Business First-Columbus articles from March 1997

Business First-Columbus archives from March 1997

Truemans open Hilliard land; family plans development on 350 acres along I-270. (Trueman LP)
March 7, 1997... Family plans development on 350 acres along I-270 The Trueman family is preparing to open up 350 prime acres it controls along I-270 in Hilliard for development. The Hilliard Planning and Zoning Commission will review preliminary development...

Hunt: Crew, hockey franchise would seek long-term leases. (Lamar Hunt, Columbus Crew pro soccer team owner)(Interview)
March 7, 1997... Lamar Hunt says he's willing to sign a 25-year lease for his Columbus Crew pro soccer team and a possible National Hockey League franchise if voters approve a $277 million downtown stadium/arena complex May 6. In a wide-ranging interview, the...

Sears Hardware retools name, format: Columbus stores closing, reopening quickly with new moniker, look. (Sears Hardware stores renamed by Sears Roebuck Co. to Orchard)
March 7, 1997... In a national test of its off-the-mall growth strategy, Sears is closing 11 Sears Hardware Stores in the Columbus area and will quickly reopen them under the name Orchard. The exact name has not been chosen, but the root comes from Sears...

New entrant begins chase for home mortgage market. (home loan services by Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp.)
March 7, 1997... The largest bank in the country is testing the mortgage origination market in Central Ohio before turning nationwide for direct lending. On Feb. 24, Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of giant Chase Manhattan Corp., started a 10-week...

Steak Escape stakes out sites in the Middle East. (Escape Enterprises Ltd.)
March 7, 1997... Escape Enterprises Ltd. is pushing into Middle Eastern markets. The Columbus-based Philly cheesesteak sandwich chain has inked a 10-year master franchise agreement for development of 91 Steak Escape sites in Lebanon and 14 other unspecified...

Matthews Click brokers form real estate service venture. (Matthews Click Bauman Inc.)
March 7, 1997... Two Mathews Click Bauman Inc. senior marketing managers and a senior real estate analyst have left to form their own commercial real estate services company. Senior marketing managers Benton Benalcazar and Richard Schuen have joined with...

Resource's work helps put Planet Direct service in orbit. (Resource Marketing Inc. provide Internet-based online service)
March 7, 1997... Resource Marketing Inc. has developed a new concept in direct marketing to be launched nationally March 10 to 500,000 Web-surfers who obtain Internet access through independent providers. Nancy J. Kramer, Resource president and CEO, said the...

Warner prepares rollout of speedier info service. (Warner Cable Communications Inc.)
March 7, 1997... While modem makers tout the "next generation" of dial-up devices that will zap data at 56 kilobits per second, cable modems that download at faster speeds up to 10 megabits per second will soon be available in Columbus, with businesses being an...

Mount Carmel continues push for Marion hospital. (Mount Carmel Health Service Corp. plans to purchase MedCenter)
March 7, 1997... Encouraged by managed-care providers who want to see Marion remain a two-hospital town, Mount Carmel Health is continuing its $25 million push to affiliate with MedCenter hospital. Mount Carmel's efforts are being opposed by rival U.S. Health...

Entrepreneur hits Indy company with $2M suit. (Alice Weld files lawsuit against Holbrook-Patterson Inc. for copying novel invention)
March 7, 1997... Alice Wedd says she tried to get an Indiana manufacturer to return a prototype of her childhood educational product, the Toothbrush House, for 18 months, but that the company kept giving her the brush off instead. She finally got the product...

Huntington suit seeks $4.8M from accounting firms. (Huntington National Bank files lawsuit against Price Waterhouse L.L.P. and Peat Marwick and Main Co.)
March 7, 1997... Huntington National Bank is seeking $4.8 million in compensatory damages and an unnamed amount in punitive damages against the Columbus offices of two accounting firms. In a Franklin County Common Pleas Court lawsuit, Huntington claims it lost...

