|
 |
|
|
PANERA BREAD TO OPEN IN COLORADO,
GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA
St. Louis-based Panera Bread Company has agreed to develop 27 new bakery-cafes in Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina. Southern Bread has secured the rights to develop 12 of the bakery-cafes in parts of eastern Georgia and central and southern South Carolina. The first two restaurants will open by the end of 2005. Another franchisee, Breads of the World, plans to open 15 bakery-cafes in counties adjacent to its existing Denver market, including the Boulder, Colo., area.
BROWN SHOE INKS DEAL WITH DISNEY
Buster Brown & Co., the children’s division of Brown Shoe, has signed a major licensing agreement for footwear with Disney that encompasses more than 30 of Disney’s famous characters. New footwear lines will feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse; Winnie the Pooh and friends; Bambi; Lady and the Tramp; Power Rangers-SPD; Kim Possible; and other Disney characters from feature films and television. The new lines are slated to launch in spring 2005.
 First Lady Laura Bush signs autographs after speaking to 300 women at the Frontenac Hilton on August 17. |
|
MAY PURCHASES
MARSHALL FIELD’S
The May Department Stores Company has completed the acquisition of Marshall Field’s department store group from Target Corporation for $3.2 billion. The transaction included 62 Marshall Field’s department stores, three distribution centers and approximately $600 million in Marshall Field’s credit card receivables. Marshall Field’s employs approximately 25,000 team members in eight states across the upper Midwest, and all current employees were offered jobs by May. As part of the deal, May is also acquiring real estate associated with nine Mervyn’s store locations near Minneapolis. The transfer of these stores is expected to occur during the third quarter.
ENGINEERED SUPPORT SIGNS MULTIPLE DEFENSE CONTRACTS
Three subsidiaries of St. Louis-based Engineered Support Systems have signed contracts with the U.S. Coast Guard, Air Force and Army worth a combined $39 million. The company will provide aircraft maintenance and support services, equipment packages and spare parts for a precision targeting system, and deployable power generation units.
BANK OF AMERICA
STRIKES DEAL WITH
BASEBALL LEAGUES
Bank of America has signed simultaneous sponsorship agreements with Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and Little League Baseball that will run through 2008. As part of the deal, Bank of America receives exclusive rights in its category, extensive broadcast and onsite branding opportunities, and hospitality at Major League Baseball Jewel Events, such as the All-Star Game, the Division Series, the League Championship Series and the World Series. The deal will also make Bank of America the “Official Bank of Major League Baseball.”
SCHNUCK MARKETS EXPANDS TO COLLIERVILLE, TENN.
| (Left to right): Scott Schnuck, president and COO, Schnucks; Craig Schnuck, chairman and CEO, Schnucks; and Linda Kerley, mayor of Collierville, Tenn., cut the ribbon during the Collierville Schnucks grand opening. |
|
Schnuck Markets has opened a new 63,000-square-foot Schnucks supermarket in Collierville, Tenn. The new store will be an anchor for the new Collierville Crossing community shopping center. The Collierville location is the first of three new Schnucks that will open in 2004.
COCA SLATED FOR
RENOVATION, EXPANSION
S.M. Wilson has been selected to provide construction services for a $5.3 million renovation and expansion of the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis. The construction team will build an 11,000-square-foot addition consisting of a main entrance and reception area, backstage support space and two new studios. Several existing dance studios and classrooms will be updated, and one studio will be converted into two classrooms. Construction is scheduled to be finished by June 2005. Trivers Associates is the architect.
MONSANTO’S ROUNDUP READY CORN APPROVED IN ARGENTINA
The government of Argentina has approved the planting of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready corn, leading the way to an increased number of biotechnology acres planted in that country. Roundup Ready corn will be available to growers this fall in limited quantities for the 2004 planting season and should be available more widely for the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons.
ARCH COAL BUYS
CANYON FUEL
St. Louis-based Arch Coal has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Itochu Corporation’s 35 percent interest in Canyon Fuel Company for $112 million. Once the transaction is complete, Canyon Fuel will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arch Coal. Canyon Fuel owns two active mines and one idle mine in Utah and controls approximately 161 million tons of high-quality, low-sulfur coal reserves in the state.
NEW BALLPARK KEEPS
BUSCH NAME
The St. Louis Cardinals and Anheuser-Busch Cos. have extended their marketing and naming rights agreement, retaining the name Busch Stadium for the new downtown ballpark scheduled to open in 2006. The 20-year-deal provides Anheuser-Busch with continued exclusive alcohol beverage sponsorship on all Cardinals radio and TV broadcasts, as well as promotions and use of the team logo.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES EXPANDS SERVICE IN ST. LOUIS
Southwest Airlines has announced new nonstop flights for fall, including two new daily flights from St. Louis starting Oct. 31. Southwest will add one daily departure between St. Louis and Oklahoma City (for a total of two daily flights) and one daily departure between St. Louis and Omaha, Neb., (for a total of three daily flights).
STEVE JOHNSON RECRUITED AS TOP DEAL MAKER ON RCGA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM
| Steve Johnson, RCGA senior vice president for economic development. |
|
Steve Johnson has been recruited to
St. Louis as the RCGA’s senior vice president for economic development. In this role, Johnson will lead the RCGA’s marketing, branding and business recruitment and expansion, and deal making efforts in the new five-year regional economic development campaign, kicking off in January 2005.
