Inside Business articles from December 2003

Inside Business archives from December 2003

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2003... A feature in the November issue on Clarence Smith ("Power Meets Piety") misspelled the name of Mark Munroe.

Outlook and expectations.(Editor's Column)
December 1, 2003... Maybe you, like me, have suffered through enough motivational seminars. If I never again see another Successories poster--simpering pablum like Your Altitude Is Determined By Your Attitude--it will still be too soon. I've known plenty of...

From Arhaus to your house.(Frontlines)
December 1, 2003... John Reed looks for design and quality in a great piece of furniture. "It has to look cool," says the Arhaus CEO. "But it also has to be functional." Reed's furniture philosophy reflects the atmosphere and ambience of Arhaus' newly...

Will KeyCorp stay? December 1998.(Back issue: catching up with past cover stories)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Five years later, we learn the answer: KeyCorp stays. In response to speculation that KeyCorp was ripe for takeover, then-Chairman and CEO Bob Gillespie told Inside Business that the world of banking was changing, that (at that time)...

The work front.(Frontlines)
December 1, 2003... Businesses with employees serving in Iraq have certain obligations toward those soldiers. Employment and benefits of those serving in the military must be upheld upon their return, according to the Uniformed Services Employment and...

Wild wings and web: from hotels to hot wings, Broadband Hospitality proves there is no such things as small business.(Frontlines)
December 1, 2003... Vince Lucci knows thinking small is more profitable than thinking big. Within a decade, Lucci has gone from being a telephone network installer to a major competitor in the market for high-speed Internet access in hotels. His...

Roll out the barrel: Legacy Village provides Crate & Barrel with a growth opportunity.(Five Questions)
December 1, 2003... Second only to the hype surrounding LeBron James is the premiere of Greater Cleveland's first lifestyle center, Legacy Village in Lyndhurst. Perhaps the most anticipated store, not to mention one of the center's largest occupants, Crate...

Business Hall of Fame and VOY dinner.(Working The Room)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Members of the region's business elite were on hand as Inside Business inducted the class of 2003 into, the Northeast Ohio Business Hall of Fame on Oct. 30 at the InterContinental Hotel. Inducted this year were Monte Ahuja, chairman and...

Lessons from Sam Walton.(Working The Room)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Jack Shewmaker was a last-minute pinch hitter at a John Carroll University Entrepreneurs Association event in October. The original speaker was Wal-Mart vice chairman Tom Coughlin, who was recovering from an arterial blockage. ...

Biz links.
December 1, 2003... Biz Links ACCOUNTING & FINANCIAL PLANNING Hill, Barth & King LLC (330) 747-1903 www.hbkcpa.com Ohio Society of CPAs (800) 686-2727 www.ohio-cpa.com ARCHITECTURE KA Inc. Architecture (216) 781-9144...

The 'joy' of shopping: poor salespeople make a bad experience worse.(Customer Service)
December 1, 2003... Well, it's the holidays again, and it's time for my least favorite thing to do: shopping! That's right, boys and girls, a round of chemo might be a touch more enjoyable. Let's look at the customers' frustration for a few moments....

Born to R.L. Blossom bank: R.L. Blossom drives Second National Bank on a road to new growth.(Regional focus: Youngstown)(profile of bank's chairman, president and CEO)(Company Profile)
December 1, 2003... When he's not meeting with clients, spreading the corporate mantra to executives and employees, crunching numbers or promoting Second National Bank to investors and analysts, R.L. (Rick) Blossom trades his business suit for a pair of jeans, a...

Yes, Virginia, there is an Ohio.(Director's Column)
December 1, 2003... The caller from Virginia was very polite. She wanted to follow up on a letter the Virginia Economic Development Partnership had written me enumerating the benefits of relocating our business to Virginia. She was calling to see if I would...

