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COMMERCE IN BRIEF
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St. Louis
County Economic Council Announces Annual Award Recipients
Above:
Bill Wilson, president of Bank of AmericaSt. Louis,
accepts St. Louis County Economic Council's Community Partnership
award from Charles Wiegers (right), chairman of the County Economic
Council.
St. Louis
County Economic Council announced winners of the organization's
Outstanding Entrepreneur Award, International Business of the
Year, Business Expansion Award, William D. Phillips Technology
Advancement Award and Community Partnership Award.
As
recipient of the Outstanding Entrepreneur award, PRO Networks
added 12 employees and more than doubled its annual revenue to
$10.6 million. The company also sold more Lucent Technologies
data products than any other reseller in the country in 1999.
PRO Networks, which provides high-tech solutions to clients, also
was named a St. Louis Regional FAST 50 Technology and national
FAST 500 company.
BJC International
Healthcare Services was selected International Business of the
Year based on a 65 percent increase in its international patient
referrals and having secured four foreign contracts for hospital
management and patient referrals.
Vi-Jon Laboratories,
Inc., which manufactures private label toiletries, was selected
for the Business Expansion Award. The company recently expanded
its operations in the inner-suburban cities of Wellston and
Vinita Park. The result is an additional 200,000 square feet of
manufacturing and office space and 70 new jobs.
Roger Beachy,
Ph.D, president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, received
the William D. Phillips Technology Advancement Award, which recognizes
extraordinary individual achievement in applying science and technology
to advance St. Louis' industrial global competitiveness and individual
quality of life. Beachy received the award for his considerable
efforts to attract top scientists from around the world and position
St. Louis as the world's center for plant science research and
its commercial application.
Bank
of America received the Community Partnership Award for its corporate
leadership toward the revitalization of inner-suburban St. Louis
County. In addition to making a $150 million financial commitment
to the St. Louis 2004 Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative, Bank
of America invested $6.1 million to build the first significant
residential development in Wellston in more than three decades.
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AISB Simplifies
Plans for Start-Up Companies
The American
Institute of Small Business (AISB) has published a model business
plan to help companies, management personnel and individuals start
their own businesses.
The
"Business Plan Example" allows users to substitute the information
gathered for their own specific plan that includes an executive
summary, mission statement, marketing plan, advertising and public
relations plans, production plan, funding sources, future products,
financial analysis, competitive strengths and weaknesses, key
employees and advisors. The "Business Plan Example" also includes
spreadsheets for three years, including profit and loss, balance
sheet and cash flow.
Leading
management organizations, banks, commercial lending institutions
and the U.S. Small Business Administration recognize the style
of the AISB plan. For more information, contact Max Fallek at
1-800-328-2906.
MCT
Captures More Awards for Regional Rideshare Program
Madison County
Transit (MCT) won the 13th annual Governor's Pollution
Prevention Award for its RideFinders program, which continues
to meet the needs of commuters in the St. Louis region and demonstrates
measurable reductions in emissions.
MCT
is the only organization to capture the Continuous Improvement
award and one of only 21 businesses to be recognized for their
involvement in the reduction of toxic emissions and hazardous
waste. The RideFinders program, established in 1994, works with
more than 3,000 registered carpoolers, 325 registered vanpoolers
and almost 300 St. Louis metropolitan area employers who offer
ridesharing benefits to their employees. RideFinders also offers
an interactive web site and a regional Park-Ride lot map that
shows people where to park their single-occupant vehicles.
"Madison
County Transit's application is unique in that it nominates both
a unit of local government and a service organization," says George
Vander Velde, director of the Waste Management Resource Center
of the Illinois Department of Nature Resources. "Just as important,
RideFinders makes it clear that pollution prevention pays by saving
commuters dollars and time."
In
addition, the American Public Transit Association awarded RideFinders
top honors for its Commuter Connection newsletter, which
features entries from transit authorities across the country.
MCT,
which was created in 1980 to oversee all mass transit in the county,
operates 13 local fixed routes, seven express routes to St. Louis
and door-to-door service for persons with disabilities and older
adults.
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Above: David
N. Bengston, (right),
director of safety and claims support staff for United Van Lines
in Fenton, Mo., receives a major safety award at the annual
convention of the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA),
the national trade association for the professional moving and
storage industry. Presenting the award is Richard Sullivan,
vice president of Vanliner Insurance Co., which is a co-sponsor
of the awards program.
