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COMMERCE IN BRIEF
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American
Equity Mortgage’s 10th Anniversary Raises $27,000 for Ronald McDonald
House
Above:
American Equity Mortgage President Deanna Vinson (right) and
10-year employee Robert M. Bower (left) present a check for $27,000
to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Metro St. Louis Executive
Director Dan Harbaugh (center).
American Equity Mortgage’s 10th anniversary celebration in April
resulted in a $27,000 charitable donation to Ronald McDonald House
Charities of Metro St. Louis. Founder Ray Vinson and his wife Deanna,
president, pledged to donate $99.99 for each home loan closed during
the anniversary month.
Best known for providing a home-away-from-home to families with
seriously ill children being treated at area hospitals, Ronald McDonald
House plans to use the funds to produce 150,000 collection boxes
for its Tab Top Program. This is an initiative in local schools
and at McDonald’s restaurants to collect the tabs off aluminum cans.
For every pound of tab tops collected, the organization receives
up to 50 cents. Last year, Ronald McDonald House raised nearly $16,000
through tab top recycling.
In addition to the Ronald McDonald promotion, American Equity Mortgage
hosted radio contests in which listeners called in to imitate Vinson’s
“878-99-99” in the now familiar radio ads. The caller with the best
imitation—as judged by Vinson and the radio host—received $99.99
in cash and a $99.99 donation to his/her favorite charity.
“There must be something magical about the number nine. Our number
of loans for April 2002 was up nine percent over the previous month
because of the Ronald McDonald House promotion,” said Deanna Vinson
while presenting the check. “Our 99-99 suffix has taken on new meaning
for families served by the Ronald McDonald House and for the charities
benefiting from our 10th anniversary.”
Founded in 1992, St. Louis-based American Equity Mortgage has grown
to a loan volume exceeding $1 billion in 2001. Also in 2001, Ray
and Deanna Vinson were recognized as Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs
Of The Year for financial services in the St. Louis region’s annual
program. The company operates 19 branches in seven markets and is
licensed in 11 states.
Noonday Club Expanding Services
For 109 years, The Noonday Club has been downtown’s premier lunch
time destination for successful executives and professionals. Since
its founding in 1893, the Club has stood witness to the business,
social, and political growth that shaped this city. Now the Noonday
Club is undergoing an evolution of its own with an expansion of
services and attractive new offerings for existing members.
“There’s never been a better time to be a member of the Noonday
Club. We are continuing our rich history and heritage of quality
dining for our members as well as offering an exciting venue for
special events that is renowned for its quality service and exceptional
dining,” says Peter Genovese, Noonday Club president and chairman
and CEO of the financial corporation of UMB Bank.
“Our location at the top of the Metropolitan Square building provides
what are unquestionably downtown’s best views of the St. Louis skyline,
the Arch and the riverfront,” comments Noonday Club General Manager
Michael Chollet. “Now our board has taken the necessary steps to
make the Club available to outside groups for evening and weekend
special events, weddings, and meetings.”
Recent changes to the Club’s tax status and a restructuring of the
lease are among the steps that have made this expansion of services
possible. The Club can accommodate cocktail parties for up to 500
people and dinner events for up to 250 people.
Chollet notes that the Noonday Club has been in its present location
on the 40th floor of One Metropolitan Square since 1990. “We’ve
changed locations only three times since 1893, always staying within
one block of our original home in the Security Building at 319 North
Fourth Street.
Other changes coming are focused on serving the Noonday Club’s current
500 members. Corporate membership packages and a newly formed alliance
with the downtown YMCA are among the new membership offerings. For
further information, contact Kelly Rosenblatt at the Noonday Club
at 314/231-8452.
Glass Art Lights Up Southwest Bank in Des Peres
Above:
Southwest Bank commissioned internationally known glass artist
Dale Chihuly to create a glass chandelier to hang in its Des Peres
location.
