Business Courier Serving Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky articles from April 1999

Business Courier Serving Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky archives from April 1999

Kroger execs bag big bonus.(Kroger Co.)
April 2, 1999... But grocery giant's pay still lags competition Kroger Co.'s top executives saw their bonuses surge more than 60 percent in 1998, but experts say the money CEO Joseph Pichler and his team made simply pulled them closer to the pay levels of...

Findlay Market to add housing units.
April 2, 1999... Planners hope to turn the historic market into a 'livable mixed-income neighborhood.' A pair of new development proposals could transform the Findlay Market area of Over-the-Rhine into downtown's next housing hot spot. Combined, the...

Battle looms for Duramed.(Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc.)
April 2, 1999... Marketing new drug now company's focus The stock market has rapidly tempered the wild enthusiasm it showed for Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. on March 25, the day after the local drugmaker had earned FDA approval to market its conjugated...

Time Warner Road Runner racing here.(Time Warner Cable's Cincinnati Division; high-speed cable Internet service)
April 2, 1999... The local cable TV operator plans to enter the area's Internet access race with a high-speed service to connect Web surfers. Time Warner Cable's Cincinnati Division has stepped up advertising for Road Runner, its high-speed cable Internet...

Developer discussing West Coast venture.(Madison Marquette Realty Services)
April 2, 1999... Madison Marquette also bidder in Columbus Cincinnati-based Madison Marquette Realty Services is in exclusive negotiations on a huge retail-entertainment project in San Francisco and is one of three bidders on a major mixed-use project in...

One stop ad shop.(advertising mall; Kirby-Mizak Advertising Inc.)
April 2, 1999... Kirby-Mizak's concept of an "advertising mall" brings compatible firms together and drives expansion. At 8,000 square feet, it's no doubt the Tri-State's tiniest mall. But it could offer a handful of local ad shops a big chance for...

MYCA shifts gears, changes focus to technology.(MYCA Group Inc.)
April 2, 1999... Firm sees revenues increase 35% a year MYCA Group Inc. is using its focus on technology to carve an increasingly large niche for itself in the communication and information-management industry. Originally founded as an advertising...

Kroger system creates jobs.(Kroger Co.)
April 9, 1999... Centralized purchasing attracting businesses The Kroger Co. is creating hundreds of local jobs with a campaign to centralize its purchasing system. Marketing Specialists of Dallas opened here earlier this year and has staffed its Court...

Verdin could ring in new millenium by moving outside city.(Verdin Co.)
April 9, 1999... Rapid growth at Verdin Co. is resulting in the bell maker's second major expansion in a year. But it might need to leave its long-time home to do it. The city of Cincinnati is in danger of losing one of its oldest companies, as the Verdin...

Ashland may raise $600M.(public offering plans of Ashland Inc.)
April 9, 1999... Company might eye chemical acquisitions Ashland Inc. is a step closer to expanding its chemical business through acquisitions, industry analysts say. Covington-based Ashland recently asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to...

Staged for success.(Commonwealth Ic.)(Company Profile)
April 9, 1999... Commonwealth Inc., a flourishing warehousing company, is making a living by facilitating commerce traffic. In today's booming economy, a lot of companies are shipping a lot of products to destinations all over the globe, fueling supply...

Verdin Co. rings up sales to non-church clients.(includes interview with Verdin Pres. James Verdin)
April 9, 1999... Orders for millennium bells boost business For the first time in its 157-year history, the Verdin Co. rang up more sales to non-church clients than to churches in 1998. That small fact says a lot about the rapid growth encountered by...

Printing software firm gets venture capital boost.(Varis Corp.)
April 16, 1999... Four area funds give $10M to Mason-based Varis Corp. Mason-based digital printing company Varis Corp. has received $10 million in venture capital funding from four firms that could allow the company to double its work force and triple its...

