Business First-Columbus articles from May 1995

Business First-Columbus archives from May 1995

Legal issues swirl around Dublin dome. (Cody Zeigler Co. sues Dublin Board of Education over Willard Grizzell Middle School)
May 1, 1995... Cody-Zeigler sues over school contract A Licking County construction company is suing the Dublin Board of Education for refusing to pay $309,000 of its $5.4 million contract to build Willard Grizzell Middle School. The two sides have widely...

Huntington prefers quiet growth. (Huntington Bancshares Inc.)
May 1, 1995... As usual, analysts talk up takeover Huntington Bancshares Chairman and CEO Frank Wobst does not fret that his company is not ranked among the nation's banking behemoths. Wobst, speaking recently in his 34th-floor executive suite, said steady...

Spotlight shifts to board pay. (shareholders demand right to vote on benefits for company directors)
May 1, 1995... CEOs are well aware of the scrutiny shareholders give to executive compensation. Now those shareholders are turning their attention to how much directors take home. Increasingly, companies are crafting elaborate compensation packages above and...

Zande returns fire at firm that made ethics charges. (R.D. Zande and Associates charges K.S. Murchison Co. with unethical conduct)
May 1, 1995... Responding to allegations that R.D. Zande and Associates had engaged in unethical conduct, the company's attorney is suggesting that Zande's accuser is the unethical one. Kathleen Murchison, a would-be subcontractor for Zande, has accused the...

Fifty Five nears purchase of Colorado Cattle eatery. (Fifty Five Group of Restaurants; Colorado Cattle Co.)
May 1, 1995... The Fifty Five Restaurant Group is starting another restaurant concept in Columbus. The group plans to buy the Colorado Cattle Company at Fishinger Road and Riverside Drive as soon as the Ohio Department of Liquor Control approves the transfer...

Merged chopper services to break even in '98. (MedFlight)
May 1, 1995... Ohio State University Hospitals' Skymed and Grant Medical Center's LifeFlight completed their long-anticipated merger so the two hospitals could stop subsidizing their money-losing medical helicopter services. But they have not stopped the...

High loan demand fuels record year for U.S. banks.
May 1, 1995... A strong economy meant healthy numbers for banks in 1994. Despite rising interest rates and shrinking margins, the banking industry had record profits for the third consecutive year, and assets were up 8.1 percent from 1993, according to a...

Local firm seeking funds to fuel work on electric car. (Whitehall Motors)
May 1, 1995... Since Whitehall Motors moved here last summer from Los Angeles, the developer of hybrid electric vehicles has been enjoying consistent growth. Now Phillip Myers, founder and president of Whitehall Motors, is ready for a growth spurt. Myers...

Small firms cooperate to buy health insurance.
May 1, 1995... The idea of small businesses pooling their purchasing power to get a better deal on health insurance is nothing new in Ohio, from Cleveland's Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) to the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce's Chamber Health Plan....

Ohio bankers ready ad campaign to beat back rivals.
May 15, 1995... For the first time in its history, the Ohio Bankers Association has hired an advertising agency to help its members attract investment and trust services clientele. Marcy Design Group of Columbus has been charged with promoting banks as a...

Borden head buys New Albany house. (Borden CEO C. Robert Kidder; New Albany County Club, Columbus, Ohio)
May 15, 1995... New Borden Chief Executive Officer C. Robert Kidder is integrating himself into Greater Columbus society. Last month, he bought a $1.3 million home in the New Albany County Club development for $882,000 because it is still under construction....

Two firms seek city tax breaks. (Marketing Services by Vectra; Consolidated Stores; Columbus, Ohio)
May 15, 1995... 400 new jobs planned Two expanding west side businesses are completing negotiations with the city to receive tax abatements. Marketing Services by Vectra and Consolidated Stores each will add 200 jobs if the abatements are approved by City...

Rezoning paves way for wet row near Tuttle. (residential zoning; Tuttle Crossing development, Columbus, Ohio)
May 15, 1995... It appears as if restaurants that serve alcohol will have an additional opportunity to set their tables near the 400-acre Tuttle Crossing development. A recent rezoning of a handful of Dublin residences fronting Tuttle Road clears the way for...

The time has arrived for a home ISDN line. (integrated services digital networks)(Inside Report: Computers & High Tech)
May 15, 1995... I remember the day in 1982 when I replaced my 300 bit-per-second (bps) modem with a 1,200 bps model. What a rush. Words streamed across my screen four times faster at the rate of 25 words a minute. Today most people are buying modems that...

