Business First-Columbus articles from November 1998

Business First-Columbus archives from November 1998

OSU cooling on Park.(Ohio State University Medical Center; Park Medical Center)
November 6, 1998... Ohio State University Medical Center appears an unlikely acquirer of Park Medical Center, but OSU could become involved with clinical operations at the troubled Columbus hospital. "They told us that if we have another suitor then we should...

Hartman Hotel acquired: development plans unclear.
November 6, 1998... A Columbus real estate partnership has purchased the Hartman Hotel building downtown with vague plans to redevelop the historic property. 150 East Main Street Ltd. paid $500,000 on Nov. 2 for the six-story, 72,000-square-foot building at...

Casto bids to renew life of old Berwick retail plaza.(Don M. Casto Organization; Berwick Plaza Shopping Center in Columbus, Ohio)
November 6, 1998... Berwick Plaza Shopping Center at Winchester Pike and Refugee Road never quite made the grade as a retail center. So, developer Don M. Casto Organization plans to redevelop the bulk of the 34-year-old property as office and...

Crown joins accelerating auto trade with expansion projects.(Crown Motor Co.)
November 6, 1998... Crown Motor Co. will expand its two dealerships on Perimeter Loop in Dublin. The company's Crown Eurocars, a Mercedes Benz dealership, will add 8,200 square feet to its 18,311-square-foot complex. The extra space will be devoted to the...

Cross-selling begins as 5/3 opens investment product.(Fifth Third Bank)
November 6, 1998... Unit investment trust idea from acquired brokerage keys on tech stocks Fifth Third Bank is rolling out one of its first cross-selling products resulting from its acquisition of Ohio Co.: a unit investment trust comprised of technology and...

Nationwide sets endowment for OU broadcast students.(Nationwide Insurance Enterprise; Ohio University)
November 6, 1998... $500,000 scholarship fund recognizes ties between college, insurer's former radio business Nationwide Insurance Enterprise will endow a $500,000 scholarship fund for broadcast majors at Ohio University as a legacy of Nationwide...

Pollsters want Ameritech to hang up call blocker.
November 6, 1998... Researchers say anti-telesales service will hurt them, customers Ohio's professional telephone researchers want Ameritech to disconnect a planned call-blocking service they say could skew poll results, double their cost of doing business...

Trendiness nips at edges of old city warehouse district.(real estate development in Columbus, Ohio)
November 6, 1998... Columbus' strong economy continues to be the horsepower behind building and renovation activity in the downtown warehouse district. During the first half of the century, a warehouse/industrial district developed in the area bounded on the...

Longaberger casts golden glow on Newark's east end.(Longaberger Basket Co.)
November 6, 1998... Newark Mayor Frank Stare admits a lot of this city's economic eggs rest in a Longaberger basket. "A lot of what we expect to happen in Newark and-Licking County over the next several years is fled to Longaberger," the mayor said. But...

Good will, equipment factors in construction company value.(Kokosing Construction Co. Inc.)
November 6, 1998... Brian Burgett, president and chief executive of Kokosing Construction, knows the importance of a good estimate of a construction company's fair market value. Privately owned Kokosing has grown in size due primarily to its acquisition of a...

Logistics company grows at SouthPark.(Genco Distribution System)
November 13, 1998... A third-party logistics company based in Pittsburgh plans to add 100 jobs in Grove City as it doubles its operations at the SouthPark industrial center early next year. Genco Distribution System, which serves manufacturers and retailers,...

Apparel with a point of view: Zero Casualties hopes its message, portion of profits set it apart from thick crowd of urban-wear makers.
November 13, 1998... Zero Casualties hopes its message, portion of profits set it apart from thick crowd of urban-wear makers Marcel Willis is crouched, elbows on his knees, in a warehouse on Spring Street downtown. It is dimly lighted. He's muscular and...

Technology workers the target of hot pursuit.(Ohio's job market)
November 13, 1998... Executives at Sterling Commerce Inc. figure that at any given time, they've got 100 technical jobs unfilled at the Columbus-based international business software developer. So, Sterling has gone to unusual lengths to attract and retain...

Credit unions jump on rule change to reduce ATM fees.(automated teller machines)
November 13, 1998... Credit union customers in Ohio will soon have more surcharge-free ATMs at their disposal, but so far bank customers will have to stick to their own networks. Columbus-based Corporate One Credit Union is the first financial institution in...

