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MAKING HEADLINES
The St. Louis
region and its companies often make national news—below are a few
highlights.
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Local CPA
Featured in USA TODAY
Above:
James Castellano Rubin, Brown Gornstein & Co. LLP
This has been an interesting year for James Castellano to serve
as chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
(AICPA). Castellano, also managing partner of Rubin, Brown, Gornstein
& Co. LLP, is advocating the integrity and commitment of the accounting
profession in the wake of the Enron collapse.
In a February 14, 2002, debate on the editorial pages of USA
TODAY, Castellano wrote on behalf of AICPA, expressing their
deep concern over the Enron scandal that has also cast a shadow
on the independent audits and investor reporting that took place
prior to Enron’s demise. He discussed AICPA’s endorsement of a petition
to the SEC calling for more disclosure, support for reforms, and
for investors’ access to information about publicly traded companies.
The following week, Castellano was quoted in USA TODAY’s
February 22, 2002, cover story, “Accounting’s role in Enron’s crash
erases years of trust.” In his comments, Castellano said, “We are
committed to meaningful reform,” adding that “reforms should extend
beyond audits to include better accounting standards and more frequent,
detailed financial reports.”
Landscape Architect Recognizes Family Garden at St. Louis
Children’s Hospital
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The eighth floor
roof of St. Louis Children’s Hospital is home to around 7,500 plants
arranged among a gazebo, a chair swing, sculptures, boulders, trees,
waterfalls and benches. Featured in the February 2002 issue of Landscape
Architect, the Olson Family Garden is described as a healing
garden and oasis where children and their families experience a
true respite and connection with nature.
The 8,000-square-foot rooftop garden is a project of general contractor
McGrath & Associates and architects at Mackey Mitchell Associates,
both of St. Louis, along with the Colorado office of landscape architect
EDAW. The design team also included patients, family members, botanical
garden experts, engineers, hospital staff, and volunteers. Through
a series of discussions, the groups agreed the garden should be
both a place of play and a place of solace away from the stresses
of the hospital environment.
The magazine article details several of the construction challenges
in creating a setting where children could play while other families
could have quiet moments of contemplation. These included limited
access to the site, wind, waterproofing, drainage for the plants,
and the weight of more than 200 tons of soil, as well as being considerate
of the hospital environment.
The $1.9 million for the garden was funded entirely through donations.
Musicians on Canvas Make an Impression
The impressionist images seen on this season’s brochures at the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) caught the attention of Symphony
Magazine’s March-April 2002 issue. The images came from a series
of paintings by Missouri artist Billy O’Donnell, who requested the
opportunity to paint the full orchestra on stage last year.
The result of his work was 14 different paintings from locations
in Powell Hall, each completed in one session. The SLSO expresses
its delight in the paintings by using some of the paintings for
the season brochure this year, as well as banners, posters, T-shirts
and its web site. According to the article, a St. Louis area art
gallery also auctioned one of the paintings for $16,000 with all
proceeds benefiting the orchestra.
O’Donnell was previously known for landscape painting, but got the
idea to do an orchestra after sketching a musician friend at a jazz
club. In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, O’Donnell
says, “It wasn’t a business deal; it wasn’t a plan that was laid
out. I just wanted to paint the orchestra, and if the symphony could
make use of the images, that was fine.”
St. Louis
Region Again in Top 10 in Annual Fortune 500 Rankings
Notwithstanding the continuing pressures of mergers and acquisitions
nationally and locally, the St. Louis region has maintained its
status as a leading center for corporate headquarters in the Fortune
500 annual rankings. For the 7th straight year, St. Louis has ranked
in the Top 10 nationally each year: ranked at #8 in 1996; #7 in
1997; #5 in 1998; tied for #4 in 1999; #5 in 2000; #6 in 2001, and
#6 in 2002.
The region’s total number of Fortune 500 corporate headquarters
stays at 8, tied with Philadelphia, and just behind San Francisco
with 9; Chicago with 11; Atlanta with 12; Houston with 20; and New
York with 40. St. Louis is ranked ahead of Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati,
Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, San
Antonio, and Seattle.
Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of America’s top 500 companies,
published in the April 15 edition, lists St. Louis’ eight Fortune
500 headquarters: Emerson (130); May Department Stores (143); Anheuser-Busch
(159); Express Scripts (210); Premcor (285); Graybar Electric (344);
Ameren (366); and Charter Communications (417).
In addition, Pharmacia and Monsanto have announced their intention
to spin off Monsanto as a freestanding company later this year.
Had Monsanto spun off at the time of the Fortune ranking, with 2001
sales of $5.4 billion, they would have ranked #321 in the Fortune
500 list for 2002; this would have put St. Louis in a tie for 5th
place with San Francisco.
This Fortune ranking is significant, in that while St. Louis is
the 18th most populous region in the nation, it ranks #6 in Fortune
500 headquarters. This ranking strongly affirms that the region
is as an ideal place to start, relocate or expand a business. |
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