The chandelier in the atrium of Southwest Bank’s Des Peres branch
is actually a work of art. Created by internationally known glass
artist Dale Chihuly, the eight-foot glass sculpture is the latest
addition to the bank’s art collection, which includes fiber art
by former St. Louis artist Jane Sauer, landscape paintings by Keith
Jacobshagen and a serigraph of Mark McGuire by Leroy Neiman.
Chihuly, who learned glass blowing in Venice, has revolutionized
the art form in his 30-year career. He is known for creating larger
and more colorful pieces than are typical in glass blowing. His
work is exhibited in nearly 200 museums and is included in private
collections and historic sites worldwide. The Saint Louis Art Museum
sponsored a Chihuly exhibition in 1996 and currently has several
of his pieces on display. He is one of only four Americans to have
a one-person exhibition at the Louvre in Paris.
“We’re pleased that we’ve been able to add the work of such a well-known
artisan to the many pieces of fine art that we have displayed in
our bank,” says Andrew (Drew) Baur, chairman of Southwest Bank.
“We welcome anyone interested in art to stop by and see the many
pieces we have displayed.”
Julie Rooney, ASID, owner of CIGI Gallery Associates, coordinated
the Chihuly installation as well as much of the existing art collection
at Southwest Bank.
Kellogg Foundation Awarded $200,000 Grant to World Agricultural
Forum
The W.K Kellogg
Foundation has awarded a $200,000 grant to the World Agricultural
Forum (WAF), a non-profit organization that provides a neutral forum
for global dialogue on issues involving food, fuel and health. WAF
will receive the grant over a four-year period, at $50,000 per year.
WAF will use the grant to create a Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO) Advisory Council for communication and program development
among the diverse sectors of agriculture. Confirmed NGO Advisory
Council members include: Mark Ritchie, president of IATP; Dr. Per
Pinstrup-Andersen, director-general of the IFPRI; Norman Braksick,
president of Foods Resource Bank; Ralph Paige, executive director
of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives; and Alfredo Espinosa,
executive director of the Fundacion Mexicana para el Desarrollo
Rural (FMDR).
“Traditionally, the issues and concerns of NGOs are not linked into
the greater agricultural community,” says Dr. Leonard Guarraia,
chairman and president, WAF. “With this grant, the World Agricultural
Forum can develop a unique program that brings forward the perspectives
of the NGO community on a variety of critical issues—from technology
and trade to food security and hunger.”
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The Foundation
targets its grants toward spec-ific areas. These include: health;
food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy
and volunteerism.
“In the food systems arena, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation wants to
see a safe and wholesome food supply that supports economic viability
and brings environmental benefits,” says Rick Foster, vice president
of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “By providing this grant to the
WAF, we are embracing its continuous efforts to bring together our
world’s leaders to address critical agricultural issues. We look
forward to the positive effect the WAF’s NGO Advisory Council will
have on our society.
Universities Team Up for Aerospace Research and Education
Four Missouri universities have joined forces to establish the Center
for Aerospace Research and Education (AeREC). The new center will
encourage aerospace research collaboration, aerospace education,
and technology transfer, as well as promote aerospace-related economic
development in the region.
The center and its administrative offices are based at Washington
University in St. Louis. In addition to Washington University, other
founding members of the AeREC consortium are Saint Louis University,
the University of Missouri– Columbia and the University of Missouri–Rolla.
AeREC’s director is Ramesh K. Agarwal, Ph.D., the William Palm Professor
of Engineering at Washington University’s School of Engineering
and Applied Science. Members of AeREC’s steering committee are Christopher
I. Byrnes, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering and Applied
Science at Washington University and the Edward H. and Florence
G. Skinner Professor of Systems Science and Mathematics; Charles
C. Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., dean of Parks College of Engineering and
Aviation at St. Louis University; O. Robert Mitchell, Ph.D., dean
of the School of Engineering at the University of Missouri–Rolla;
and James E. Thompson, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering
at the University of Missouri–Columbia.
