Business Courier Serving Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky articles from June 2000

Business Courier Serving Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky archives from June 2000

Olympic impact: $5.2 billion.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Illustration)
June 30, 2000... 2012 games would add 67,000 jobs to region Bringing the 2012 Olympics to Cincinnati would create more than 67,000 jobs, generate tax revenue of $300 million and produce more than $750 million in visitor spending. Combine those...

Bell to offer on-demand movies.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... WITH ITS ZOOMTOWN SERVICE, Bell hopes to capture your hearts and minds -- and eyes and ears. New features available from Cincinnati Bell's ZoomTown.com promise to make local computer users even less productive. But that's not...

Tri-State firms mull direct medical contracts.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... As insurance rates climb, some are bypassing HMOs With health insurance premiums rising, more large employers are reconsidering an old idea -- bypassing HMOs and directly contracting with hospitals and physicians to provide certain types...

Lindner might keep stake in Amtrak system.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner isn't looking to take over the nation's passenger rail system. But he's not afraid of the idea, either. That's the word from Frank Goldstein, a Washington, D.C. attorney hired last year by Lindner's...

Benenson Capital Co.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Benenson Capital Co. is still trying to hold on to its Adams Landing development rights. But its grip is more slippery, thanks to a recent ruling by Hamilton County Judge Fred Cartolano. In a recent meeting with attorneys representing the...

Courier wins awards in journalism contests.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Paper named 'Best in Ohio' by press club The Courier won a total of 17 awards in two recent journalism contests. At the statewide Cleveland Press Club awards, the Courier took home five honors, including: * First place, best...

IMT may build new facility.(Interactive Marketing Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Phone card firm eyes several Tri-State sites A Queensgate telecommunications company is planning to build a new headquarters of up to 100,000 square feet, five times as large as the company's current space. Interactive Marketing...

Teams look to insure against falling stars.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... JUST AS THE CARDINALS INSURED for lost revenue should Mark McGwire be injured, the Reds may do the same for Ken Griffey Jr. Yes, the slumping Cincinnati Reds are still in second place behind the St. Louis Cardinals. But would the recent...

Low-risk approach pays for Cincinnati Financial.(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... But insurer playing catch-up in the use of new technology Cincinnati Financial Corp.'s J.F. Scherer has been turning away business for years. Scherer, as senior vice president of sales and marketing, is point man for the insurance...

Aero to expand, add up to 80 positions.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Rather than expand at its Mason-based headquarters, Aero Fulfillment Services has signed a three-year lease for a 131,000-square-foot facility off Highway 48 in Lebanon that once served as the distribution center for Frontgate's catalog...

Union Central execs promoted.(Union Central Life Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Union Central Life Insurance Co. promoted three senior executives to new posts. Gary Huffman was named executive vice president for the individual strategic business unit, while current General Counsel David Westerbeck also was named...

Maisonette to get makeover in July.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... The Maisonette restaurant will get a fresh look during a $200,000 refurbishment this summer, said Nat Comisar, managing partner of the Maisonette Group. The work will be done between July 23 and 31, when the restaurant is closed down for a...

P&G joins alliance to tackle online privacy.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Companies hoping self-regulation will suffice As the global privacy director for consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co., Zeke Swift defines privacy as a matter of providing choices. "It's the idea of offering consumers a range...

Snow Filtration sold to British company.(BBA Group PLC)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... No layoffs expected at West Chester supplier Cincinnati's Vollmer brothers, fresh off a deal to buy two apparel makers, have sold another of their holdings to a British conglomerate for $31 million in cash. On June 16, Philip and...

Bizjournals launches online demographics publication.(Demographics Daily)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Subscribers can access charts, data, news items Bizjournals.com/cincinnati, in partnership with the Courier, has launched Demographics Daily, a Web-only publication with demographic and metropolitan statistics from around the nation. ...

Tyco merger fueling growth spurt at Real Time.(Tyco Electronics, Real Time Systems)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... 'Todd Hinners' Real Time Systems computer networking company may now be part of massive Tyco Electronics, but Hinners is still the man in charge. At his Sharonville office, Hinners is making decisions about partnerships and staffing,...