Building a better board: a competent, well-rounded advisory board can be a vital resource.(Good Advice)
December 1, 2003... Erwind Blount learned how to form an advisory board the hard way. "I got a lot of experienced people who forgot what they learned," says the president of CyStorm Inc., a medical technology design firm located at the Great Lakes Innovation and...

Free-trade opportunities.(Roundup)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... CLEVELAND -- The Ohio-Israel Chamber of Commerce is one of few agencies to offer businesses the chance to take advantage of duty-free trade exports. The chamber authorizes certificates of origin, free-trade agreements between U.S. businesses...

Encouraging global business.(Roundup)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... CLEVELAND -- Cleveland State University has partnered with World Trade Center Cleveland to form the International Business Center, housed in the James J. Nance College of Business Administration on CSU's campus. Established in August after...

SBA in 7 languages.(Roundup)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The Small Business Administration (SBA) has embraced multiculturalism. An "Introduction to the U.S. Small Business Administration" now offers entrepreneurs help in seven languages on the Web. Users who log on to...

Loan lingo.(Talk The Talk)
December 1, 2003... Loans can be a tricky subject for any business, and entrepreneurs are especially likely to run into problems. Many times, they have the drive and ambition to create a successful company, but don't have the startup capital to make it happen....

Ohio Entrepreneur roadmap.
December 1, 2003... Ohio Entrepreneur is a partnership of companies, universities and economic development organizations dedicated to providing access to the information and services entrepreneurs need to start, locate and expand their businesses in Ohio. ...

NEOSA v2.0: Jim Cookinham talks about what's next for his group.(Interview)
December 1, 2003... When Jim Cookinham started the Northeast Ohio Software Association in 1998, there wasn't a single voice for the information technology community in Cleveland. Today, there are all kinds of alphabet-soup groups for IT, biotech,...

The good life: before you live it, you have to create it.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Being retired doesn't necessarily mean sitting on the beach, playing golf and visiting the grandkids. Take, for example, Jack Kahl, retired president and CEO of Manco Inc. He's busier than ever. He spends his days dispensing advice:...

Wealthy and wealthier: the first rule of building wealth: you should have some to begin.(Managing Wealth)
December 1, 2003... It takes money to make money. It's trite. It's cliche. And it's true. Millions of Americans save billions of dollars. The government has created a number of tools--401(k) retirement plans and individual retirement accounts to name two--but...

How to be an angel: you're retired but have some money to play with. This advice from on high guides the way.(Managing Wealth)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2003... Dan T. Moore has kissed a lot of frogs in his day. Lucky for him, many of those frogs turned into princes, which in Moore's case meant investing in lucrative business ventures with entrepreneurs. Moore, a Cleveland entrepreneur and...

Do your home homework: when buying a vacation home, listen to your heart, but follow your head.(Managing Wealth)
December 1, 2003... For the past three years, Dennis Jacobs and his wife, Karen, a teacher in North Royalton, have given serious thought to buying a vacation home. The couple, both in their early 50s, haven't yet decided exactly where to buy the home, but they...

Grant Thornton.
December 1, 2003... Over the last three years accounting scandals, tax shelter investigations and a sagging economy have shifted the focus of many middle market company owners inward toward protecting the profitability of their businesses. These businesses in...

Opening the golden parachute: negotiate a comfortable exit strategy so you can focus on building the company.(Managing Wealth)
December 1, 2003... In uncertain times, certain employment provisions can lighten one of the many loads an executive carries. The ability to bail out of a job and land softly on one's feet is the basis behind the concept of the "golden parachute," a tax...

Money masters: answering your investment questions.(Ask The Experts)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Q: INVESTORS WERE CHEERED THIS YEAR AS STOCK PRICES BEGAN HEADING UP BUT IS A MARKET RALLY A GOOD REASON TO JUMP BACK INTO THE INVESTMENT FRAY? A: "Generally, you shouldn't exit the market when prices are low--and you shouldn't throw...