Express Scripts Opens NASDAQ in Celebration of IPO 10th Anniversary
Above:
(from Left): Donald Johnson, senior director, The Nasdaq Stock
Market, Inc.; George Paz, senior vice president and chief financial
officer; David Lowenberg, executive vice president and chief operating
officer; Barrett Toan, chairman and chief executive officer (opening
the market); David Myers, senior director of Investor Relations;
Barbara Hill, president; Bonnie Kottler, director of marketing;
David Weild, vice chairman, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.; Jean-Marc
Quach, vice president and general manager of specialty distribution
services; Larry Zarin, vice president, brand management
One of the celebrated rituals of capitalism is the opening of the
stock market each business day, signaling the official start of
trading. A St. Louis CEO recently made the trip to New York for
the market open of The NASDAQ Stock Market in celebration of 10
years since his company’s initial public offering (IPO).
Barrett Toan, chairman and chief executive officer of Express Scripts
Inc. [ESRX] joined David Weild, vice chairman of NASDAQ, to preside
over the Market Open on the morning of June 18, 2002. Express Scripts
has been listed since its IPO 10 years ago, in June 1992.
Founded in 1986, Express Scripts is one of North America’s largest
pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), serving 50 million people in client
health plans. Now the fourth largest of eight Fortune 500 companies
headquartered in the St. Louis metropolitan area, the company has
grown to 1,800 employees in St. Louis, and a total of 6,000 in the
US and Canada.
Since its 1992 IPO, Express Scripts has met or exceeded consensus
analyst earnings estimates every quarter, delivering 41 consecutive
quarters of earnings growth, excluding non-recurring items in the
prior years. This performance has provided a 42 percent compounded
average annual return to shareholders.
Chase Park Plaza Opens Conference Center
The landmark Chase Park Plaza hotel added another dimension to its
amenities this summer—enhanced meeting space. Kingsdell L.P., developer
of the property, invested almost $3 million in the 18,000–square–foot
Conference Center at the Chase. Klitzing Welsh Architects reamed
up with CSI Design Inc. to create this multi-purpose space. A staffed
reception area directs visitors to their function. Six meeting rooms
of varying sizes can be customized for presentations or discussion
groups. In addition, two executive and 16–foot mahogany conference
tables. All are equipped with electrical and communication hook-ups.
Meeting and banquet facilities accommodate groups of 10 to 2,500.
Allegiant Bank Expands in St. Charles County
The Bank of St. Charles County, formerly a subsidiary of Allegiant
Bancorp Inc., is now part of Allegiant Bank. With the addition of
the two Bank of St. Charles County branches, Allegiant Bank now
has 33 branch locations in the St. Louis area. Allegiant Bank assumes
$70 million in assets, $60 million in deposits and $45 million in
loans in the Bank of St. Charles County acquisition.
The BANK of Edwardsville Announces New Name for Data Center and
New Location
The BANK of Edwardsville’s Data Center recently unveiled a new name
and began operating inside The BANK’s new West Park Center part
of a service expansion to additional financial institutions.
Now known as BankData Services, The BANK’s Data Center, partners
with financial institutions to process their customer transactions,
print bank statements, provide Internet services and telephone banking,
ATM support, debit card processing, accounts payable and customized
reporting. The organization has 20 years experience processing bank
data.
BankData Services also began operating inside TheBANK’s new 71,000-square-foot
West Park Center in downtown Edwardsville. The facility has an expanded
training area that allows it to offer more education programs to
its client banks and financial institutions. In conjunction with
the expansion, BankData Services announced five promotions. Dennis
Hessel was named BankData Services president. Other promotions include:
Thomas Degroot, vice president of technical services; Steven Perry,
assistant vice president of systems operations; Laura Balster, assistant
vice president of item processing; and Anita Schlemer, assistant
vice president of information technology.
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