FASCOR helps shoppers keep tabs on Web orders.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Bob Klare's Cincinnati company makes it possible for online shoppers to click a few times and track whether their new books are passing through Atlanta or being loaded onto trucks at the Greater Cincinnati International Airport en route to...

WomensNet.Net gives boost to online start-ups.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Melody Wigdahl is one of the Internet's success stories, and she'd like other TriState women to join her. Wigdahl, owner of Glenkirk West Inc., which helps e-businesses process online credit-card transactions, launched WomensNet.Net in...

Marketing to women focus of ex-bank VP's new firm.(W-Insight Inc.'s Vanessa Freytag)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... On the other end of the spectrum, a former Bank One vice president has started a company that will show businesses how to market to women entrepreneurs. Vanessa Freytag, who had headed Bank One's Women Entrepreneur Initiative, is now the...

Direct marketing still cash cow at Northlich.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... It's nothing less than counterintuitive. In this age of Internet spam mail and paperless communications, direct mail is booming. Cincinnati agencies still devote entire departments to direct mail. Companies spend millions of dollars...

Net 'information auction' to market to e-businesses.(KnowToday.com)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Ever heard of an Internet start-up that doesn't want Web surfers driven to its site? "We are not trying to draw eyeballs," said George Luntz, chief operating officer of the Main Street-based start-up KnowToday.com, which recently...

Malsh wins account with Wright-Patt credit union.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... J. Malsh & Co. will develop a mortgage ad campaign for the Dayton-based Wright-Patterson Credit Union Inc., the largest member credit union in Ohio with 16 locations statewide. The Cincinnati-based firm also had won a marketing and...

Ohio Casualty cuts marketing unit.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Ohio Casualty Corp. is cutting 114 jobs at Avomark Insurance Co., its subsidiary that sells insurance online and via telemarketing. The cuts will eliminate the phone side of the business and leave Avomark as an Internet-only underwriter....

Ethicon cutting 130 jobs.(Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. announced a major restructuring within its Cincinnati manufacturing group that will cut 100 full-time jobs and 30 part-time jobs. A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson of New Jersey, Ethicon will no longer manufacture or...

Western-Southern reorganizes.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Policyholders of Western-Southern Life Insurance Co. approved the company's plan to reorganize under a mutual insurance holding company. The move gives the Cincinnati-based insurance giant more flexibility for raising capital while preserving...

Area unemployment up slightly.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... The Tri-State economy created almost 8,000 jobs in May, according to preliminary figures released by the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services. Still, because of the influx of new graduates into the work force, the region's unemployment rate...

Omnicare expects lower earnings.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Covington-based Omnicare Inc. said lowerthan-anticipated revenues from its institutional pharmacy business and contract research organization will cause earnings to be lower than expected in the second quarter, ending June 30. Omnicare's...

Home sales rebound, prices surge.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... After a few quiet months, Cincinnati area home sales totaled 2,015 units in May, an increase of 0.8 percent over last year's record for the month. More notable was the 7.7 percent increase, to $150,498, in the average sale price of homes....

IN CAHOOTS.(real estate brokers)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... CB Richard Ellis finds brokers who work as teams cut bigger, better deals. The days of the Lone Ranger in commercial real estate maybe numbered. Long considered maverick individuals and independent sales machines, some commercial...

Empower sees big changes on mass media front.(Empower MediaMarketing)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Media buyer looking at technology trends Brian McHale revels in the seismic shift he's watched during the last decade within the media-buying industry. "Traditional media-buying used to mean buying as much as you could, as cheap as...

To stay in business, you have to stay connected.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... If you don't pay attention, you'll miss the boat I closed my eyes for a second, and I missed an entire generation. This weekend I went to an outdoor music concert It's just not summer until you've spent the day with 10,000 people...

