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COMMERCE IN BRIEF
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Clayton
on the Park Becomes Member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts
Above:
Micarl Hill, general manager of Clayton on the Park (Clayton,
MO) is pictured with his new Preferred Hotels & Resorts of the World
brass plaque. Clayton on the Park has just been accepted as the
newest member of the global brand of more than 110 of the world's
finest independent luxury hotels and resorts.
Clayton on the Park, an independent, 98-suite luxury hotel in Clayton,
has been accepted as a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
No other St. Louis hotel has ever had this distinction.
Preferred is a global brand of more than 110 of the world's independent
luxury hotels and resorts. Membership in Preferred is limited to
hotels and resorts that meet or exceed the operational levels required
in Preferred's Standards of Excellence program, which includes an
audit conducted by a third-party licensed quality assurance professional
during annual, unannounced inspections.
With its acceptance into Preferred Hotels, Clayton on the Park joins
ranks with such outstanding hotels and resorts as The Greenbrier
in West Virginia, Blakes Hotel in London, The Huntington Hotel in
San Francisco, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Raffles L'Ermitage
Beverly Hills, Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans, Trump International
Hotel in New York City, and The Peninsula in Chicago, to name a
few.
The $40 million Clayton on the Park mixed-use residential complex
overlooking Shaw Park is a new concept in cosmopolitan living for
the St. Louis region. Hotel suites co-exist with luxury apartments
and corporate suites, all carefully designed to cater to the needs
of their respective clientele, while allowing for crossover services-apartment
residents who want hotel amenities and hotel guests who desire a
more residential setting.
Clayton on the Park chose to pursue membership with Preferred to
effectively compete with luxury hotel chains. Its members benefit
from Preferred's range of services, including a reservation system,
sales and marketing distribution services, and the quality assurance
program.
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Among National Awards Recipients
For At-Risk Youth Programs
Above:
(Left to right) Robert Martin, acting chairman for the National
Endowment for the Arts, Christopher Pate, Artists-in-Training student
from Roosevelt High School, Charles MacKay, general director, Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis, Allison Felter, director of education, Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis.
The Artists-in-Training Program of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
was among 10 recipients of a Coming Up Taller Award. The President's
Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, together with the National
Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities,
recognized 10 organizations for their work with at-risk youth. Each
recipient organization received $10,000 as part of the award.
Academic achievement combined with vocal training and performances
are central to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' Artists-in-Training
program for urban youth. Using university faculty and studio space,
the program gives participants the opportunity to set and achieve
artistic goals, become more involved and visible in the community
and prepare for life beyond high school. More than young people
have completed the Artists-in-Training program, with all but one
graduating from high school and 90 percent enrolling in college.
St. Louis Zoo Project Gets Lift from Taylor Family Gift
Creating a polar habitat for puffins is one of the newest projects
in development at the Saint Louis Zoo and the puffins are beneficiaries
of a $1 million gift from Jack and Susan Taylor on behalf of the
entire Taylor family. JoAnn Taylor Kindle, president of the Enterprise
Rent-A-Car Foundation, announced the donation at the 10th annual
Marlin Perkins Society dinner where the Taylor family and the Enterprise-Rent-A-Car
Foundation were among those honored with the Saint Louis Zoo Award.
The family's donation has been designated to fund what will be known
as Taylor Family Puffin Bay. This will be a major portion of the
Zoo's next new exhibit, Penguin & Puffin Coast. When completed in
2003, this unique polar exhibit will feature two domed indoor rock-scapes,
one for the puffins (Northern oceanic birds), and Liechtenstein
Penguin Cove, featuring birds from the South. Both will offer rugged,
naturalistic coastline with underwater viewing of these skillful
swimming birds. The endangered Humboldt penguins will be housed
in an outdoor exhibit.
The Penguin & Puffin Coast project is part of the Saint Louis Zoo's
ongoing effort to create naturalistic habitats and promote wildlife
conservation. The Zoo needs to raise $4.2 million by April 1, 2002,
to secure a Kresge Foundation challenge grant of $1.5 million.
Investment Strategist Assesses Stock Market at Commerce Bank
Economic Breakfast
Above:
Hosts of the annual Economic Breakfast are (from left) Seth Leadbeater,
chairman and CEO of Commerce Bank, St. Louis Region, and David Kemper,
chairman and CEO, Commerce Bancshares. They are accompanying the
guest speaker, Jeff Applegate (far right), chief investment strategist,
Lehman Brothers of New York.
While the U.S. economy is expected to get worse before it gets better,
the stock market looks like it has begun its rebound, according
to Jeff Applegate, chief investment strategist for Lehman Brothers
in New York. Applegate offered his assessment of the U.S. stock
market and investment outlook to more than 400 St. Louis area business
leaders at Commerce Bank’s annual Economic Breakfast in November.
Applegate said he believes the stock market hit bottom on September
21, 2001, with the major sell-off that took place following the
terrorism attacks. At the time he issued his statements, stocks
were up 18 percent since then. He expects corporate earnings growth
to be negative or slow for the short term with the country emerging
from recession this coming spring.
Concerning the battles in Afghanistan, Applegate noted, “The current
conflict is about identifying, eliminating and containing terrorism.
Ultimately, it’s an open-ended war of containment. If you think
about it, the Cold War was also and open-ended war about containment—containing
communism.
“During the Cold War, bull and bear markets came and went,” he stated.
“We should expect the same thing in the war on terrorism.”
Union Financial Group Shareholders Approve Merger with First
Banks
Shareholders of Union Financial Group, Ltd. (UFG) approved the proposed
merger agreement between UFG and First Banks Inc. Following receipt
of necessary regulatory approvals, the merger was expected to be
completed by the end of 2001. The nine branches of UFG’s subsidiary
banks, Union Bank of Illinois and State Bank of Jerseyville, with
locations in seven Illinois cities, will become part of First Bank,
a wholly owned subsidiary of First Banks Inc., headquartered in
Creve Coeur, Mo. |
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