Price war brewing over T-1 Internet line services. (Fiber Network Solutions Inc. reduced price for T-1 online services)
March 7, 1997... Psst, wanna get a T-1 line to the Internet for $695 a month? It may sound too good to be true, but a Westerville networking firm says it has found a way to cut nearly two-thirds off the price of the 1.5 megabit-per-second connection. "We...

China trade: Asian visit pays off in trade for Ohio companies. (Ohio Governor conducted 1995 trade visit to China)(Inside Report)
March 7, 1997... Sometimes a little governmental intervention into the corporate boardroom is not such a bad thing. Just ask the 15 Ohio companies that accompanied Gov. Voinovich on his spring 1995 whirlwind tour of China. In a survey prepared by the Ohio...

Airport still shy on international share. (Port Columbus International Airport)(Inside Report)
March 7, 1997... Port Columbus International Airport hopes five straight years of record passenger traffic through the city will attract regular overseas flights. The airport reported more than 6.23 million passengers departing and arriving in 1996, an 11...

Imports top exports at Rickenbacker. (Rickenbacker International Airport)(Inside Report)
March 7, 1997... Officials expect air cargo traffic through Rickenbacker International Airport to continue its climb as efforts to establish Columbus as an inland port move forward. The southern Franklin Comity airport handled 76,052 metric tons of air freight...

Trade point shows result for overseas sellers. (Trade Point USA expands online services)(Inside Report)
March 7, 1997... Trade Point USA is proving itself as a vital link between U.S. and foreign trade partners. In operation for just a year, the Columbus-based Trade Point already has 300 subscribers nationwide who can reach 300,000 companies worldwide through...

Getting it wholesale (almost). (Consumer Auto Consultants)(Small Business Strategies)
March 7, 1997... How would you like to get a sweet deal on the car of your dreams with none of the hassle of buying a car? Small business owners Bob and Marilyn Holb, who operate Consumer Auto Consultants from their home, are betting that the average consumer...

Prenuptial pacts protect family firms. (prenuptial agreements between family-owned businesses)(Small Business Strategies)
March 7, 1997... Marriage looming on the horizon? Then you're most likely aware of the Financial practicalities of planning a wedding and a future with your new partner. If you are part of a family-owned business, however, there are a myriad of other issues...

Rural entrepreneurs get their share of business advice. (business consultation services by Licking County, Ohio's Service Corps of Retired Executives)(Small Business Strategies)
March 7, 1997... Ed Cobb and Bernard Nye have tales to tell and advice to give. Cobb, a retired manager from Owens-Coming, and Nye, a retail expert and college instructor, are two among 30 retirees who help new business people through the Licking County Service...

AEP, state offer businesses 'face time' in Mexico. (American Electric Power Company Inc.'s international business development program)(Small Business Strategies)
March 7, 1997... Despite the peso problems of the last two years, Ohio businesses are still eyeing Mexico as a market for exports. Ohio's trade office in Mexico City has been open little more than a year, but it has already become Ohio's most active foreign...

High-tech Sam Spades stake out the Internet. (licensed private investigators utilize Internet information research)(Small Business Strategies)
March 7, 1997... If someone had mentioned "surfing the Net" to Sam Spade he probably would have headed to the ocean, hoping to find a suspect among fishermen casting for fish along the shore. Imagine if the legendary fictional private eye had, today's...

Printing tricks can cut self-promotion costs. (management of printing and printed materials)(Small Business Strategies)
March 7, 1997... Competition is increasing for your customer's attention and business. This means it is essential that marketing materials stand out and set your company apart. Printed marketing materials do not have to be costly to be effective. At the same...

New management has big plans for Convention Center. (plans of Spectacor Management Group for Greater Columbus Convention Center)
March 14, 1997... Philly giant eyes similar deal for downtown arena A renowned international sports and entertainment facilities management company will take over the Greater Columbus Convention Center April 1 - with an eye toward increasing the center's profits...