Campus Partners narrows field of Gateway developers.(mixed-use 'gateway' to Ohio State University)
November 13, 1998... Castro, Arshot join LaSalle in competition for $70 million project on North High Street The competition to develop a $70 million mixed-use "gateway" to Ohio State University has come down to three development groups, including one with two...

Cleveland company assigned to shop Sun TV's real estate.(Duke Realty Investments' Columbus Industrial Group)
November 13, 1998... Local real estate executives expect they'll have little difficulty finding buyers or tenants for the Central Ohio buildings occupied by Sun Television & Appliances stores. Kurt Dahner, vice president and general manager of Duke Realty...

Ohio is latest target of banks that demand changes to insurance laws.
November 13, 1998... Huntington, 3 trade groups argue a federal court ruling supersedes state regulations The convergence of banking and insurance may be stalled in Congress, but banks have momentum in the courts on their side as the effort moves to Ohio with...

Key to McDonald deal: same name, execs, bank decides.(McDonald & Co. Investments)
November 13, 1998... McDonald's local office plans move to Fifth Third building's new addition Customers should not expect outward changes at McDonald & Co. Investments in the wake of its purchase by KeyCorp. The Cleveland-based banking company will allow...

New division fueling MPW's growth-by-acquisition plan.(MPW Industrial Services Inc.)
November 13, 1998... MPW Industrial Services Inc., finishing its first year as a publicly traded company, plans to continue a growth plan led by its new clean room cleaning division. At its annual meeting Nov. 11, executives of the Hebron-based company told...

Priorities shift under MCOs' pact with workers' comp.(managed-care organizations)
November 13, 1998... Getting injured workers back on the job quickly is the focus of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's new two-year contract with managed-care organizations. To cut costs and improve medical care for injured workers, the BWC turned...

Columbus firm can't hide away a space-saving idea.(Space Advantages Murphy Bed Center)
November 13, 1998... A Columbus company is using a century-old solution for saving space on a budget to grow business in Central Ohio among an affluent crowd. Space Advantages Murphy Bed Center has sold more than $400,000 worth of Murphy beds, space-saving...

Perry in DeSantis deal.(C.V. Perry & Co's planned condominium project on land acquired from developer Albert J. DeSantis)
November 20, 1998... One of the original bidders for the DeSantis estate in Upper Arlington has reemerged in a leading role in the redevelopment of the Henderson Road property for condo and commercial projects. Residential developer C.V. Perry & Co. plans to...

Huntington closing call centers in W. Va, Mich.(Huntington Bancshares Inc)
November 20, 1998... Huntington Bancshares Inc. will close telephone banking centers in West Virginia and Michigan as part of its cost-cutting efforts. The Columbus-based bank will close a call center in Fairmont, W.Va., on Jan. 15, eliminating 40 positions,...

Realty groups at odds over 'scraping' of Web listings.
November 20, 1998... Putting real estate listings on the Internet has become a popular device for attracting potential buyers to houses and agents. But a leading broker in Columbus and state regulators fear junk data could clog the market, putting brokers and...

Showroom improvement in works at Honda East.
November 20, 1998... Bert Lindsay's Honda East is updating its showroom to meet the manufacturer's new design for Honda new-car dealerships. Lindsay, president of the dealership on Scarborough Boulevard, said Columbus contractor Ricop Construction Co. would...

Big Ohio banks facing hefty bill on Y2K repair.
November 20, 1998... Top 7 institutions figure they'll spend $541M to recode their computers Fixing the Year 2000 computer problem likely will cost Ohio's biggest banks more than a half-billion dollars, documents show. That sum includes estimates from just...

Firstar plans to introduce new credit card in Ohio.
November 20, 1998... Elan card is planned after Star-Firstar deal closes Star Banc Corp. plans to expand Milwaukee-based Firstar Corp.'s Elan credit card business into Ohio and the rest of Star's banking region after the Cincinnati-based bank closes its...

New managed-care firm poised to enter Columbus.(Telesis Medical Management Inc)
November 20, 1998... A system of managed-care that is popular on the West Coast is nudging its way into Columbus' health-care market. American Health Network in Westerville, a group of 65 primary-care physicians in five Central Ohio counties, plans to sign a...

