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COMMERCE IN BRIEF
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Build-A-Bear
Workshop Opens 72nd Location in “Downtown Disney® District” in Anaheim
Above:
Build-A-Bear Workshop now also has a location alongside Disney’s
California Adventure Park.
After opening its premier store in St. Louis in October 1997 and
then in cities throughout the U.S., Build-A-Bear Workshop brought
its unique entertainment retail concept to the Downtown Disney®
District in Anaheim, Calif. The new store location opened last November,
in time for the holiday shopping season. The company currently operates
72 store locations in 29 states across the country.
Located in the heart of the Disneyland® Resort, between Disneyland®
park and the brand new Disney’s California Adventure park, Downtown
Disney® District offers entertainment and shopping for all visitors
to the resort area. The non-admission-fee district features themed
shopping, dining, nightclubs and other entertainment venues, all
within walking distance for guests of the resort and the Disneyland
Resort Hotels.
Chief Executive Bear Maxine Clark believes the Disney location is
ideal for Build-A-Bear Workshop’s store concept, combining the process
of making your own bear with an atmosphere that makes shopping fun.
“Our plan is always to open in the premier shopping malls and entertainment
venues across the country,” said Clark in preparation for the opening
of the location in Downtown Disney. “We are thrilled to be a part
of such a unique property.”
CHARACTERplus Expands Statewide
CHARACTERplus, a program of St. Louis-area Cooperating School Districts,
is expanding its character education initiative statewide. The number
of school districts being served will grow from 48 to 93 and will
be supported by new administrative offices in Kansas City, Columbia
and Springfield.
A request from Missouri Governor Bob Holden made the expansion of
CHARACTERplus possible with an appropriation of almost $1 million,
included in the budget of the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education, and approved by the Missouri legislature in the last
session. The funding nearly doubles the number of districts in the
program, which is designed to promote values such as respect, honesty,
perseverance and responsibility.
Schools that desired to be part of the statewide expansion of CHARACTERplus
were asked to submit an application. The 45 new school districts,
selected in January from 83 applicants, were chosen through a selection
process that evaluated the quality of their proposal based on commitment
of time, staff training and community support, among other criteria.
Another important qualifying factor was diversity in terms of size,
socio-economic profile, and regional representation. In making the
final selection, CHARACTERplus received guidance from the Regional
Professional Development Centers managed by the Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education (DESE). School districts throughout the
state will have access to materials from the program through the
Cooperating School Districts.
In St. Louis area schools, where character values have been incorporated
into everyday classroom activities and curriculum for the last 15
years, some officials have reported significant changes.
“After character education was implemented, suspension rates at
our school dropped by 60 percent,” says Steven Suess, principal
of Kennerly Elementary in St. Louis. “Our students have learned
to respect themselves, as well as each other.”
“Helping families, schools and communities instill strong character
traits in young people is critical,” says Linda McKay, CHARACTERplus
director. “CHARACTERplus helps students develop personally, socially
and academically by weaving character education into each part of
school life academic curriculum, discipline policies, parental involvement,
and even extracurricular activities such as sports and student government.”
CHARACTERplus was started in St. Louis in 1988 as the vision of
Sandy McDonnell, chairman emeritus of McDonnell Douglas Corporations.
The program, then known as the Personal Responsibility Education
Process (PREP) began with seven school districts in the St. Louis
area through the Cooperating School Districts.
Pedestrian-friendly Eads Bridge Renovation Advanced by Coalition
Above:
Eads bridge renovation will restore the historic landmark to
its original splendor and enhance pedestrian use. Inset: An
artist’s rendering of the Eads bridge as a multi-use structure.
When St. Louis’
Eads Bridge opened in 1874, it was a significant achievement of
modern architecture and engineering. Though it has been closed to
auto traffic since 1991, the Eads Bridge still carries MetroLink
riders across the Mississippi River. More recent work to ready the
bridge for auto traffic again called for concrete barriers, which
would have drastically changed the personality of our historic Eads
Bridge.
A local coalition has been working to restore Eads Bridge to its
traditional appearance. TrailNet, in partnership with the RCGA,
St. Louis 2004, Missouri Department of Transportation, Bi-State
Development Agency and the City of St. Louis now have raised funds
necessary to modify the railing to ornamental steel, restoring the
National Landmark to its original character and include pedestrian
improvements in the Eads Bridge restoration. Private contributions
to the fundraising campaign have raised more than $1 million toward
preserving the bridge in its original style. Most notable among
the major contributors are Pat Jones; Edward Jones; Gateway Foundation;
Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Recreational Trails Program;
and William A. and Gertrude Bernoudy Foundation.
The project has necessary approvals, and modifications to Eads Bridge
are expected to be complete by spring 2003. In addition to the ornamental
steel railing, bridge renovations will allow it to become a pedestrian
bridge or an event site on designated weekends, and an auto traffic
bridge other times. Current plans call for a walkway on the bridge’s
south side.
St. Louis Regional Technology Top 50 Awards Celebrate Industry
Leadership
The St. Louis
Regional Technology Top 50 Awards program is evolving into a more
diversified program this year, building on the success over the
past six years as the St. Louis Regional Fast 50 Technology Awards.
The new Technology Top 50 will honor the top 50 technology companies
in three broad categories: Information Technologies; Plant and Life
Sciences; and Advanced Manufacturing.
Jointly presented each year by the RCGA and Deloitte & Touche, the
2002 event is designed to more directly track the technology industry
clusters that the St. Louis region is pursuing as a centerpiece
of its economic development.
This year’s event will take place on Thursday, September 26, at
the St. Louis Science Center.
Sponsors of the Technology Top 50 Awards are: Edward Jones, Southwest
Bank, the St. Louis Science Center, KMOX radio, KSDK NewsChannel
5, the St. Louis Business Journal, and St. Louis Commerce
Magazine.
For specific eligibility criteria to either nominate a company,
your own company, or a client company, call Denise Hasty at the
RCGA at 314/444-1134 or e-mail dhasty@stlrcga.org.
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