1994 Mid-American debt issue prompts $112M civil lawsuit. (accounting and underwriting companies that endorsed debt issue by Mid-American Waste Systems Inc. sued)
March 14, 1997... Dozens of well-known banking, corporate and institutional investment firms are suing international accounting and underwriting giants who endorsed $175 million in notes issued by Mid-American Waste Systems Inc. The 87-page civil complaint filed...

Keystone seeks incentives for $4.7M expansion plan. (Keystone Powdered Metal Co.)
March 14, 1997... The local operation of a Pennsylvania metal parts manufacturer plans to ask Columbus for a tax break for a planned $4.7 million expansion. On March 17, Keystone Powdered Metal Co. will ask Columbus City Council to approve a 75 percent,...

Conventions make hoteliers hot on Columbus. (Ohio)(includes related article on opening of Adam's Mark hotel)
March 14, 1997... Strong convention business in 1997 is expected to help absorb the 1,200 new hotel rooms on tap for Columbus this year. But the industry's continuing expansion - between 1,300 and 2,000 rooms could hit the market in 1998 - could force...

Procurement changes hurt women-owned businesses. (federal procurement policy)
March 14, 1997... WASHINGTON - Changes in the federal procurement policy are having a dampening effect on women-owned businesses, including those in Central Ohio. A Business First analysis of the distribution of federal procurement dollars shows women-owned...

OSU labors to bring Next Generation Internet on line. (Ohio State University)
March 14, 1997... Web surfers: Be prepared to suffer a severe case of "Net envy" within five years, thanks to the efforts of Ohio State University and nearly 100 other colleges and research institutions. Next Generation Internet is under development by these...

Multi-delivery systems weaken digital signal. (cellular telephones)
March 14, 1997... A lack of uniform standards continues to plague the cellular phone market, where three different digital transmission systems are interfering with nationwide portability. The confusion is due in large part to the Federal Communications...

LeVeque nixes RiverPark condo project downtown. (LeVeque Tower owner Katherine LeVeque)
March 21, 1997... Five years after the project was announced, plans have been scrapped for a 60-unit condo project atop the LeVeque Tower parking garage. Robin Wardrope, president of project developer Balclutha Inc., said the $19 million, 11-story RiverPark...

A 'goal'den opportunity. (Columbus Major League Soccer team Columbus Crew)
March 21, 1997... Soccer's Crew seen as playing vital role in levy kickstart Success for the Columbus Crew's inaugural pro soccer season last year was crucial, but the team's early season efforts this year could help decide the fate of a $277 million...

Doctors diagnoses 'right suitor' in Columbia. (merger of Doctors Hospital and Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.)
March 21, 1997... When Doctors Hospitals decided on a suitor, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. was the logical choice. The Nashville-based healthcare giant offers Columbus-based Doctors the opportunity to build its managed-care contracts, build its patient base,...

It's not the steak; it's the sizzle. (selling houses)(Trends in Residential Real Estate)
March 21, 1997... Builders and Realtors are stressing the warm and fuzzy aspects of home ownership to combat competition from apartments "It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,/ A heap o' sun an' shader, an' ye sometimes have t'roam/ Afore ye...

Taking 'austerity' out of 'starter.' (first time home buyers)(Trends in Residential Real Estate)
March 21, 1997... Master baths, hardwood floors and fireplaces lure demanding first-time home buyers to option-laden market Rising prices for new single-family homes haven t quashed the dreams of those hoping to get out of the rental market and into a home of...

Rivals join forces to solve 'Year 2000' computer woes.
March 21, 1997... With the dock ticking toward the new millennium, Central Ohio companies are appointing full-time coordinators to thwart potential computer disaster when the Year 2000 begins. Local companies also are sending systems managers to meet with peers...

Luxury crammed into 10,000 sq.ft. (Central Ohio executives' homes)(Trends in Residential Real Estate)
March 21, 1997... When high achievers talk of bringing it all back home, they often mean the pool, the restaurant kitchen and the indoor basketball court Some of Columbus' top executives are not only bringing home the bacon - they're providing state-of-the art...