Loss of clients leads to layoffs at Sive/Y&R.(advertising agency Sive/Young and Rubicam)
April 16, 1999... Fewer accounts, more project work takes toll Sive/Young & Rubicam laid off eight of its 40 employees on April 12, the result of lost business that the advertising agency has been unable to replace. "At the end of last year (1998), we...

Fifth Third 'switch' lures Indy customers.
April 16, 1999... Bank campaigned for merger-weary clients Banking consolidation - and some old-fashioned perspiration - has Fifth Third Bancorp hopping in the Hoosier State. A five-month Indianapolis recruiting drive of customers jaded by consolidation...

Restoring new growth.(Rough Brothers)
April 16, 1999... When a single contract represented half of its business, Rough Brothers got scared and opened a new market with a focus on conservation. By the early 1990s, building glassed-in garden departments for the Home Depot retail chain had become...

Ris Paper looks to acquire in Chicago, Atlanta.
April 16, 1999... Sales rose to $600M after Johnson Co. buy Ris Paper Co. has launched an acquisition plan that should continue to add volume and geography to the paper distributor for the next few years. Ris made its first acquisition in about a decade...

Aging demographics hike Hillenbrand prospects.(Hillenbrand Industries Inc.)(Company Profile)
April 16, 1999... Funeral, health businesses boom While cuts in Medicare reimbursements will likely lower revenues for Hillenbrand Industries Inc.'s health care rental business this year, the company as a whole has an inevitable trend in its favor. "The...

And then there were four.(Cincinnati Commercial Realtors Inc. promotes Si Pitstick to principal)
April 16, 1999... Cincinnati Commercial Realtors promotes Pitstick to principal Si Pitstick had a lot on his mind in 1993 when he was considering leaving his employer for Cincinnati Commercial Realtors Inc., roughly one month after the latter had just opened...

Sleepy Eastgate office market to grow.(Crowell Co's planned Eastgate Professional Office Park in Clermont County, OH)
April 23, 1999... Long a haven for retailers, the Eastgate area in Clermont is set to gain 150, 000 square feet of new office space this year. A local developer plans to build almost 150,000 square feet of office buildings in the Eastgate market, a rare move...

Provident Financial shuffles top execs.
April 23, 1999... Financial posts combined after Davis' departure Allen Davis' departure a year ago as CEO of Provident Financial Group Inc. has resulted in a reshuffling of several other executive positions at the bank holding company. Davis, who...

Chemed execs see bonuses plunge in '98.
April 23, 1999... A capital gains blip during 1997 caused a one-time bonus jump. When those gains returned to normal in '98, so did the bonuses. Chemed Corp.'s top executives saw their bonuses plunge between 50 percent and 80 percent last year. The...

TV's Tim Allen hits Internet via local high tech firm: CTD Technologies creates online store for product line.(launching of www.timeallentools.com)
April 23, 1999... CTD Technologies creates online store for product line A West Chester high-tech firm has completed a cyberspace hook-up with the king of TV's "Home Improvement": actor Tim Allen. CTD Technologies Inc., designer of Web sites for local...

Cincinnati Electric has new owner, plan.
April 23, 1999... Eliminating three divisions first step to growth Blue Ash-based Cincinnati Electric Inc. has new ownership and management, and a new strategy that could lead to major sales growth in coming years. Steve Witzman, new president and 20...

Clothes-buyers may get sales tax break: bill would allow two taxless weeks annually.(Ohio bill)
April 23, 1999... Bill would allow two taxless weeks annually A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Republican-led General Assembly wants to give Ohio retailers and their customers the ultimate break on clothing and footwear sales taxes for two key weeks...

Merger of values.(Schonberg Associates Inc-Lee Hecht Harrison merger)
April 23, 1999... In order to expand, Schonberg Associates merged with another firm that had a similar philosophy. Though Schonberg Associates Inc. had a record year in 1998, CEO Kent Friel did not hesitate when an international career management services...

