YWCA
Honors Outstanding Women Professionals
First
row, left to right: Sandra Van Trease, Mildred Jamison,
Susan Block, Barbara Wilkinson and Valerie Patton.
Second row, left to right: Sally Bliss, Cherish Perry
and Judith Roberts.
Not pictured: Georgia Frontiere and Linda Martinez. |
They are
achievers in the St. Louis business community. They are women
of vision who are committed to seeing the vision become reality.
They work tirelessly to make St. Louis a better place to live
and work.
After a rigorous selection process, the YWCA of Metro St. Louis
has named eight outstanding local women as recipients of this
year’s YWCA Special Leader awards. This year’s winners are:
• Sally Bliss, executive director, Dance St. Louis.
• Georgia Frontiere, chair/owner, St. Louis Rams.
• Mildred L. Jamison, R.N., executive director, Faith House.
• Linda Martinez, partner, Bryan Cave LLP.
• Valerie Patton, minority business development, Midwest Region,
Bank of America.
• Judith Roberts, vice president & executive assistant to the
chairman of the board and president, Anheuser-Busch Companies,
Inc.
• Sandra Van Trease, senior executive vice president, chief
operating officer and chief financial officer, Alliance Blue
Cross Blue Shield.
• Barbara Wilkinson, Vice President, External Affairs, Southwestern
Bell–Missouri.
In addition, winners of this year’s Racial Justice Award and
Future Leader Award also have been named. They are: Racial Justice
Award: Judge Susan Block, Circuit Judge, 21st Judicial Circuit,
State of Missouri Future Leader Award: Cherish Perry, Senior,
Riverview Gardens High School
All recipients will be honored at the YWCA’s 20th Annual Leader
Lunch, Wednesday, December 6th at the Regal Riverfront Hotel
downtown.
A YWCA tradition across the country, Leader Lunch recognizes
working women for the roles they play in business, politics,
education, science and technology, the arts, the professions
and racial justice.
This year’s recipients will be inducted into the YWCA Academy
of Leaders, which, with the inclusion of this year’s inductees,
now numbers nearly 200. In addition, the Future Leader honoree
is presented a $1,500 cash award.
The St. Louis Leader Lunch brings together more than 1,200 community
members to applaud the accomplishments and contributions of
the honorees. The event also raises money for the YWCA’s programs
designed to create opportunities for women’s growth, leadership
and power and to support social and racial justice for all.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the YWCA Leader
Lunch, call Tonia Chandler 314/531-1115.
Downtown St. Louis Earns Three Awards for Revitalization Efforts
The Missouri Downtown Association announced recipients of the
“2000 Downtown Excellence Awards” during the organization’s
Annual Conference in September. The 2000 Downtown Excellence
Awards, presented annually, recognize outstanding or exemplary
downtown revitalization efforts throughout the State of Missouri
in several categories of action. The awards are intended to
showcase the most innovative achievements in successful local
downtown management and development efforts. A jury of downtown
professionals statewide awarded Downtown St. Louis with three
of the five awards granted this year.
The Downtown St. Louis Partnership recipients were:
• Laura Lock for the Downtown Saint Louis Partnership Membership
Campaign 2000
• Shuntae Shields Ryan for the Downtown Courtesy Corps (Sidewalk
Ambassador) Program 2000
• Seenna Shipley for the Rebuilding Communities Tax Credit Program
Marketing Campaign 2000
The Missouri Downtown Association is a non-profit corporation
that advocates, supports and promotes innovative techniques
in downtown development and revitalization efforts throughout
the state of Missouri
GM Dealers Raise More than $100,000 for St. Louis Children’s
Hospital
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The planning committee of the 6th annual Missouri
and Illinois General Motors Automobile Dealers
Golf Tournament present a check to St. Louis Children’s
Hospital in the amount of $104,000. From left
to right: Area General Motors leaders Don Brown
Jr., Philip Fusz, Bob Brockland, Roger Meyer (St.
Louis Children’s Hospital), Mark Hamlin,
Lou Fusz Jr., John Londoff, Brian Malzahn.
Not
pictured: Bob Chitwood.
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Area General Motors (GM) automobile dealers from both Missouri
and Illinois did some driving of their own recently, and St.
Louis Children’s Hospital benefited to the tune of $104,000.