WOSU stations do what it takes to find funding. (Ohio State University radio station network)
March 21, 1997... In a sense, the WOSU Stations operate on a Monty Hall "Let's Make a Deal" philosophy. For a price, the stations allow Muzak Business Music Services to transmit its "elevator" music over their substation. They lease tower space to WTTE-Fox 28....

Marketing homes: part razmataz, part financial counseling.(Trends in Residential Real Estate)
March 21, 1997... Excitement - pushing the "wow" button, as Hilary Derzon, director of sales and marketing of Gemstar Homes puts it. That's the goal of marketing and advertising managers for Columbus' top production home builders. They know that buying a house...

Metal frame homes earn niche in building market.(Trends in Residential Real Estate)
March 21, 1997... In the years after World War II, there was an immense market for housing in America. The combined effects of the Great Depression and four years of war had slowed home construction and now 10 million returning veterans were back looking for cars,...

CompuServe's wild ride: demise of Wow!, AOL competition, executive changes mark 'frenetic period.' (Wow! Multimedia Superstore; America Online)(Tech Now)
March 21, 1997... In the last year, CompuServe has lost more than $100 million, its CEO and 500 of its 3,100 employees, many of whom had been with the 28-year-old company for years. When it holds its first annual meeting March 21, CompuServe will face...

Accountants are on the job, from productivity to pay.(Inside Report: Business Finance & Accounting)
March 21, 1997... An accounting agency usually calls to mind harried number-crunchers hunched over desks cluttered with financial statements. These days, the reality is somewhat different. In an effort to increase business, accounting agencies are broadening...

Park National: small bank gets lots of respect. (Park National Bank)(Inside Report: Business Finance & Accounting)
March 21, 1997... McConnell named to head American Bankers Assoc. Ohio has generated two presidents of the American Bankers Association. And both have come from the same bank. Since its founding in 1908, Park National Bank has acted as a leading community...

Business fears bite of school-funding ruling: higher taxes likely, more accountability sought from schools. (Ohio)
March 28, 1997... Business taxes in Ohio are likely to increase as a result of an Ohio Supreme Court ruling striking down the state's school-funding formula as unconstitutional. Business groups also fear the unprecedented decision from the state's highest court...

Condo project not dead, LeVeque says. (Leveque Enterprises Inc.)
March 28, 1997... LeVeque Enterprises Inc. Chairman Katherine LeVeque said she still plans to proceed with development of a downtown condominium project atop the LeVeque Tower garage. Her written remarks were in response to a March 21 Business First story in...

Arnie tees up Tartan golf course community. (Arnold Palmer; Tartan Fields Golf Course)
March 28, 1997... Arnie is making a charge on Central Ohio's golfing community by putting his new private golf course within a wedge shot of Muirfield - the golf course built by his longtime on-course rival lack Nicklaus. Arnold Palmer's 18-hole, 7,150-yard...

OSU med center gears up to introduce HMO product. (Ohio State University Medical Center; health maintenance organization)
March 28, 1997... In a move designed to preserve and expand its patient base, Ohio State University Medical Center is moving forward with plans to introduce an HMO insurance product by 1998. The medical center plans to apply for an HMO license with the Ohio...

Red Roof seeks abatement for downtown hotel site. (Red Roof Inns Inc.)
March 28, 1997... Red Roof Inns Inc has its eyes on the Medberry Building downtown for a proposed 130-room budget hotel. The Hilliard-based lodging chain and an affiliate of Wittmann Real Estate Co., owner of the five-story property at 116 E. Chestnut St., will...

Hall of Fame restaurant boasts an impressive menu of backers. (Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe LLC)
March 28, 1997... Restaurateur Jon Self has tapped a "Who's Who" among Greater Columbus developers to invest in his restaurant redevelopment at the former Jai Lai. Ronald A. Pizzuti, Don M. Casto III, Franklin E. Kass and Jack E. Lucks Jr. will join Banc One...

