John Stark Printing receives Miller Brewing Co. “Partners in Excellence” Award
John Stark Printing Company, Inc. has been named among an elite list of recipients for Miller Brewing Company’s 1998 “Partners in Excellence” Award. Presented to only a handful of companies throughout North America, this prestigious award is given to Miller’s best suppliers and is based on the quality, cost and competitiveness of the products and services they provide.
This year only 15 winners were selected from a field of 10,000 suppliers. The program was introduced 11 years ago, and John Stark Printing has won the last two years in a row. “Stark’s continued commitment to providing Miller with the best products available allows Miller to maintain the high-quality standards our consumers have come to expect,” says Ted Brueggermann, Miller’s corporate purchasing manager.
John Stark Printing produces and supplies Miller with permanent and non-permanent point-of-purchase print materials. The company has been in business in St. Louis for more than 30 years and currently employs approximately 95 people.
Data firm growing as larger companies outsource
Data Dash, a specialized data processing firm based in South St. Louis, has opened a second location in Farmington to handle overwhelming growth as more companies choose to outsource their data processing needs. “We’ve added a lot of clients in the last 18 months who just don’t want the hassle or expense of doing it themselves,” says Sue Morton, president of Data Dash. “We work on multiple data processing platforms, and we know how to hire and train qualified people.
“We decided to put our second location in Farmington for all the right reasons: our business is growing and we see a lot of potential in southeast Missouri. The Farmington Industrial Center has been very aggressive in its effort to attract new business.” Data Dash currently employs 45 people, and expects to add 20 to 25 positions at the new location.
Data Dash was founded in 1991 and has evolved from a data entry/key punch operation to a full-service data processing organization with clients such as the State of Illinois, Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto and Schnucks Markets. In addition to database entry, Data Dash offers services such as database management, document imaging and conversion, and custom processing.
Southwest Bank introduces Mississippi Valley Capital Company
Mississippi Valley Capital Company (MVCC), a new subsidiary of Southwest Bank’s parent company, has been formed to provide venture capital to local businesses. MVCC will provide funding to privately-owned manufacturing companies in the metropolitan area needing mid- to late-stage financing for management buyouts, generational transfers, business expansion, acquisitions and new product development.
The primary focus will be on companies with revenue of $1 million to $50 million that have a definable market and proven product lines. MVCC typically will make investments of more than $500,000.
“Our mission at Southwest Bank is to help area businesses succeed,” says chairman Drew Baur. “Over the years, our commercial lenders have seen hundreds of mid-sized companies that could not get a project financed under traditional bank loan guidelines. Providing venture capital is another way to help more of the types of local businesses we already serve.”
According to RCGA president and CEO Dick Fleming, the formation of MVCC is welcome news. “Unlike other regions with whom St. Louis competes, we are significantly underinvested from a venture capital perspective, particularly investment in high-tech companies.”
An RCGA Technology Gateway study conducted last year noted, for example, that while the Denver/ Boulder area generates $249 million in high-tech venture capital per year, the Boston area $288 million, and the Austin/Dallas/Houston areas $228 million, the St. Louis region generated only $60 million in 1998. “More sources of venture capital are essential to continued regional economic growth and will help us achieve our goal of producing 100,000 net new jobs by the end of the year 2000,” Fleming says.
St. Louis region takes world stage as host of International Botanical Congress
The XVI International Botanical Congress to be held at America’s Center August 1 to 7 will focus international attention on a growing cluster industry in the St. Louis region–plant sciences, biotech and agriculture. Last held in the U.S. 30 years ago, the Botanical Congress, the world’s largest gathering of plant scientists, is held only once every six years and will attract an estimated 5,000 botanical professionals from around the world.
This event, coupled with the recently concluded World Agricultural Congress in St. Louis, are linchpins in St. Louis’ quest to become the plant science and biotech capital of the world. Dr. Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and president of the XVI International Botanical Congress, had been working to attract the event since 1987.
For more information about the Botanical Congress, call the Missouri Botanical Garden at 314/577-9473 or 314/577-5175.
Local courier company announces consolidation
American Delivery Service, Inc. (ADS) president Dale Oestreich recently announced the consolidation of his company with Rainbow Courier, which was founded in 1995. ADS has been in operation for nearly 20 years and provides a variety of cost-effective services including warehouse storage and distribution, record retrieval and driver leasing, in addition to traditional courier service.
“This consolidation allows us to bring our experience and wide array of services to Rainbow’s customers,” Oestreich says. ADS is one of the largest courier and delivery management companies in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
Firstar to acquire Mercantile, creates $75 million banking franchise
Firstar Corporation has acquired Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. through an exchange of shares valued at approximately $10.6 billion. The transaction created the second largest Midwest banking franchise, providing a full line of consumer banking, commercial banking, and trust and investment management services and products to more than five million consumers through its 1,180 branch locations in 13 states.
The combined company is now the 13th largest bank holding com-pany in the United States, with assets of more than $75 billion, deposits of $59 billion, assets under management of $67 billion and a market capitalization of $32 billion. The combined companies’ corporate headquarters will remain in Milwaukee, with St. Louis becoming the headquarters for corporate banking and Cincinnati continuing as the headquarters for consumer banking.
Jerry Grundhofer, Firstar’s president and CEO, will continue in his position; Thomas Jacobsen, Mercantile’s chairman, president and CEO, has become chairman of the board of Firstar and will co-chair the board’s executive committee with Grundhofer.