Brewster's seeks franchisees to sell cups of joe to go. (Brewster's Coffee Co.)
May 15, 1995... Drive-thru coffee is on its way to Columbus. Brewster's Coffee Co. in Chicago is taking its six-shop, 20-employee operation nationwide, and Columbus is one of its key markets. The chain is looking for franchisees here and in 39 other markets...

Use persistence, charm when making cold calls. (sales calls)
May 15, 1995... Editor's note: We recognize that many salespeople read Business First each week for information and sales leads. This is a weekly column dedicated to the science of selling. You are invited to read and contribute. Charles Brantley of Page...

Moral compass. (business ethics)
May 15, 1995... Local groups help firms navigate ethical dilemmas What responsibilities does a corporation have toward employees it has laid off? Should a U.S. company doing business in a foreign country engage in practices, such as bribery, that are deemed...

Mary Kay rep brings color to gray Mother Russia. (Mary Kay Cosmetics representative Loubov Kabanova)
May 15, 1995... Pink is in and red is out, at least in Russia. Now that the country has opened its doors to free enterprise, Mary Kay Cosmetics has found a way to market its products. Loubov Kabanova has been selling Mary Kay cosmetics in her hometown of...

METATEC Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 15, 1995... META Nasdaq Metatec Corp. is a leading information industry company serving two key markets: organizations seeking to publish information on CD-ROM, and personal computer users who own CD-ROM equipped, multimedia computer systems. Metatec's...

Behind the times. (survey of accounting computer systems)(Inside Report: Computers & High Tech)
May 15, 1995... Accounting poll shows most see computer systems as inadequate A recent national survey of large corporations has shown that there are apparently a lot of dissatisfied workers in the corporate financial and accounting departments. The survey,...

Multi-disc CD-ROM unit becoming more practical.(Inside Report: Computers & High Tech)
May 15, 1995... We all know what to do when we run out of hard disk capacity - buy a bigger hard disk. But what do you do if you want more CD-ROM capacity? Buy a multi-disc CD-ROM changer. Although there are methods of compressing more data onto CD-ROM discs,...

Cardinal Health eyes I-270 for its new nest.
May 22, 1995... Tuttle Crossing not final stop for distributor Although it hasn't yet moved to Tuttle Crossing, Cardinal Health is already planning its next relocation. And this time, it's a big one. In February, the Dublin-based drug distributor announced...

Brewery pours $26M into upgrades. (Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.)
May 22, 1995... A-B plant taps latest technology Forklifts will soon be a thing of the past at the local Anheuser-Busch brewery. Come next year, 42 automated vehicles will replace the forklifts as part of the St. Louis-based company's $26 million expansion...

Surgery centers benefit from legislative inaction. (Ohio)
May 22, 1995... An oversight in Ohio's latest law regulating the construction of new medical facilities means two Dublin-area surgical centers may gain automatic approval. Because the Legislature was unable to pass a corrections bill by May 20, applications...

Credit unions buck state plan to merge regulators. (Ohio Department of Commerce)
May 22, 1995... Credit unions across the state are fighting an Ohio Department of Commerce plan to merge its credit union, bank and thrift divisions. The divisions are responsible for regulating state-chartered financial institutions. Department Director...

Truckers say toll hike may flatten independents. (Ohio Trucking Association)
May 22, 1995... The trucking industry wants to put the brakes on a toll increase for the Ohio Turnpike that stretches from Toledo to Youngstown. In late April, the Ohio Turnpike Commission said it would increase tolls by 80 percent. For a typical tractor...

Judge dismisses plastics firm's non-compete claim. (Dayton Plastics Inc.)
May 22, 1995... It appears as if Jennifer A. Holder can keep her new sales job. A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge has dismissed a complaint filed by GEA Inc. against Ain Plastics of Ohio, a local competitor, and Holder, a former GEA employee. The...

Realtor makes new career baking bowser biscuits. (Stephanie Sellers, owner of Bone Appetite)
May 22, 1995... Stephanie Sellers has gone to the dogs. Sellers, 31, is the owner and president of recently formed Bone Appetite, a homemade dog biscuit making company. By trade, Sellers is a real estate agent. But after five years of selling homes in the...

Glass repair shop breaks into new lines. (Glassworks Plus Inc.)(Small Business Strategies)
May 22, 1995... Steve Boggess's story is one of diversifying to stay ahead of the competition. Boggess started out in 1986 as the proprietor of one shop that did on-site auto glass replacement. When competitors proliferated, Boggess bought two established...

National Gas & Oil Company. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
May 22, 1995... NLG Amex National Gas & Oil is a publicly held holding company that provides a structure for the operation of the regulated natural gas public utility business and the non-regulated oil and gas production, development and marketing business....