More than 200 players participated in the 6th annual Missouri
and Illinois General Motors Automobile Dealers Golf Tournament
on August 14 at Norwood Hills Country Club, with all proceeds
going to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The field was comprised
of area GM dealers and their employees plus local sports celebrities,
including Chris Pronger, Bernie Federko and Lou Brock.
Renaissance Financial Opens New Building in Olivette
Renaissance Financial is experiencing new beginnings for the
new year in the form of a new company headquarters in Olivette,
Mo. “This new facility gives us room for further expansion and
allows us to offer additional services to our clients and associates,”
says Greg Keller, president of Renaissance Financial.
Prior to moving to Olivette, Renaissance Financial was located
in Clayton, Mo. The company’s new building, at 9326 Olive Boulevard,
is a two-story, 24,500-square-foot structure with a two-story
attached parking garage. More than 5,000 square feet on the
first floor is being leased to local businesses.
Renaissance Financial is a team of financial planners with more
than $600 million in assets under management. Located in St.
Louis, the company works with clients worldwide on financial
portfolios and company benefit plans. Comprised of a group of
financial industry specialists, Renaissance Financial works
on client accounts as a team, offering expert opinions in a
number of financial and insurance arenas.
Colliers Turley Martin Tucker Opens Office in St. Charles
Commercial real estate brokerage company, Colliers Turley Martin
Tucker, opened a full-service brokerage, management, and corporate
services office in St. Charles. This is the first large full-service
company to locate an office in St. Charles County.
The office is managed by Keith L Schneider, CCIM, currently
a broker and vice president with the firm. Schneider is a 13-year
veteran of real estate brokerage, having concentrated the majority
of his business in St. Charles County.
CTMT cites successes such as Fountain Lakes Commerce Center,
WingHaven, the Missouri Research Park and other emerging projects,
as indication St. Charles County is gaining attention as an
attractive alternative for regional/national developers and
institutional investors alike.
Schneider is a St. Charles native, and has worked with Thomas
R. Martin in the Industrial Division at CTMT for the last two
years.
In addition to his duties at CTMT, Schneider is also president
of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, member of the St. Charles
City Economic Development Committee, member of the St. Charles
Economic Council’s Business Recruitment Committee, and a board
member of the SSM St. Joseph Health Center Foundation.
CTMT is based in Clayton with offices in six cities in the U.S.
The new St. Charles office is at 2101 Bluestone Drive, St. Charles,
MO 63303.
The HOK Planning Group Launches New Business Unit
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Jerry Sincoff, HOK chairman, accepted the Anti-Defamation
League’s Distinguished Community Service Award
presented to Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum at the
ADL’s gala dinner.
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The HOK
Planning Group announced a newly dedicated business unit focused
on planning, landscape architecture and urban design within
Hellmuth, Obata +Kassabaum (HOK) Inc., The HOK Planning Group
becomes a separate business unit and has more than 60 planners,
landscape architects and urban designers in nine of HOK’s 26
offices worldwide. Practice director for The HOK Planning Group
is Chip Crawford.
The HOK Planning Group is working with companies such as McCormack
Baron & Associates, IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Missouri
Department of Transportation and the University of Texas on
their latest projects ranging from urban redevelopment in downtown
St. Louis to large-scales campus master planning efforts in
Texas and New Jersey. Also, the group has won several awards
for recent work in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
Midwest BankCentre Opens Clayton Office
Midwest BankCentre opened its newest location at 8020 Forsyth
Blvd. in Clayton in early September 2000. The location primarily
will serve as the Private Bank for Midwest BankCentre, offering
personal banking service as well as commercial loans. Managing
the new location are Anne Gagen, executive vice president, and
Tom Collins, regional president.
Gagen was senior vice president of Southwest Bank since 1990
and was instrumental in establishing the bank’s presence in
the Clayton community in addition to overseeing the expansion
of its business and lending operations.
Prior to joining Midwest BankCentre, Collins served as senior
vice president, manager of Private Banking for Firstar Corporation,
formerly Mercantile Bankcoroporation. He brings more than 20
years of banking experience to his position at Midwest BankCentre.
Founded in 1906, the bank’s name was changed from Lemay Bank
& Trust Company to Midwest BankCentre in January 2000 and currently
has assets in excess of $650 million. Midwest BankCentre operates
four banking locations in the South St. Louis County region
in Lemay, Oakville, Fenton and Arnold and opened a location
in WingHaven in St. Charles County in June 2000.