Use summer to clean up, visit customers, relax.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Seasonal slowdown good time to recoup Unless you run a lakeside resort or sell ice cream bars on the boardwalk, summer is a great time to dig out, clean up and think about why you are in business. Here are six simple things to do while...

What happened to the 'empowered employee?'.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Most companies never understood concept Back in the '80s, managers were talking about "empowerment" with the same kind of enthusiasm as when talking about their favorite sports team. Much of the excitement centered on how, through the...

Small businesses can get help with exporting.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Federal agencies offer loans, other assistance Federal agencies are reaching out to small businesses to increase their awareness of overseas markets and help them become exporters. Since 96 percent of domestic exporting companies are...

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... ACCOUNTING PricewaterhouseCoopers has promoted the following to senior associates in its assurance/business advisory services group: Rob Bertke, Abbie Chan, Tyson Grace, Laura Greig, Josh Korth, Kim Landrum, Erin Linck, Colin O'Conner,...

Global trade now 'best of possible worlds'.
June 30, 2000... The Tri-State is taking an ever-increasing role in international commerce. The Courier gathered five experts on June 13 to discuss the implications, including the impact of normal trade with China. AIKEN: We've had an awfully good run...

'Extreme' investor pessimism may signal bank stock rebound.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Despite continued uncertainty over what the Federal Reserve may do come fall, there seems to be general agreement that Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues will not raise interest rates until a clearer statistical picture of the economy...

LSI Industries, Milacron investors take earnings warning, bad news in stride.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Strange stuff, this stock market. There's not much else to say when LSI Industries Inc. issues an earnings warning and rises 7.9 percent in the five days that follow. Or when Milacron Inc. gets dropped from the S&P 500 and, after opening...

Salomon Smith's Gupta initiates Regent coverage with 'outperform'.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... The shares of Regent Communications Inc. got a boost recently when Salomon Smith Barney analyst Niraj Gupta began covering the company with an "outperform" rating. Gupta, who's bullish on the radio industry altogether, tagged a rather...

Nasdaq comeback led by well-known names.(large high-technology companies lead stock price increases)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... The top contributors to Nasdaq's late-spring rebound reads like a list of large-cap blue-chip tech stocks. Networking giant Cisco Systems, up 32 percent from Nasdaq's low, leads the list. It is followed by Intel (up 26 percent) and Oracle (up...

CEO of the Vanguard Group.(John Bogle criticizes mutual fund industry for high expense ratios and a lack of consumer focus and)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... John Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group of mutual funds, is on a well-publicized campaign to reform the mutual fund industry. He said that the sector has lost its way after beginning as a positive factor that opened up...

Microsoft.(greatly increases public relations and lobbying efforts)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Microsoft is spending a lot of money explaining the benefits of its technological advances to the consumer. The company's TV advertisements portray CEO Bill Gates as an architect of the robust economy, expanding job opportunities and...

Cintech banking on new product, IBM partnership.(Cintech Tele Management Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Software will unify voice, Web contacts With a new package of Internet-integrated call center software about to hit the market and a partnership with IBM under its belt, Cintech Tele Management Systems Inc. is thinking big. The...

Holzmacher becomes first tenant at new Mason park.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Hemmer is a reporter and real estate editor for the Courier. An Evendale developer recently landed its first tenant at a new commercial and industrial park in Mason. Holzmacher Electric Inc., a Butler County firm, plans to move soon into...

Hemmer hired to build in Wilmington, Elsmere.(Paul Hemmer Cos.)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Hemmer is a reporter and real estate editor for the Courier. Paul Hemmer Cos. of Fort Mitchell, well known as a Northern Kentucky developer, contractor and design/builder, has recently ventured into the hospitality industry with a new...

Miller-Valentine launches multimarket advertising.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Hemmer is a reporter and real estate editor for the Courier. Miller-Valentine Group of Dayton, one of the more active commercial real estate companies in the Tri-State, recently announced a new advertising campaign targeting the...

Building Renters TIC.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... In other news: Three brokers from CB Richard Ellis of Cincinnati recently teamed up to sell an Elmwood Place building to Building Renters TIC, a Louisville-based electrical supply company that is expanding into the Greater Cincinnati...