Leaving a legacy: you'll have to go sometime, but the right planning can ensure your estate will live on.(Guide to: estate planning)
December 1, 2003... You're going to die someday. Your first thought: "Gulp" Your second thought: "What's going to happen to my estate?" While the affluent and mortal must face these issues in one way or another, there's no guarantee they'll deal...

Estate experts: tips on planning your estate.(Ask Experts)
December 1, 2003... Q: WHAT'S THERE TO THINK ABOUT WHEN ESTATE PLANNING OTHER THAN TAX ISSUES? A: "It's about who gets what assets, when they should get the assets and how it should be distributed over time," says Rich Morrow, a financial adviser with Hill,...

Honoring the legal profession's very best.(2003 Leading Lawyers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The prominent and powerful are listed in the 2003 Leading Lawyers. Hundreds of members of the Northeast Ohio legal community nominated colleagues for this honor, and a jury of peers made the final selections. Winners must have received...

The mediator: Keith Ashmus finds joy in making a difference through law.(Guide to: leading lawyers)
December 1, 2003... Heading westbound on Interstate 90, Keith Ashmus calmly converses on his cell phone He's meeting in Toledo with a client, and then heading to the University of Toledo to deliver a box of goodies to his son, packed by his wife, Marie. Now and...

Home run hitter: Dan McCarthy hits it out of the park every time.(Guide to: leading lawyers)
December 1, 2003... It's not just any lawyer who can greet people with a baseball bat in hand But then again, it's not just any lawyer who has a New York Yankees World Series ring Daniel R. McCarthy isn't just any lawyer. This 79-year-old father of...

Calm in the storm: Niki Schwartz specializes in working out messy situations.(Guide to: leading lawyers)
December 1, 2003... Niki Schwartz has a professional profile studded with clients most people find interesting--from a distance. After all, Schwartz is the guy the Lucasville prisoners wanted to represent them after the 1993 prison not. He's the man who...

Starting over: Bob Tucker doesn't want to be remembered for Arter & Hadden's end, so he's creating a new beginning.(Guide to: leading lawyers)
December 1, 2003... It's been a long few months. Bob Tucker has been busy. Everything went into overdrive on June 20 on the 11th floor of the Huntington Building in downtown Cleveland. Arter & Hadden LLP was clinging to a dwindling tradition that started in...

Tenacity in a suit: Bob Weltman's after you? your day just got worse.(Guide to: leading lawyers)
December 1, 2003... If you owe somebody money, Bob Weltman would be proud to sniff you out like a bloodhound would And he doesn't care who you are. The 65 year-old recounts one of his flashier trackings. "Fast Eddie" Watkins, long in the annals of Cleveland...

Leading lawyers.(alphabetical order)(Directory)
December 1, 2003... LEADING LAWYERS (ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Name Law firm Keith Ashmus Frantz Ward LLP Brett K. Bacon Frantz Ward LLP Jeffrey Baddeley Baker & Hostetler LLP F. Daniel...

Leading lawyers by practice.(Directory)
December 1, 2003... Admiralty Henry E. Billingsley II Tucker, Ellis & West LLP Antitrust Wayne Dabb Baker & Hostetler LLP Thomas Demitrack Jones Day Donald Scherzer Roetzel & Andress Attorney...

Major legal services.(Leading Lawyer Resource Directory)(Directory)
December 1, 2003... CONTACT: DEBORAH L. PETERS DEBORAH@MAJORLEGALSERVICES.COM (216) 579-0782 WWW.MAJORLEGALSERVICES. COM Major Legal Services (MLS) is a legal search and staffing company sewing law firms and corporate legal departments throughout Ohio...

Urban artist.(One2Watch)
December 1, 2003... Clarence Meriweather, 34 Art director, Urban Dialect And Gray & Co. Publishers cdm@urbandialect.net LAST TIME YOU LIVED FOR THE MOMENT? "When I talked to Daniel Gray-Kontar when we closed up The Free Times I was trying to figure out...