Business First-Columbus articles from June 1995

Business First-Columbus archives from June 1995

Nationwise Automotive crafts turn around plan.
June 5, 1995... CEO says sale, liquidation are among options Financially strapped Nationwise Automotive Inc., a 201-store automotive parts and accessories chain, is considering a number of options to turn itself around. One possibility is selling the company,...

Micro Center to rent Bethel facility.
June 5, 1995... Micro Center's plans for a superstore on Bethel Road haven't changed. But the location has. After months of preparing to build a store on the north side of Bethel Road, the Columbus-based computer giant has opted to lease an existing but...

Hameroff to buy Minneapolis ad agency. (Hameroff/Milenthal/Spence Inc.; Chuck Ruhr Advertising Inc.)
June 5, 1995... Deal will add $50 million to H/M/S's annual billings Hameroff/Milenthal/Spence Inc.'s appetite for expansion continues to grow. The Columbus-based advertising agency has signed an agreement to acquire Chuck Ruhr Advertising, a bankrupt...

Hospitals find a mixed bag in budget bill. (Ohio)
June 5, 1995... As the state's budget bill winds its way through the General Assembly, Ohio hospitals will be watching closely to see if the provisions they've lobbied for made it into the budget. Greater Columbus hospitals, like those from around the state,...

Great food, little luck keep downtown eateries thriving. (Columbus, OH)
June 5, 1995... Anyone who has had even a smidgen of experience with the restaurant business knows that it's a tough, tough road to success. In downtown Columbus, however, the potholes on that road are particularly difficult to navigate. The casualties, which...

Retailers step up security against gang, youth crime. (includes related article)
June 5, 1995... Last May, two teenagers packing guns confronted each other at Columbus City Center mall downtown. Rastamon Wilson, then 17, pulled his gun and shot 15-year-old Raylynn Diamond five times. Diamond, a gang member, died 45 minutes later. Such a...

ARC Industries' new strategy brings in record revenues.
June 5, 1995... Two key changes in operating strategy propelled ARC Industries Inc.'s revenue to a record $4.4 million last year, a 35 percent increase over 1993. ARC Industries in the adult services program of the Franklin County Board of Mental...

OSU Hospitals to develop occupational medicine niche. (Ohio State UniversityHospitals)
June 5, 1995... Occupational medicine may not be as big in Central Ohio as it is in Detroit or Cleveland, but Ohio State University Hospitals intends to capitalize on a growing demand for services such as workplace consulting, drug testing and work-related...

Minority loan chairman threatens to resign. (Theodore Dixson, chairman of Ohio Minority Development Financing Commission)(Small Business Strategies)
June 5, 1995... Pruitt snafu leads to struggle for control of $3 million program The chairman of a state minority loan commission said he will resign - and "a good number" of commissioners will follow his lead - if Gov. George V. Voinovich's administration...

Bradley offers Columbus safe packaging. (B.B. Bradley Co. expands operationsin Columbus, OH)(Small Business Strategies)
June 5, 1995... From a one-person company that started in the president's basement in 1977, the B.B. Bradley Co. - a fabricator of foam packaging materials made from polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyurethane - has grown to a staff of 37 at two locations....

To market, to market: what Slovakians learn. (teaching capitalism to EasternEuropeans)(Small Business Strategies)
June 5, 1995... Davidson teaches E. Europeans capitalist mysteries The problem with entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe is marketing - or lack thereof - according to Arthur Davidson, chairman of Columbus Score. "There's one basic problem that everybody in...

Low interest loans spark pollutant cleanups. (Ohio Pollution Prevention LoanProgram)(Small Business Strategies)
June 5, 1995... In the six short months since its inception, the Ohio EPAs Pollution Prevention Loan Program has attracted enough attention to keep administrators at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency busy. Ninety small- to medium-sized businesses have...

IceSport Press cashes in on figure skating boom.(Small Business Strategies)
June 5, 1995... For one Columbus business owner in the southeastern portion of the city, a publishing company has increased her involvement with one of her life's passions, figure skating. Lynn Copley-Graves' company IceSport Press is about to put out its...