In
the more than 50 million fleet mile group, United took first
place in the lowest accident rate category with 0.606 accidents
per million miles.
Kupper Parker
Adding 200 New Employees in 2000
The recent
expansion of its services and acquisition of offices throughout
the United States and abroad, has created a need for Kupper Parker
Communications (KPC) to hire more than 200 new employees this
year.
"We
are placing a high priority on keeping current staff trained and
energized as we continue to grow," says Bruce Kupper, managing
partner of St. Louis' largest independent marketing communications
firm. "I believe these are key elements in any business trying
to grow and prosper.
According
to Kupper, more than 50 of the new jobs are expected to be at
the firm's Clayton headquarters. Many of the positions will be
added to the firm's fast-growing public relations, web development
and creative departments
The
company expansion also includes bringing in 50 new employees in
the Southeast United States, about 50 in other Midwest offices
and another 50 to 60 abroad. KPC has already added 15 new employees
to the payroll this year.
Driving
the expansion effort is an influx of new business.
Down Under
Tour Visits St. Louis
Above:
Australian attractions such as the Sydney Opera House in portable
form and a five-story Olympic Flame Tower are part of Bank of
America's Down Under Tour, which will be in St. Louis May 26 to
May 28.
Excitement has
already begun for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia with a Down
Under Tour. The Tour is an interactive, multi-sensory traveling
exhibit that takes visitors on a virtual journey across Australia,
while introducing them to innovative and inspirational feats of
U.S. Olympic Team Athletes. Being held at the Gateway Mall at 9th
and Market Streets, Friday, May 26, 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, May 27,
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, May 28, noon to 6 p.m., the St. Louis
region will be the Tour's 32nd stop along the 48-city
tour. The event kicked off on the Today Show in New York in September.
Bank
of America is the sponsor of the tour as well as of the United
States Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Teams. This free
event provides the public with an opportunity to learn more about
the history and culture of Australia as well as the values, history
and inspirational feats of U.S. Olympic Team athletes.
Gateway
Metro Opens Office in Robert A. Young Federal Building
Gateway Metro,
a 19,000-member credit union which has served downtown St. Louis
since 1935, has opened its seventh location at 1222 Spruce
in the Robert A. Young Federal Building.
The
newest branch is a full service, third floor location serving
all employees and family members of the Robert A. Young facility.
In addition to traditional savings, checking and lending services,
Gateway Metro also provides investment services, Internet banking,
bill payment and 45-second loan approval over its website.
"As
parents try to teach their children about money the children and
teen accounts ("Looney Tunes" and "Starting Line") have proven
very popular with our Young Building employee members," says Larry
Pixley, vice president of business development of Gateway Metro.
Since
1992, Bauer Financial Reports, Inc., has given its highest rating
to Gateway Metro, considered one of the safest credit unions in
the United States. The credit union has $88 million in assets
and more than $9.2 million in reserves.
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Above:
Chris Lane-Kiersch
(left) and Kimberly Lane-Kiersch, chief operating officers, founded
Image Soup in 1991.
VMI/Image
Soup Merger Form "Video Graphic Powerhouse"
VMI Company of St. Louis has acquired the assets of Image Soup, Inc.,
a St. Louis-based video graphics system integration company, now called
VMI/Image Soup, Inc.
Chris
Lane-Kiersch and Kimberly Lane-Kiersch, chief operating officers, founded
Image Soup in 1991. In 1996,
their
company was voted as St. Louis' fastest growing technology company and
placed 62nd on the FAST 500, a national ranking of technology
companies. Image Soup also was featured in the St. Louis Business
Journal's 40-Under-40 top executives' listing.
As
part of the transaction, Chris Kiersch provides marketing consultation
to the new VMI/Image Soup, Inc. entity, which continues to offer hardware,
software, training and service solutions to customers through
out
the Midwest. VMI, a leading design/build/install systems integrator
of commercial video and broadcast projects, is a company with more than
30 years in business and 25 employees.
"The
acquisition makes VMI the 'video graphic powerhouse' of the Midwest,
providing a one-stop solution for traditional video products/services
and computer-based video editing, animation, DVD Authoring and streaming
video solutions for the Internet," Kiersch says. "This move was a natural
evolution for our company. We've always enjoyed a 'friendly competitor
relationship with VMI and like the way they do business. And, with me
now serving as a consultant, rather than in an operational role, I will
pursue my growing interest in new Web-based training solutions and on-line
advertising services."
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