Above: Companion
Baking's Sophie's Bagels, an authentic, New York-style water
bagel, debuted on Washington University's campus
this year.
Companion
Baking Company Rolls in The Dough
As the first
authentic bake house in St. Louis, Companion Baking Company has
been rolling in the dough since it debuted its latest product,
Sophie's Bagels, on Washington University's campus earlier this
year.
"Washington
University was the perfect place for us to introduce our authentic
New York-style bagel, because there are a lot of sophisticated,
highly-educated consumers and people from the East Coast who attend
that school. Plus, they eat a lot of bagels," says Josh Allen,
owner of Companion Baking Company.
The
water bagels are boiled and not steamed, explains Allen, and are
baked in French stone hearth ovens for an authentic, crusty texture.
In addition to bagels, Companion sells a variety of hand-shaped
breads, European pastries and croissants to local restaurants,
hotel chefs, groceries and specialty shops throughout St. Louis.
With one pound of prepped dough roughly equivalent to one dollar,
Companion's revenues have increased from $300,000 in 1994 to $3
million last year. In a highly competitive market, Companion makes
a lot of bread--literally 60,000 pounds of dough a week.
"We're
successful because of our quality products, which makes all our
business decisions easy," Allen says. "The difference between
good bread and bad bread, or the flavor of wheat as opposed to
the flavor of yeast, is the time it takes to make. Like wine,
character is developed in time. You can make a loaf of bread in
an hour and a half, but we take three days to make most of our
breads. No matter how big we get, we can't forget who we are."
Allen
comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. In 1904, his great grandfather
Louis Allen sold general merchandise with a pushcart and donkey
in O'Fallon, Ill. The next generation, Ben Allen, sold supplies
to a local air force base during World War II and started Allen
Foods, Inc. In December 1993, Companion opened with three employees
and has since grown to a staff of 50, including 30 full-time people
in production seven days a week.
Companion's
success was recognized in Success Magazine, Modern Baking
Magazine and St. Louis Business Journal.
HOK University
Wins National AIA Award
Hellmuth,
Obata + Kassabaum (HOK), Inc. has captured the American Institute
of Architect's national "Award for Excellence in Education" in
the large firm category. Established two years ago, the annual
award recognizes architecture firms that have shown a commitment
to developing high quality continuing education programs.
HOK's
submission demonstrated excellence in all five categories: leadership
and educational commitment; architect's professional development;
educational design and management; performance evaluation and
improvement; and continuing education services provider-specific.
In
1995, HOK established its internal university program to give
all HOK employees access to ongoing learning. HOK University curriculum
includes web-based software and other training programs, site
visits, instructive videos and presentations by in-house and non-HOK
project teams. Seminars also are offered on topics like risk management,
sustainable design, universal design, technology use, core marketing
and project procedures, lighting fundamentals, architectural registration
exam preparation and cost estimating.
Archon
Honors Gilbertson for Outstanding Management of West Port Plaza
Lyle E. Gilbertson,
general manager of West Port Plaza, has received a 1999 Archon
Achievement Award from Archon Group L.P., one of the nation's
largest real estate and loan organizations. As vice president
at Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, Gilbertson oversees operations
and leasing of the office buildings and retail properties at West
Port Plaza, a 42-acre, mixed-use development in Maryland Heights.
Gilbertson
was one of 12 real estate professionals in the United States selected
for performance in property management. In addition to his involvement
in a recent $5 million renovation to West Port Plaza, Gilberston
leases, forecasts and implements 500,000 square feet of office
space and 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. He also
is responsible for the budget preparation, personnel supervision,
new lease terms, lease renewal negotiations and tenant interactions.
He
has a long association with West Port Plaza, working with Thos.
J. White Co. from 1985 to 1993. He joined Colliers Turley Martin
Tucker in 1993 and continued to manage the office and retail development.
As one of the largest commercial real estate firms in the central
region with a closed transaction volume of more than $1.3 billion,
Colliers Turley Martin Tucker manages more than 29 million square
feet of office, industrial and retail properties.
Kathleen
Schoene
Armstrong
Teasdale Creates Mergers and Acquisitions Department, Expands
Environmental Practice
The
law firm of Armstrong Teasdale LLP created a Mergers and Acquisitions
(M & A) department to meet the overwhelming client demand
and to focus specifically on related legal issues. Kathleen Schoene
was appointed chairperson of the newly formed department. In her
18-year legal career, Schoene has represented major companies
in their mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate law
matters and has assisted in complex, billion-dollar transactions
involving sales and purchases of stocks and assets, mergers, exchange
offers, cash tender offers and leveraged buy-outs.
Schoene
will join the 33-member M & A Department, which specializes
in the areas of corporate, tax, antitrust, securities and regulatory
law, as well as the related areas of intellectual property and
technology transfer, employment law, employee benefits, real estate,
financing and environmental law.
In
another move to further enhance its reputation as the region's
largest environmental practice, Armstrong Teasdale joined forces
with the attorneys of Pellegrini & O'Keefe, the area's most
well known practitioners in OSHA law.
As
one of Missouri's largest law firms with more than 200 lawyers,
Armstrong Teasdale now has 12 lawyers in the environmental law
department with the additions of Frank L. Pellegrini and his partner,
Julie Emmerich O'Keefe.
Pellegrini
and O'Keefe both have law degrees from Saint Louis University
School of Law and specialize in environmental law, labor and construction
law.
AT&T
Wireless Services Announces Opening of New Store in Downtown St.
Louis
AT&T
Wireless Services announced the opening of their new downtown
St. Louis store location: 705 Olive (Olive & 7th Street).
AT&T Wireless Services has opened 12 other company-owned stores
in the St. Louis Bi-State area over the past two-and-one-half
years. The company says demand for its wireless services is due
to the successful introduction of programs like AT&T Digital
One Rate, AT&T Family Plan and AT&T Digital Prepaid Services.
Under
the supervision of Tom Ely, general manager for the Missouri and
Oklahoma Markets, this store adds five employees to the 150-employee
workforce of AT&T Wireless Services in St. Louis. "St. Louis
has always been a very important market for AT&T Wireless
Services. This new store location will allow us to better meet
the needs of our customers in downtown St. Louis, as well as offer
cutting-edge wireless technology such as AT&T Digital PCS
and AT&T Digital One Rate," he says.
AT&T
Digital One Rate allows customers to use their AT&T wireless
phones across the nation without incurring roaming or domestic
long distance charges. AT&T Family Plan allows up to five
members of a family to place unlimited wireless calls to one another
and to the home telephone number within the Family Calling Area.
AT&T Digital Prepaid offers wireless communications for people
like college students who may be on a budget.
Jones Company's
West County Home Wins
National Award
The National
Sales and Marketing Council and The Whirlpool Corporation honored
The Jones Company with the Nationals 2000 Regional Award for its
"Nantucket" display model in The Lakes at Sheffield Forest. The
annual Nationals is the largest awards program for new home communities
and sales/marketing professionals in the country.
The
Nantucket, located in West County, was judged "Best Detached Home
$300,000 to $600,000" in an eight-state region, based on its overall
exterior and interior design appeal, function and creative use
of interior space. The award-winning, four-bedroom two-story model
incorporates 3,554 square feet of living space and an oversize,
side-entry three-car garage. Design features include four-foot-wide,
centrally positioned, rear-access staircase and a 15 x 22 "flex"
room on the upper level, suitable for a second family room, home
office or game room.
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