Parking lots pit owners against preservationists. (Columbus, OH)(Inside Report: Construction, Architecture & Engineering)
June 5, 1995... The downtown parking lot moratorium is in its second tour of duty on the front lines against developers who would flatten old Columbus buildings in favor of parking lots. The city attorney has said there will be no more moratoriums when the...

Top-rated design firm has fingers in many pies. (MS Consultants Inc.)
June 5, 1995... Steady growth seen for MS Consultants If there's a major construction project, chances are Thomas E. Mosure and his company, MS Consultants Inc., have something to do with it. The huge blueprints of the Limited's $230-million northeast...

Cramped quarters prompt 3 downtown buys. (Columbus, Ohio; buildings)
June 19, 1995... 2 chambers, fund to move to new digs The Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce will soon be moving into new homes. So will the Police & Firemen's Disability & Pension Fund. All three entities have recently...

Duron Paints plans to cover city. (Duron Inc.; Columbus, Ohio)
June 19, 1995... Retailer wants to open 25 stores for painting pros A fast-growing chain of professional paint centers has targeted Columbus. Duron Paints & Wallcoverings is opening its first store in Columbus this month, with 20 to 24 more to follow over...

Nation's heartland leads pack in income growth. (Columbus, Ohio)
June 19, 1995... When it comes to income growth, Columbus is in the upper echelon of American cities, outranking such giants as New York City and Washington, D.C. In fact, among America's 80 largest metro areas, Columbus ranked 22nd in per capita income growth...

Wedding superstore commits to Sun TV site. (We Do Inc.)
June 19, 1995... Carol S. Feinberg will open the doors to her new 26,000-square-foot wedding store at 6655 Sawmill Road possibly in November. The grand opening is scheduled for January. We Do - The Wedding Store, is leasing the former Sun Television &...

Developer seeks to recreate City of Arches. (Jack Lucks; Columbus, Ohio)
June 19, 1995... Here's a trick question: What great Midwest city was originally known as the Arch City? If you said Columbus, you've done your local history homework. Columbus was the City of Arches long before St. Louis thought of building its monster...

More small firms find future in ESOPs. (Employee Stock Ownership Program)
June 19, 1995... In early 1992, when septuagenarian Edwin "Dubbs" Roush felt he was nearing retirement, the owner of Roush Sporting Goods in Westerville started an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). The goal of the ESOP is for the company's employees to...

Swine, grain farmers pitch products abroad. (Ohio)
June 19, 1995... Ohio swine, soybean and corn farmers are working together to open more international doors. "We all have the same goal," said Tom Jackson, a swine farmer in Powell. "And if more international doors are opened, we could double our business."...

Neoprobe. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 19, 1995... NEOP Nasdaq Neoprobe Corp. is developing and commercializing products worldwide that are based on its proprietary, core RIGS technology. The RIGS system is designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Neoprobe's products are...

Filmmaker puts Columbus in no-budget focus. (Eric Williams)
June 19, 1995... Native Columbusite Eric Williams has returned to his hometown to shoot a feature length film on its streets. Why Columbus? "Because I grew up here," said Williams, 27, director of "Snakes and Arrows." There's also a tremendous vein of quality...

Counting coins & clients when partners split. (dissolution of law partnerships)
June 19, 1995... Much like a family divorce, the break up of a law partnership can be a messy affair. The separation can occur for a number of reasons, including having too large a client base, not having enough clients, the promise of a more lucrative...

RPA's Galloway steps down after 16 years. (Retail Planning Associates Pres. Kenneth W. Galloway)
June 26, 1995... The president of one of Columbus's largest retail consulting firms is moving on. Kenneth W. Galloway, who has been with Retail Planning Associates since 1979, will leave June 30 to chart a new career for himself. "I'm 44 years old, and for...

Banks target urban credit unions' turf. (Columbus, Ohio)
June 26, 1995... Inner city lenders eye once-dead market In 1947, 12 members of Shiloh Baptist Church in Columbus got together, pooled $60 and founded Shiloh Baptist Church Federal Credit Union. They did not especially want to get into the banking business,...

Developer plans to build Grove City industrial park. (National Realty Services Inc.; Ohio)
June 26, 1995... National Realty Services Inc. is planning to construct what will be the fourth industrial park in the Grove City area. The park, which has yet to be named, will cover 65 acres and will sit just south of Scots Drive in Urbancrest, a tiny...