THIS WEEK'S DEAL: Cline's Cawdrey, Macke at Grubb & Ellis/West Shell land $2.75M lease.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Tenant: Sullivan Advertising Inc., Cincinnati Landlord: Fourth & Race Tower LP, Cincinnati Lease: 20,000 square feet for 10 years and six months with option for another floor, Fourth & Race Tower, 105 W. Fourth St., Cincinnati ...

DEAL OF THE WEEK II: CB's Bunton teams with Colliers' McNab for $1.5M Eastgate sale.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Buyer: Marketing Support Services Inc., Fairfax Seller: TRW Inc., Cleveland Property: 82,000-square-foot office/warehouse facility, 3241 Omni Drive, Union Township, Clermont County Buyer's broker: Bob Bunton, vice president, CB...

Dr. Gary Stewart.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Dr. Gary Stewart, medical director of Drake Center's skilled nursing unit, has passed part II of his oral boards for the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Synchrony Communications Inc.(enters alliance with Interim Technology Consulting)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Synchrony Communications Inc. has announced an alliance with the Cincinnati office of Interim Technology Consulting. The alliance will enable Interim to recommend and integrate Synchrony's eCRM suite of customer management solutions as part...

Ferno-Washington Inc.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Ferno-Washington Inc. has announced that it will join the Global Health Care Exchange LLC, a healthcare business-to-business consortium formed to streamline the hospital-supply business and promote a global, customer-driven online marketplace...

Miami Systems Corp.(announces formation of Digital Print Communication Services Group)(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Miami Systems Corp., a Cincinnati based provider of print and electronic media services, announced the formation of its new Digital Print Communication Services Group.

J. Malsh & Co.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Wright-Patterson Credit Union, and Audubon Ohio, the Columbus-based state office of the National Audubon Society, have retained J. Malsh & Co. to provide marketing and communications consulting.

SharkBytes Inc.
June 30, 2000... SharkBytes Inc. has been chosen to create a new Web site for Gardens Alive!, a manufacturer and direct marketer of high quality organic lawn and garden products.

Paul Hemmer Companies.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Paul Hemmer Companies has been selected to construct Prime Source Building Products Inc.'s expansion to its Erlanger facility. The project is expected to be completed in September.

ASK THE CEO.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Will the management shake-up at P&G boost its stock price? Mark Richter Consolidated Realty Group I believe it will. Shaking up the management structure just keeps the whole group in check. That type of...

Readers choke on columnist's diet advice.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Editor: I'm a loyal reader of the Courier and have been for some time. I'm also a small-business owner of a nutrition services company, providing medical nutrition therapy, lectures and seminars to customers needing preventive nutrition,...

Public schools need support to repair facilities.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2000... Was "Chicken Little" correct? Is the sky really falling? If you're in one of Ohio's public school buildings, there's a good chance it was only a chunk of the plaster ceiling. In their struggle to survive, many Ohio public schools find...

No Santa Claus at gas pumps.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... We feel about gas prices the same way children feel when they find out there's no Santa Claus. Except, being adults, we're not as willing to accept the truth and move on. Instead, we're expending horsepower trying to fix blame on...

Reds solution: Let boss take the heat.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... I think best when I'm alone. So I was out for my daily solo stroll through downtown the other day, searching yet again for the answer to my conundrum du jour -- whether to continue rooting for the Reds or move on to more exciting ways of...

COURIER RATE BAROMETER.
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EARNINGS.
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DIVIDENDS.
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INSIDER TRADING.
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STOCK STATS.
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TOP 20 GREATER CINCINNATI FUNDS.
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Largest Tri-State Computer Training Centers.
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HealthSpan's new PPO plan adds TriHealth, Deaconess.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... HealthSpan Inc. launches its new Preferred Provider Organization, called HealthSpan Plus, on July 1. The new network adds TriHealth and Deaconess hospitals to HealthSpan's current network of more than 6,000 physicians and 54 hospitals,...

