time in airports, long walks to downtown meetings. The cell phone did away with unproductive down time in situations such as these. This spring, a new product from Ameritech made it easier to communicate when on the go....

2 hotels supplanting Parke: Yankees' boss buys 'tired' hotel near OSU with plan to put the wrecker's ball to it.(Ohio State University's Parke University Hotel)
July 16, 1999... New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner has consolidated his family's interest in the Parke University Hotel and Damon's restaurant near Ohio State University with plans to tear down the full-service inn and redevelop two...

More in Columbus earn less: Kent State study puts area at top in decline of wages.(Kent State University, Columbus, OH)
July 16, 1999... Call it the dark side of the boom. A sky-high stock market, record-low inflation, enviable productivity levels, through-the-roof corporate earnings and near-record overall peacetime economic expansion have painted an ultra-rosy economic...

Taft's reflections: after 6 months on the job, governor says taxes, tort reform still must be addressed.(Ohio Governor Bob Taft)
July 16, 1999... Bob Taft may not be batting 1.000 in his opening months as Ohio's chief executive, but Ty Cobb and Ted Williams would be impressed by the governor's rookie-year hitting average on legislative issues. And why not? Even Taft is astonished....

What went bad in talks for hospital in Fairfield?(Fairfield County, OH)
July 16, 1999... Fairfield Medical Center's determination that its business wouldn't be restricted by another hospital system led to a breakdown of proposals to build a hospital near Lancaster with Mount Carmel Health System. Mount Carmel said July 13 it...

Weiler ready to defend turf at Polaris, whoever enemy may be.(Robert Weiler Co.'s Polaris Centers of Commerce)
July 16, 1999... Commercial real estate developer Bob Weiler is ready to defend his project and his business commitments to corporate giants like Bank One and Borden Foods, both of which built offices at or near Robert Weiler Co.'s Polaris Centers of Commerce....

More may follow 7 saying 'Goodbye, Columbus'.
July 16, 1999... Seven companies have dropped off the list of Central Ohio's public companies in the past year, and market watchers say continued mergers-and-acquisition activity could take out more of the areas investor-owned businesses. Companies in...

Union threatening boycott in fight with OSU's Schott.(Ohio State University's Jerome Schottenstein Center)
July 16, 1999... Ohio State University is a family affair for Doug Boggs, who counts himself and his three sons as former Buckeyes. But if an agreement isn't worked out between Boggs' union and the university's Jerome Schottenstein Center, the AFL-CIO may...

What's in a name? At times, disputes among Web users.
July 16, 1999... What would the U.S. affiliate of technology giant Seiko Epson Corp. want with a 10-year-old advertising and public relations firm named Murphy Epson Inc.? It's not a contract. Instead, it's the name. Internet domain name, that is. ...

Americast turns on rivalry among cable TV companies.(Ameritech's cable TV service)
July 16, 1999... When Ameritech's cable TV service recently added the Animal Planet network to its lineup, it seemed a fitting action. More and more, the company's Americast operation is becoming analogous to pesky ants that can't be shooed away from the summer...

Insurers seek to head off election year health nostrums.
July 16, 1999... While wildly successful five years ago, the "Harry and Louise" approach isn't being revisited these days by the health insurance industry. Instead, industry leaders are trying to jump-start talks about health insurance reform, especially...

Banks wary of newfound freedom: legal victory over state policy banning general insurance sales still may face higher court appeal.
July 16, 1999... Legal victory over state policy banning general insurance sales still may face higher court appeal Some banks and insurance companies have become significant others based on federal bank law revisions that allow banks to sell insurance. ...

Metatec makes Internet play; SilverSpan purchase gives Dublin firm new highway to move its published data.(Metatec International Inc.)
July 23, 1999... Jeff Wilkins thinks Metatec International Inc.'s stock has been dressed down in recent years because the Dublin company hasn't used the Internet to rise to the upper echelon of its industry. That changed this week when the chief executive...

ADA isn't disabled, says EEOC official.(American with Disabilities Act; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
July 23, 1999... Despite three Supreme Court decisions seen weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act, federal regulators will not back down in enforcing the law, a federal official in Ohio said. "You're going to hear employer attorneys who are going to...

Longaberger Co. bidding to weave ethnic appeal into business, baskets; more sales, more sellers seen as a big payoff for a company with few customers of color.
July 23, 1999... The heartland continues to offer fertile ground for growth at Longaberger Co., but the basket maker sees greener pastures in the ethnic market. Under the leadership of CEO Tami Longaberger, the direct-sales company has initiated a drive to...

Local docs say union might be right Rx.(Ohio doctors' plan to form a labor union or a collective bargaining agency)
July 23, 1999... The Columbus Medical Association will measure whether area doctors want to form a union or collective bargaining agency to combat what some physicians complain is a tightening grip on their practices by managed-care companies. Formation of...

Schottenstein, partners see cash generator in Starter.(Schottenstein Stores Corp.; Starter Corp.)
July 23, 1999... Columbus-based Schottenstein Stores Corp. will make a lot of money when it sells $200 million in Starter athletic apparel at deeply discounted prices through its Schottenstein and Value City Department Stores. But it also hopes to make...

NFIB gets into gear in bid to shake up Ohio to court.(National Federation of Independent Business' plan to unseat Supreme Court Justices Andrew Douglas and Alice Robie Resnick)
July 23, 1999... Tort reform rejections push small-biz lobby to target Supreme Court Jack Faris was in Columbus last week to begin planning the end of the careers of Supreme Court Justices Andrew Douglas and Alice Robie Resnick. Faris, president of the...