Common fan man. (Frank Moskowitz, publisher of Buckeye Sports Bulletin)
May 22, 1995... Publisher' says he'll go to mat for OSU sports, pro wrestling Whether he's putting an issue of his Buckeye Sports Bulletin to bed or being forced from a professional wrestling ring by a bullwhip-cracking behemoth, Frank Moskowitz has created...

Working smart. (Roger Rill, manager of corporate administration at TS Trim Industries Inc.)(Who's Who in Manufacturing)
May 22, 1995... What's a Japanese-owned auto parts maker with an American work force need most? Maybe it's a guy like Roger Rill, whose downhome personality satisfies the employee relations needs of both cultures while keeping the production lines humming....

Uncle Sam's machine dreams. (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office)(Inside Report: Manufacturing)
May 22, 1995... Old Defense tools sell at big discounts Need a 12-ton milling machine? A heat treating furnace? Grinders, lathes or tool saws? They're all available at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office, located at the Defense Contractors...

Businesses find it cost-effective to prevent injuries. (repetitive motion injuries)(Inside Report: Manufacturing)
May 22, 1995... Lawsuits, losses in productivity can be avoided Repetitive motion injuries are becoming more than a pain in the neck to the manufacturing industry. Even if the federal government does not issue workplace regulations, businesses face ever...

Integration makes factory operate more efficiently. (OSF America Inc.)(Inside Report: Manufacturing)
May 22, 1995... Shorter, faster production runs and faster product changes are becoming the order of the day in manufacturing, with the change accelerated by software that integrates everything from billing to procurement. OSF America Inc., of Columbus, is a...

Star to merge banks in plan to boost customer service. (Star Banc Corp.)
May 22, 1995... Cincinnati-based Star Banc Corp. plans to merge its Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana banks into one entity. If the holding company gets merger approval from the Comptroller of the Currency, Star customers will be able to access their accounts from...

HMOs eye big-dollar Medicare market. (health maintenance organizations)
May 29, 1995... United HealthCare of Ohio is planning to offer Columbus's first Medicare HMO plan - and other managed care companies in Ohio won't be far behind. United HealthCare is close to completing its application to the federal Health Care Financing...

ASC drops plastics, goes for calling card deals. (Advanced Sports Concepts Inc.)
May 29, 1995... Advanced Sports Concepts Inc. is advancing its cause. The Columbus-based company, best known for its development of the Bigball basketball training sphere and Face Defender baseball helmet shield, recently reached a deal to sell its licensed...

Columbus middlin' when it comes to small business. (Columbus, OH)
May 29, 1995... When Todd and Michelle Appelbaum opened Cup o' Joe coffee and dessert house in late 1993, they thought Columbus was the perfect place to start their small business. Now, 17 months later, the couple is planning to open two more stores in...

Inventor seeks patent for cellular device. (Jeffrey Leukart, inventor of Anten-a-pod which reduces wind noise on car phone antennas)
May 29, 1995... Local businessman Jeffrey Leukart has invented a gadget to reduce wind noise on car phone antennas. "For the longest time I couldn't figure out what the annoying noise was outside of my car," said Leukart, president of Absolutee Inc., a...

Lanning plans to open Short North art gallery. (art dealer Ursula Lanning)
May 29, 1995... Ursula Lanning and Nicolae Halmaghi will soon have a parting of the artistic ways. Lanning, who has bought art for Nicolae for five years, will open her own shop featuring more cutting edge art than what she's been choosing for the Nicolae...

City's insurance costs drop 6 percent per employee. (Columbus, OH)
May 29, 1995... The city's Department of Finance is achieving a goal it set for itself three years ago: reducing Columbus's insurance costs. Employee insurance benefits cost the city $31.3 million last year, the lowest amount since 1990. The average insurance...

Mid-American struggles to cut debt, turn around. (Mid-American Waste Systems Inc.)
May 29, 1995... The past few weeks haven't been kind to Mid-American Waste Systems Inc. Then again, neither have the past few years. Since 1991, revenues have been relatively flat at the Canal Winchester waste management company, while many competitors have...

Health alliances discount small employer health costs.
May 29, 1995... Eric Dresbach has always felt it's his duty to buy health insurance for his employees. As owner of W.D. Farms Inc., a farming and trucking business in Circleville, Dresbach has paid 100 percent of his employees' health insurance premiums since...

DeLuca goes underground to monitor the mayo. (Fred DeLuca, founder of Subway Sandwiches and Salads)(Small Business Strategies)
May 29, 1995... Dressed in blue jeans, a white polo shirt and tennis shoes, Fred DeLuca walked into the Subway shop at 2910 East Main St. on a Sunday evening and ordered a veggie sandwich. He seemed like a typical Subway customer. But what the Subway...