Gundaker Commercial Renovates Apartments Into Affordable Housing
Gundaker Commercial Group (GCG) has begun renovation of Hanley
Crossings (formerly Crystal Garden Apartments), located at the
intersection of I-170 and Hanley Road. “This is our third major
project aimed at bringing affordable housing to depressed neighborhoods
of St. Louis County,” says Michael J. Hejna, president of GCG.
“Two previous projects, in Breckenridge Hills and St. Ann, which
were severely run down and crime ridden, now have very stable
tenant bases and below normal turnover.”
All three renovations were made possible by special funding
programs that encourage developers to invest in properties suffering
from deferred maintenance (neglect). “By completely renovating
poorly maintained multi-family apartment complexes inside and
out,” adds Hejna, “Gundaker replaces run-down eyesores with
attractive, livable buildings; provides well-built and well-maintained
apartments for people, who otherwise would not be able to afford
them; and stabilizes the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Financing for Hanley Crossings was obtained through tax-exempt
bonds, allocated through the Industrial Development Authority
of St. Louis under the guidance of the Department of Economic
Development and the Missouri Housing Development Commission.
In applying for funding, GCG worked closely with local government
entities and others who had concerns about the property, which
is adjacent to Heritage-Dunbar and Heritage Assisted Living,
two facilities for the elderly.The
Korte Company Announces New Office In Suburban Denver
The Korte Company, a St. Louis-based provider of design-build
and construction management services, announced plans to expand
its operations to include a new office in Greenwood Village,
Colorado, a suburb of Denver.
The new office will service Korte’s clients in Colorado and
surrounding states, and will provide the same services as the
St. Louis home office. The firm’s project expertise includes
the design and construction of warehouse/distribution centers,
school buildings, recreational centers, office complexes, as
well as a variety of projects for federal, state and local government
agencies.
The Korte Company has ranked in the Engineering News-Record
“Top 400 Contractors in the United States” for the past 13 years.
Also the Design-Build Institute of America recently ranked The
Korte Company as Number 12 on its list of the Top 20 largest
commercial design-build firms.
Daugherty Systems Partners With Ultigo™
Daugherty Systems, a St. Louis-based provider of e-business
and information technology consulting, has partnered with Ultigo,
an Atlanta-based technology start-up, to develop an advanced
print-to-web system that allows magazine readers to obtain online
information about products and services featured in advertising
and editorial pages of publications.
Ultigo is the creator of UltiMediasm, an enabling technology
that launches readers into an interactive experience, while
capturing demographic data about the reader previously available
only through market research. Daugherty Systems is providing
a full range of e-business services for the UltiMedia-based
system, including project management consulting.
Ultigo’s service made its debut in the November issue of EMAP’s
Teen Magazine. Daugherty Systems and Ultigo are partnering to
identify requirements, design the architecture, and build the
underlying UltiMedia-based system.
SBC Foundation donates $2 million to Washington University
for the Olin School of Business Executive Education Center
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“Topping Out” the Knight Executive Center—Washington
University.
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Washington
University’s John M. Olin School of Business has received a
$2 million grant from SBC Foundation. The gift, to be distributed
over 10 years, will support the Charles F. Knight Executive
Education Center. The five-story building is expected to be
completed in early 2001 at an estimated cost of $50 million.
In acknowledging the donation, Chancellor Mark S. Wright notes,
“Washington University would not enjoy its present stature without
the kind of partnerships we have formed with companies such
as Southwestern Bell Telephone and its parent company SBC Communications.
We are grateful for the wonderful support from SBC Foundation,
which will enhance our ability to provide high-quality education
for executives in this region.”
Executive education programs continue to grow at major business
schools as an increasing number of middle- and upper-level managers
embrace lifelong learning and return to the classroom.
The Olin School intends to expand its custom programs, which
use innovative techniques and content designed specifically
for the client company. The school also plans to offer open-enrollment
programs, which address a range of topics and are open to executives
of any company.
This gift supports the Campaign for Washington University, a
current major initiative to raise $1 billion in gift support
that will continue to enhance the university’s excellence and
will bring greater benefit to the St. Louis region. The Campaign,
due to conclude in 2004, has raised $885.9 million to date.
Shandwick International Becomes Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Effective Jan. 1, 2001, Shandwick International will merge with
its sister agency, Weber Public Relations Worldwide, to create
the largest public relations organization in the U.S. and worldwide.