Century Foam is acquired, set for expansion in Obetz.(acquisition of Century Foam Manufacturing by Premier Industries Inc.)
July 23, 1999... Premier Industries Inc., a major producer of expanded polystyrene products, has purchased a small Columbus company with plans to expand the operation in Obetz. Tacoma, Wash.-based Premier completed purchase of Century Foam Manufacturing on...

Partners continue building within Corporate Exchange.(development partnership Daimler Equities Inc.; Corporate Exchange Drive)
July 23, 1999... 2 leases prompt start-up on another office building Daimler Equities Ltd. has surpassed the halfway mark on its six-story office project on Corporate Exchange Drive, prompting the development partnership to begin construction of a smaller...

Some Ohio banks already gearing up to sell insurance.(includes related article on insurance sale decision favoring Huntington National Bank)
July 23, 1999... Banks are gearing up to sell more insurance in Ohio in the wake of Huntington National Bank's court victory over the state Insurance Department, even though the ruling is being appealed. Jeff Quayle, general counsel for the Ohio Bankers...

Future Track: Battelle studies standards to keep traffic-ware on track.(Intelligent Transportation Systems)
July 23, 1999... It doesn't take any prodding to get Battelle Vice President Jerry Pittenger to talk about Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Pittenger jumps right in, enthusiastically explaining how ITS can supply a steady stream of green lights to...

Spice of life: food chemist finds thrill in own chutneys.(Rohini Desai Mulchandani, founder of Arjay Gourmet Foods Ltd.)
July 23, 1999... For 17 years, Rohini Desai Mulchandani used her science savvy and a doctorate in dairy technology to help develop new products at Columbus-based Ross Products, a division of Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories. She developed a line of...

Huntington preparing e-bank.(Huntington Bancshares Inc. plans separate online bank)
July 30, 1999... Internet operation on wave to reach customers more interested in cost than name Huntington Bancshares Inc. plans to launch a separate online bank, putting it on the crest of the next expected wave of Internet banking. The Internet-only...

Tight labor market starts to hurt area manufacturers.(Central Ohio)
July 30, 1999... Manufacturers are being squeezed harder by Central Ohio's labor shortage and in at least one instance, conditions have forced a company to shift production out of state. Core Materials Corp., which makes composite materials for products...

More temp lawyers coming: Contract Counsel picks Columbus as next step in Midwest expansion.(supplier of temporary attorneys to Central Ohio corporations and law firms)(Company Profile)
July 30, 1999... Contract Counsel picks Columbus as next step in Midwest expansion Lawyers are joining the growing ranks of temporary workers at a rapid pace, and a Detroit firm is taking advantage of that by invading the turf of the only Columbus-based...

Liability rates could put dent into wallets of SUV owners.(liability insurance premiums of sport-utility vehicle owners)
July 30, 1999... With gas prices already heading up, owners of sport-utility vehicles may be facing a second unwelcome expense: higher insurance costs. It isn't happening yet, but actuaries who study this stuff say it's becoming clear that insurance...

Boom in e-commerce puts CallTech on recruiting path.(CallTech Communications Inc. to hire 400 people for call center)
July 30, 1999... Fast-growing center looking to fill 400 full-time positions A Columbus-based call center is growing so rapidly it needs to hire 400 full-time workers. Executives at CallTech Communications Inc., a customer service, technical support...

Miranova half-booked a year from completion.(high-rise condominium One Miranova Place)
July 30, 1999... With 12 months to go on construction of One Miranova Place, developer Ron Pizzuti has purchase agreements on half the 100 or so condominiums planned in the downtown high-rise. Pizzuti Cos. has 10 percent, nonrefundable deposits on more than...

Altered Miranova offices aim for late 1999 start.(proposed Two Miranova Place development of Pizutti Cos.)
July 30, 1999... The proposed office component of the Miranova mixed-use development has undergone a transformation, with less office space and more parking planned to better fit the downtown market. While developer Pizzuti Cos. has high hopes that...

Groner joins accountants' foray into financial services.(Groner Boyle and Quillin)
July 30, 1999... Columbus-based Groner Boyle & Quillin LLP has added investment, insurance and financial planning services to its repertoire of professional and accounting advice. The expansion is through an alliance with Sanders Sydney & Associates, a...

AirTouch keeping product pipeline filled from Dublin.(AirTouch Communications's office in Dublin, Ohio)(Brief Article)
July 30, 1999... Although AirTouch Cellular has gone global, with 29 million customers worldwide now that its merger with United Kingdom-based Vodafone is complete, the company still plans to rely on its regional hub in Dublin as a primary center for product...

Debate over Morse's future spawns business association.(Morse Road properties sold to distressed shopping center specialist)
July 30, 1999... When New Jersey-based Lamar Cos. Inc., which specializes in turning around distressed shopping centers, paid $10.5 million for two Morse Road properties last summer, tenants included retailers like TJ Maxx and Michael's-Arts & Crafts. By...

Hospitals urge state to study Medicaid program 'in crisis.'.(Ohio's Medicaid managed-care program)
July 30, 1999... Medicaid managed-care program draws fire from health providers State lawmakers will examine Ohio's Medicaid managed-care program after the Ohio Hospital Association complained the 12-year-old program doesn't work. "What we are trying...

Crane hopes to nail marker for decking with spin-off.(Crane Plastics spins off Timber Tech Ltd.)
July 30, 1999... Crane Plastics has spun off a subsidiary that will market wood laced with plastic to the owners and makers of home outdoor decks. Timber Tech Ltd., which will remain wholly owned by the privately held Crane Plastics of Columbus, will strive...