Banc One sees potential in debt and equity securities.
March 28, 1997... With Federal Reserve Board approval granted March 24, Banc One expects to compete against the big New York investment houses when it enters the public securities market later this year. The Federal Reserve decision expands the power of Banc One...

Riverside to add cardiac cath lab to meet demand. (Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals; catheterization)
March 28, 1997... Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals is planning to add a seventh cardiac catheterization lab at its Riverside campus to accommodate an expected growth in procedures. The nearly $700,000 project will help the Riverside campus handle the...

Viatical settlement companies face tighter state, federal scrutiny.
March 28, 1997... WASHINGTON - An industry that spawns millions of dollars in settlement money by gambling on terminally ill patients may soon face increased scrutiny from state insurance commissioners and federal securities regulators. Viatical settlement...

Plans stay in limbo for ramps linking 315 to OSU hospitals. (Route 315; Ohio State University)
March 28, 1997... Planners of an interchange connecting Ohio State University Medical Center with Route 315 are predicting money to build the long-delayed project will be provided by Congress. But Rep. Deborah Pryce's office is not optimistic about obtaining...

Ryan's IGA grocery to end its 30-year run in Linworth: chain competition makes independents work harder for market.
March 28, 1997... A bridge project last summer tipped the balance against Ryan's IGA. After 30 years of operation in the Village of Linworth, the independent grocery store will close next month. "It's very difficult for independents to make it in this...

Columbus trails Ohio cities in manufacturing job growth.
March 28, 1997... Manufacturing remains a substantial segment of Ohio's work force, but employment generally has continued to decline, especially in Columbus, a Business First study shows. To the surprise of few, Columbus trailed other major Ohio cities in the...

Educating analysts at top of CompuServe's agenda.
March 28, 1997... The next person chosen to lead CompuServe had better be prepared to rack up some frequent-flier miles. Once a CEO is named to replace Robert Massey, who resigned Feb. 17, CompuServe must begin a "constant road show" to educate analysts about...

Mauck, Custom Coach team up on new custom vehicles. (Mauck Special Vehicles Inc.)
March 28, 1997... A leader in the custom motorcoach industry is teaming up Mauck Special Vehicles Inc. to design interiors for Mauck's smaller multi-passenger vehicle. Custom Coach Corp., 1400 Dublin Road, and Columbus-based Mauck have reached an agreement in...

Daimler plans second spec building at Polaris. (Daimler Equities Inc.; Polaris Centers of Commerce)
March 28, 1997... Developers plan to move forward on a second 101,000-square-foot speculative office project this spring at the Polaris Centers of Commerce. Daimler Equities Ltd., a partnership between Daimler Group and Ohio Equities Inc., will develop the...

Liberty Health frees $5M for Dublin care facility. (Liberty Health Care)
March 28, 1997... A Florida company is building its first Ohio assisted-living facility in Dublin. Naples-based Liberty Health Care, the management arm of National Assisted Living LP, has obtained zoning approval from the Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission...

Big, small business differ on liability reform. (product liability reform bill)
March 28, 1997... WASHINGTON - Years of persistent pressure by the business community may finally have paid off as Congress finds itself on the stretch run for a product liability reform bill. But over the past months, big business and small business have been...

Drew Show faces ergonomic future: software maker buys 125-year-old medical shoe firm. (BCAM International)
March 28, 1997... LANCASTER - A New York software company specializing in ergonomics signed a definitive agreement March 20 to buy Drew Shoe Corp. Melville-based BCAM International will buy the 125-year-old Lancaster company for $4.6 million. Drew Shoe Corp. is...

Group proposes changes in business area zoning. (Route 16/Cherry Valley Road area, Columbus, Ohio)
March 28, 1997... GRANVILLE - The Rapid Response Team thinks it has a plan that will partly end the moratorium on commercial building in the Route 16/Cherry Valley Road area. The team, a subcommittee of the Granville Comprehensive Plan Review Committee, will...