The new entity, called Weber Shandwick Worldwide, will have
global revenues of almost $300 million, with 2,500 employees
in 68 offices in 22 countries.
Headquartered in New York, the firm will be led by a management
team bringing together both Shandwick and Weber executives.
Larry Weber, chairman and CEO of IPG’s Allied Communications
Group, will be CEO of Weber Shandwick Worldwide. Scott Meyer
will serve as chairman, reporting to Larry Weber.
Shandwick and Weber are part of The Interpublic Group of Companies,
Inc. (IPG). The new combined firm was created to be a leader
in the key growth practice areas of technology, public affairs,
and lifestyle/entertainment.
IPG’s public relations companies are part of its Allied Communications
Group of marketing services companies. The other PR firm in
the group is Golin/Harris.
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc., includes, in addition
to the Allied Communications Group, McCann-Erickson WorldGroup,
The Lowe Group, DraftWorldwide, Initiative Media Worldwide,
Octagon, Zentropy Partners, and NFO Worldwide.
Firstar Corporation And U.S. Bancorp Merge
Firstar Corporation announced that it has signed a definitive
agreement to merge with U.S. Bancorp through an exchange of
shares valued at approximately $21.2 billion.
The combined companies will have a strong presence in consumer
and corporate financial services, wealth management, capital
markets and payment systems. The Firstar/U.S. Bancorp merger
would become the eighth largest bank holding company in the
U.S., with assets of more than $160 billion and the franchise
will span 24 Midwestern and Western states with 2,200 branches.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of
2001. After the closing, the combined companies will operate
under the U.S. Bancorp name, and locate their corporate headquarters
in Minneapolis.
Jerry Grundhofer, president and CEO of Firstar, will continue
in this position in the combined company. John “Jack” Grundhofer,
chairman, president and CEO of U.S. Bancorp, will serve as chairman
of the board until his planned retirement on December 31, 2002.
The board of directors will be composed of 14 members from Firstar,
and 11 members from U.S. Bancorp.
The combined company will serve 10 million customers in a geographic
territory that includes nine of the 15 fastest growing states
in the country.
Monsanto Furthers Global Agricultural Research of “Golden
Rice”
Monsanto announced at an agricultural biotechnology symposium
in Chennai, India, that it would provide royalty-free licenses
for all of its technologies that can help further development
of “golden rice” and other pro-vitamin A-enhanced rice varieties.
Successful development and adoption of enhanced rice could help
millions of people suffering from vitamin A deficiencies. The
company also announced the recent launch of a new Internet web
site, www.rice-research.org, opening its rice genome sequence
database to researchers around the world. These two actions
are part of the company’s ongoing commitment to global agriculture
research and are aimed at facilitating the use of its technologies
and data for common good.
Monsanto’s commitment to offer royalty-free license for all
the company’s technology that may be useful in the development
of rice varieties with increased levels of pro-vitamin A (or
beta carotene) is expected to aid researchers working in this
area who wish to make use of existing proprietary technologies.
“We want to minimize the time and expenditure that might be
associated with obtaining licenses needed to bring “golden rice”
to farmers and the people in dire need of this vitamin in developing
countries,” says Hendrik Verfaillie, CEO of Monsanto Company,
a subsidiary of Pharmacia Corporation, a leading provider of
agricultural solutions to growers worldwide.
Professor Ingo Potrykus, professor at the Swiss Federal Institute
of Technology, Zurich, and Dr. Peter Beyer, University of Frieburg,
Germany, developed the grain known as “golden rice” with the
support of the Rockefeller Foundation.
In May 2000, the inventors announced collaboration with Greenovation
and Zeneca to enable delivery of this technology free-of-charge
for humanitarian purposes. Zeneca pledged to provide regulatory,
advisory and research expertise to assist in making “golden
rice” available in developing countries.
In March 1999, Monsanto joined the Global Vitamin A Partnership,
which includes the U.S. Agency for International Development,
UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Monsanto also has
developed technology to increase levels of beta-carotene in
oils, and is working to share it with researchers in the developing
world.
“We hope that sharing fundamental data about the rice genome
and enabling the development of solutions for vitamin A deficiency
will lead to a wide variety of discoveries that enhance food
security and nutrition throughout the developing world,” says
Robert T. Fraley, chief technology officer of Monsanto.