GE Federal Credit Union opens new branch in Mason.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... General Electric Federal Credit Union has opened a branch on Tylersville Road in Mason. The new office is the $400 million credit union's third in the Tri-State and sixth in all. GE Federal is the largest credit union in Ohio.

Agency expanding 100-year-old Amelia home.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 30, 2000... Clermont Counseling Center has hired Neyer Properties Inc. to build a 20,000-square-foot addition to the historic Clermont House in Amelia. The $1.9 million project will provide mental health services for the community and house CCC's...

Banks plan court minorities.
June 23, 2000... Rent breaks, credits offered on riverfront Cincinnati may become the first city in the nation to offer a cash incentive for developers willing to provide rent breaks and entrepreneurial support to small and minority-owned businesses. ...

Comair charter service flying high.(Statistical Data Included)
June 23, 2000... THE JET EXPRESS DIVISION MAY expand nationally to capitalize on the booming economy Business is booming for Comair's charter jet services, and the small but vibrant division of the regional airline said the program may expand nationally....

Huge office tower planned for Springdale.(Statistical Data Included)
June 23, 2000... Class A facility is largest in Tri-County since '80s The largest office project in the Tri-County area in 15 years is scheduled to begin this summer on a high-profile site in Springdale. Tipton Interests Inc. plans to break ground in...

'Duck tours' could waddle into Tri-State.
June 23, 2000... When the pigs leave downtown, be prepared for an invasion of ducks. Wyoming businessman Dave Wittkamp is working on a new tourist attraction known as the Duck Tour. A staple of the tourist trade in the Wisconsin Dells for decades, the...

Freedman, Gibson & White acquires Liebel & Co.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 23, 2000... 'Tag' Liebel will join ad firm as senior VP Downtown-based advertising firm Freedman, Gibson & White has acquired Liebel & Co. to create a combined firm with $40 million in annual billings. Terms were not disclosed. FG&W principals,...

Parking inquiry suspended.(Statistical Data Included)
June 23, 2000... State says Central not a monopoly downtown Downtown parking rates are high and getting higher. But they're not criminal. Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery has closed a year-long antitrust investigation of downtown Cincinnati's...

Merger renews attacks on airlines' hubs.
June 23, 2000... CRITICS SAY AIRLINES HAVE A TACIT agreement not to compete at each others' hubs, allowing higher pricing. United Airlines and US Airways say their proposed merger should pass antitrust scrutiny because the two airlines do not compete with...

Northern Kentucky launches two Web initiatives.
June 23, 2000... Incubator, NETT will support new and existing companies Tired of watching from the banks as one Internet-related initiative after another surfaces in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky business leaders have gone fishing. With a new...

Hoxworth Center names director.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2000... Hoxworth Blood Center selected a new director to replace Dr. Thomas Zuck, who retired in December. Dr. Ronald Sacher, who will begin as director in November, comes from Georgetown University Medical Center, where he served as chairman of the...

OfficeSpace.com opens in Tri-State.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2000... OfficeSpace.com, a Seattle, Wash.-based Web site that lists available commercial space in different cities, has opened a link focusing on the Tri-State. The local operation is managed by Kevin Schutte, a former sales agent at Henkie-Schueler...

Western-Southern conversion opposed.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2000... A Massachusetts advocacy group is challenging the conversion of Western-Southern Life Insurance Co. to a mutual holding company, saying it will deprive policyholders of almost $3 billion in surplus. The Center for Insurance Research is...

A.F. Kelly moves to RiverCenter.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2000... A.F. Kelly & Associates has moved from Florence Business Center to RiverCenter in Covington. The consulting and online education firm, with 135 employees, is leasing 10,000 square feet and has plans for future expansion.

Gastroenterologists plan surgery center.(Brief Article)
June 23, 2000... Groups will build facility near Bethesda North Two competing physician groups are setting rivalries aside this summer to jointly open a $1 million outpatient surgery center near Bethesda North Hospital. The groups, Gastroenterology...