United Dairy Farmers retools to improve store performance.
November 20, 1998... United Dairy Farmers CEO Brad Lindner has initiated a multimillion-dollar retooling effort that includes a management reshuffling, a major technology upgrade and a new product line. All of it makes for a busy first year at the helm for the...

Metamorphosis.(Wild Bird and Nature Store in Marysville, OH)
November 20, 1998... By hosting seminars and other educational events, a smaller retailer can transform from mere shop owner into much-needed expert Whether it's the busy holiday season or the dead of summer, retailers are always trying to think up creative...

Needling: tree farms draw seekers of biggest, tallest, bestest.(Messerall Family Farm)
November 20, 1998... The day alter Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year at the local mall, but it also brings hordes of shoppers to the Messerall Family Farm near Alexandria. The Messerall's 60 acres have more than 50,000 Christmas trees and a whole...

Young & interactive contact with kids keeps studiomotive hip and healthy.(graphic design firm)(Company Business and Marketing)
November 20, 1998... At age 35, Robert Abbott certainly can't be classified as a dinosaur in the business of graphic design. But he recognizes that many of the tools he used when he began his career in the 1980s - things such as waxed galleys and razor-blade...

Easton lands Virgin Megastore.(Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio)
November 27, 1998... Two restaurants join the roster at entertainment center Music retailer Virgin Megastore, a hot Phoenix-based Asian dining concept and another leading Columbus restaurant operator are the latest additions to the entertainment component at...

Holding onto a memory.(changes at Fashionetta Beauty Shop in Columbus, Ohio following an arsonist attack)
November 27, 1998... Despite arsonist attack, Fashionetta hopes to reclaim its landmark in an urban neighborhood-gone-by For years, customers found the Fashionetta Beauty Shop by its color - deep pink. Now, with its exterior walls painted gray, the...

Let buying begin: holiday spree is here.(retail promotions in Columbus, Ohio for 1998 holiday season)
November 27, 1998... Consolidated Stores Corp. so wanted shoppers the day after Thanksgiving that its KB Toys and KB Toy Works planned an unprecedented one-day giveaway: A free Toss & Tickle Me Elmo, a $40 toy, to every shopper who came in and spent $100. The...

Maple Lee, Connell's join florist shop consolidator.(sale of Maple Lee Inc. and Connell's Flowers to Gerald Stevens Inc.)
November 27, 1998... Florida-based group has network of 100 outlets as a goal by year-end Two of the largest florists in Columbus have joined a national chain trying to become the Blockbuster Video of the florist industry. Maple Lee Inc., a Worthington...

Ailing group model HMO being shuttered by Cigna.(Cigna HealthCare of Ohio Inc. plans to close group-model health maintenance organization)
November 27, 1998... Cigna HealthCare of Ohio Inc. plans to shut its group-model health maintenance organization Feb. 1. Enrollment in the group-model HMO of insurance giant Cigna has dropped by more than half, from 25,000 members in 1995 to 11,000 today. ...

Columbus places high in housing development.(Columbus, Ohio)
November 27, 1998... Survey finds area tops state in permits per capita, but no signs of overbuilding Columbus Reads Ohio cities and all but one Midwest city in the pace of housing development, a Business First study shows. The study of Census Bureau...

EPS wish heard: sale gives it access to public markets.(sale of Electronic Payment Systems Inc. to Concord EFS Inc.)
November 27, 1998... Publicly held Concord pays $920 million for operator of MAC network Bank customers shouldn't expect to see immediate changes at their ATMs following the sale of the MAC network, the area's largest operator of automated-teller machines. ...

Cellular firms banking on the incredibly shrinking phone.(includes related article on Time Warner Communications Inc.'s expansion of its Road Runner Business Solutions program)(Ohio)
November 27, 1998... When it comes to wireless phone technology, less is more. On Nov. 27, Ameritech became the first in Ohio to offer Motorola's smallest and lightest digital cell phone, the StarTAC. It is the size of a thick credit card at 5.1 cubic inches...

Labor 2, management 0.(ruling on labor dispute between General Motors Corp. and members of United Automobile Workers in Ohio)
November 27, 1998... GM strike payouts, rehire ruling in newspaper case leave unions seeing upside Mark Sweazy, president of UAW Local 969 in Columbus, has been in a good mood lately. That's because two labor disputes arising out of Michigan give unions a...