Adrian Durban blooms, expands office space.(Adrian Durban Florists Inc)
April 23, 1999... Recent enterprise in cyberspace successful Adrian Durban Florists Inc. of Clifton is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in a number of ways, not the least of which is one of the biggest expansions in company history. The family-owned...

Star-Firstar merger helps drive stock even higher.(Star Banc Corp)
April 23, 1999... More products still upcoming If former Star Banc Corp. shareholders feared their company's merger last fall with Milwaukee-based Firstar Corp. might endanger their stock's performance record, their doubts must now surely be buried. ...

Hospitals hunt for skilled staff.(Cincinnati, OH)
April 23, 1999... Signing bonuses on rise for jobs like pharmacist, respiratory therapist The top four positions on the Greater Cincinnati Health Council's recently released vacancy survey of hard-to-fill positions aren't posing too many problems at area...

Hospitals find it hard to fill 24-hour roster.(Cincinnati, OH)
April 23, 1999... Pay differentials, 12-hour shifts help recruit staffers As 24-hour employers, hospitals and hotels have plenty in common. Both fill beds and change them daily. Both prepare meals and offer such "guest" amenities as gift shops and beauty...

Center leaders wooing Delta.(Delta Air Lines Inc.)
April 30, 1999... Airline to hear pitch for $30M naming deal A delegation of Cincinnati business leaders will travel to Atlanta in early May to pitch senior executives of Delta Air Lines Inc. on a $30 million naming-rights deal for an expanded Cincinnati...

Study: labor woes likely to get worse.
April 30, 1999... Jobs in the manufacturing, high-tech and nursing fields will likely go unfilled in future years. Expect to be looking for job opportunities in three years? Try manufacturing, computer science and nursing. Those industries are projected...

Time Warner plans local cable news channel.(Time Warner Cable)
April 30, 1999... 24-hour network would compete with local TV Time Warner Cable plans to hunch a local around-the-clock cable television news channel in Cincinnati within the next two years, in direct competition with area broadcast stations. The...

Monument company may go nonprofit.(Millennium Monument Co.)
April 30, 1999... With the possibility of topping out at 1,000 feet, it could become the Tri-State's biggest charity. Developers of the Millennium Monument in Newport are studying whether to convert their for-profit venture to a charitable organization, a...

Toyota subsidiary moving offices to Florence.(Toyota Tsusho America Inc.; Kentucky)
April 30, 1999... Toyota Tsusho wants to be near auto plant Toyota Tsusho America Inc. has moved its U.S. headquarters from New York to Florence. The move, which was in the works for a few years, comes because Greater Cincinnati is centrally located and...

Kroger targets older adults.
April 30, 1999... Local stores to carry senior-friendly items Kroger Co.'s 76 area stores have started selling a large selection of products geared toward making life easier and more comfortable for older people in Greater Cincinnati and Dayton. The...

Kids swim, tumble at fitness center geared for pint-sized tastes.
April 30, 1999... Jeff Metzger, founder of Queen City Gymnastics, decided against expanding that concept and opted to build Kids First Sports Center in Symmes Township. As soon as you walk through the door of Kids First Sports Center in Symmes Township, you...

Provident may pull Noble Roman's out of sauce.(Provident Financial Group Inc.)
April 30, 1999... Bank has option to buy part of struggling pizza chain Provident Financial Group Inc. has obtained the right to acquire almost half of financially troubled Indiana pizza chain Noble Roman's Inc. Industry observers, however, speculate...

North Star turns to designing Web sites.(North Star Navigators)
April 30, 1999... Tech firm expects service to be primary niche Downtown high-tech company North Star Navigators is expanding its slate of business services to include Web-site development. North Star plans to target existing clients and similarly sized...

Bank boosts service for small businesses.(Firstar Corp.)
April 30, 1999... Firstar expanding local program to 10 states Firstar Corp. is talking a small-business lending program that started in Ohio and Kentucky to the eight other states in the bank's system. Firstar, based in Milwaukee and a product of...