Columbus hospitals hum with construction projects. (Ohio)
June 26, 1995... Greater Columbus hospitals are bustling with nearly $62 million major construction and renovation projects. At Mount Carmel Medical Center downtown, Medical Office Building III is scheduled to open at the end of next month. The...

Good times fuel K.G. Marx expansion, public offering.
June 26, 1995... K.G. Marx hopes to raise $1 million through an initial public offering it launched earlier this month. The company will use the capital to expand its operations, according to President Mark L. Frendt. Westerville-based K.G. Marx sells a variety...

Banks welcome cleanup of community loan rules. (Community Reinvestment Act of 1977)
June 26, 1995... Financial institution regulators recently revamped the Community Reinvestment Act, which is supposed to ensure that banks and thrifts serve all consumers in their areas, regardless of income or race. The new rule is more complicated than...

Doctors, Mt. Carmel part ways; St. Ann's deal still on. (Doctors Hospital; Mount Carmel Health; St. Ann's Hospital)
June 26, 1995... Now that Doctors Hospital and Mount Carmel Health have parted ways in what was to be a three-way alliance, Mount Carmel and its remaining partner, St. Ann's Hospital, will likely consummate their relationship sooner. For its part, Doctors...

Deregulation fuels Broad Street's growth. (Broad Street Oil and Gas Co.)
June 26, 1995... Kevin Stoffer happily envisions the day when competing natural gas companies call people at home in the evening, hawking their brands and services much like Sprint and MCI do today with long-distance phone service. For now, most residential...

Zura hopes to make a splash with kickboard. (Zura Sports Inc.)
June 26, 1995... Zura Sports Inc. is kicking its way into the world of competitive swimming. The Worthington-based sporting goods company has introduced the Speedray swimming kickboard, a new kind of kickboard that is a radical departure from the...

Pair serves niche in volleyball wear. (K.L. International owners Jeff Bohr and David Argento)
June 26, 1995... Through a unique partnership, Jeff Bohr and David Argento are serving up two new volleyball sportswear lines. The two entrepreneurs started K.L. International a year ago. The company manufactures T-shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, hats, gym bags...

Health Power. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 26, 1995... Founded in 1985, Health Power is a managed health care holding company. The company's principal subsidiary, Health Power HMO, operates in the Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati markets and has historically focused on serving Medicaid recipients...

Insurers face disclosure of hospital discounts. (Ohio)(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
June 26, 1995... Bill would revise copay notification rules A state lawmaker has introduced legislation to force insurance companies to disclose to policyholders whether they pass along any discounts they receive from health care providers. Declaring that...

Managed care prompts computer upgrades.(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
June 26, 1995... Health care providers are spending record sums to upgrade their information management systems to keep pace with the increasingly competitive health care management industry. Acquisitions and mergers of hospitals and other health care providers...

Hospitals see Medicare cuts as widening cost/billing gap.(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
June 26, 1995... Health care reform is back from the dead - with a budget ax. While last year's efforts focused on changing the system, this year's attempt aims to slash government expenditures. Last month, the Republican House and Senate announced plans to cut...

Clinics vie for slice of surgery. (ambulatory surgery centers; Columbus, Ohio)(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
June 26, 1995... With Certificate of Need legislation giving way to market forces, hospitals will be free to open as many of the profitable ambulatory surgery centers as they'd like. The recent rush between two hospitals and a physicians' group to establish...

OhioCare on hold as state awaits fed budgeting. (Ohio)(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
June 26, 1995... Implementation is uncertain for Gov. George V. Voinovich's plan to provide health coverage for one million Medicaid recipients and 375,000 working poor through mandatory managed care. The plan, dubbed OhioCare, received approval from the U.S....

Disabled form toughest test for state HMO plans. (disabled Medicaid recipients; Ohio)(Inside Report: Health, Hospitals & Fitness)
June 26, 1995... For the first time, disabled Medicaid recipients in Franklin and Cuyahoga counties are enrolling in HMO health plans, and recipients in Hamilton County are expected to do so later this summer. The move is part of the Accessing Better Care...