Warner offers phone service for businesses. (Time Warner Communications)
March 28, 1997... Warner Cable has changed its name to reflect its plan to offer high-speed internet access and business telephone service by midsummer. Time Warner Communications, as the company is now known, said the phone service will roll out beginning with...

Big, small business differ on liability reform approach. (products liability bill)
March 28, 1997... WASHINGTON - Years of persistent pressure by the business community may finally have paid off as Congress finds itself on the stretch run for a product liability reform bill. But over the past months, big business and small business have been...

MORPC delivers model rules for telecommunications providers. (Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission)(Column)
March 28, 1997... The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has approved model ordinances that communities can use to control the coming invasion of telecommunications providers. Cities have been used to dealing with just one provider of cable television or...

Darby's 'green' homes way it should be done. (Darby, Ohio)(Inside Report: Construction, Building & Design)
March 28, 1997... Urban forester Barbara Fair doesn't work as much as she would like with Ohio's developers. But Fair, an employee of the state Department of Natural Resource's Forestry Division, says it's different at Hidden Creek at the Darby. There, she's...

NBBJ puts Jack Maxton into classy auto dealership. (car dealership project for Jack Maxton Chevrolet)(Inside Report: Construction, Building & Design)
March 28, 1997... Though the project won't be fully completed until June, the futuristic, 30-foot-high "giant glass boxes" are already attracting notice from passersby on East Dublin-Granville Road. And it's rapidly becoming quite possibly the most...

Architects deliver on first building. (Acock Associates Inc.'s project for Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp.)(Inside Report: Construction, Building & Design)
March 28, 1997... Like first-time expectant parents, Dennis Blair and Julie Orlyk can't wait for the months of waiting to be over and the final results of their collaborative efforts to be completed. But instead of flesh and blood, their "baby" is a $30...

Edsall's design chosen as playing fields of OSU. (Edsall and Associates to design recreational sports complex for Ohio State University)(Inside Report: Construction, Building & Design)
March 28, 1997... Construction has begun on a $4.7 million, state-of-the-art recreational sports complex on 42 acres at Ohio State University that officials say will be the finest in the nation. "This is going to be a major step forward," said Bruce Maurer, the...

A place to spend ... amenities tempt mall visitors to linger and buy. (Mall at Tuttle Crossing)(Inside Report: Construction, Building & Design)
March 28, 1997... Shopping at the new Mall at Tuttle Crossing won't be like going to another planet, but certain features of the work in progress illustrate some of the trends in mall design. The 980,000-square-foot mall is angling to be your home away from...

Columbus architectural firm wins award for Wellington Woods home. (Nitschke Sampson Dietz)(Inside Report: Construction, Building & Design)
March 28, 1997... The Columbus arch and construction firm of Nitschke Sampson Dietz has received the Best in American Living Award for the design and construction of a house in the Wellington Woods area of Upper Arlington. The completed project appeared in the...

Red Cross seeks new avenues of funding.(Corporate Caring)
March 28, 1997... The 2,000 men and women who volunteer with the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus represent the organization's greatest asset, says CEO Michael Carroll. But Carroll, who was attracted to the local Red Cross job from a similar position with...

Court's ruling generates problems for deregulation of electricity. (Ohio Supreme Court's order that the general Assembly seek better way to fund public schools)
March 28, 1997... Already-complex state electric utility deregulation is now further complicated by the Ohio Supreme Court's order that the General Assembly find a more equitable way to fund public schools, officials say. A special legislative panel set up to...

Decision could boost values for homeowners. (Ohio Supreme Court's ruling on the unconstitutionality of state school funding system)
March 28, 1997... Soaring property values in what are now low-wealth school districts likely will be a major benefit from the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling that the state's school funding system is unconstitutional, experts said. The court, in effect, ordered the...

College on your mind? It's never too late to start planning.(First Honors)
March 28, 1997... The stereotypes of college students may make many young people think that post-secondary education is nothing but a barrel of laughs. Unfortunately, going to college is a much more serious affair. Simply getting into the school of choice...