A Missouri native, Johnson formerly served as both executive vice president for economic development and senior vice president for business development at the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC), where he led a number of that region’s most significant economic development recruitment successes, including: Harley-Davidson’s 300,000-square-foot, 300-employee manufacturing operation; Transamerica Life’s relocation of its administrative operations from Los Angeles, resulting in 600 new Kansas City jobs; Gateway’s 1,600-person customer, sales, and technical support center; a 400-person travel center by EDS; and the $200 million International Speedway Corp. He also planned and led long-term strategic initiatives revolving around corporate headquarters recruitment, the semi-conductor industry, advanced manufacturing, bio-manufacturing, and technology-focused marketing and business attraction.
His 20-plus years of regional economic development also include roles as director of economic development for the Mobile (Ala.) Area Chamber of Commerce and director of economic development for the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce.
Johnson most recently served as senior vice president for economic development strategies with the Indianapolis-based firm Thomas P. Miller & Associates. In that capacity, he assisted regional economic development organizations in several markets, including: Kansas City, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Pensacola, Fla.
Johnson holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Harding University, and is a Certified Economic Developer (CED), the highest professional designation from the International Economic Development Council.
Johnson began his new position Sept. 1; he and his wife, Sharon, and 12-year-old son, Reid, recently moved to St. Louis.
DEFENSE BILL PROVIDES $265.3 MILLION FOR SCOTT
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Congressmen Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.) have secured $265.3 million to expand the mission of the 932nd Airlift
Wing at Scott AFB as part of the Defense Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2005. The funds will be used to purchase three C-40 aircraft and maintain three C-9s currently at Scott. The addition of the aircraft will allow the 932nd wing and the 1,000 reservists and civilians that it employs to remain at the base.
Separately, the bill also provides funds for a number of other Missouri-based defense programs, including development and renovation of aircraft from Boeing, production of munitions, and production of other defense-related products.
| Jamie Stevens, of the St. Louis Zoo, holds a False Katydid during the first-ever BioBlitz at Forest Park, Sept. 11. The BioBlitz was a 24-hour effort to capture, collect and catalogue all living organisms in Forest Park. |
|
ALEXANDER MEETS KEY EXECUTIVES IN FARNBOROUGH LONDON
| Ian Parker, director Europe, Missouri European Trade & Investment Office (left), plans upcoming business development meetings with Jim Alexander, RCGA vice president for business development. |
|
Jim Alexander, RCGA vice president for business development, met with new prospects and existing St. Louis-based aerospace leaders at Farnborough International 2004, the largest “deal-making” commercial air show of the year.
Nearly 1,400 exhibitors, including St. Louis-based Boeing IDS, GKN Aerospace, Essex Industries and Heizer Aerospace, occupied 373,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor display space. The air show, which took place July 19 through July 23 in Farnborough, England (about 30 miles from London), attracted some 30,000 attendees each day.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development sponsored a display featuring the state’s impressive aerospace assets and included dedicated space for a number of organizations, including the RCGA. Alexander met with top executives at Airbus, Northrop Grumman, Dunlop Aerospace, and other economic development prospects from the aerospace parts, engineering and airline industries.
Also while in England, Alexander traveled to London and visited key global executives at London-based GlaxoSmithKline, the parent company of downtown St. Louis’s Tums facility. The meeting was an opportunity to thank GlaxoSmithKline for their recent addition of their Os-Cal production line to the
St. Louis plant and to discuss future expansion opportunities.
RCGA CHAIRMAN
YAEGER CALLS FOR INVESTORS |
Doug Yaeger, chairman, president and CEO of The Laclede Group, and chairman of the RCGA board of directors, has spearheaded an effort encouraging regional leaders to become civic investors in the RCGA’s third regional economic development Campaign, which will begin in January 2005.
| Doug Yaeger, RCGA chairman, and chairman, president and CEO, Laclede Group. |
|
“The first two campaigns provided a regional economic foundation and an identification of specific ‘clusters’ on which to focus,” Yaeger says. “In essence, this third campaign will center on marketing, branding and actual deal-making on a regional basis.”
The marketing and branding effort will include developing and implementing an overarching new brand identity for the St. Louis region. This new brand will be built on the findings and recommendations from the in-depth research and analysis that has already been completed through the target cluster studies and the talent initiative.
Marketing initiatives also will include enhancement of national and international flights at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport; individual marketing plans for each of the five distinctive industry clusters; a new state-of-the-art Website, with specific areas for business attraction, site location assistance, and talent attraction/retention; and a national advertising campaign focusing on the region’s business and lifestyle assets.
Yaeger points to increased spending by other regions, and stresses that St. Louis competes on a daily basis with other regions and, increasingly, other parts of the world. Cincinnati, for example, currently spends $5 million annually on comparable economic development programs; Kansas City spends $3 million; Louisville, $5.2 million; and Omaha, $4 million.
“In order to stay competitive with other areas across the country, we are asking for an increased commitment from local investors, which would provide at least $4 million a year dedicated to economic development,” Yaeger says.
To help ensure the third Campaign achieves solid, measurable results, Yaeger assembled an informal working group to evaluate the performance and impact of the first two Campaigns and to build a new organization for the region’s economic development needs.
“A major change for 2005-2009 will be a total organizational restructuring in functional oversight which will focus on accountability and transparency in achieving specific predetermined goals,” he says.
Joining Yaeger in the group which has shaped the new program are Joe Hasten, chairman of the Greater St. Louis Economic Development Council; David Kemper, president of Civic Progress; Jim Murphy, chairman of the Regional Business Council (RBC); and Scott Schnuck, RCGA chairman-elect. |
|
ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
A MONTHLY LOOK AT THE REGION'S ECONOMY
|
 After two years of lackluster performance, recent job growth in the St. Louis region has outperformed both the U.S. average and that of many major metropolitan areas. |
|
ST. LOUIS ARGENT INDEX
A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF LOCAL STOCKS
|
|
|
June Change |
YTD Change |
12-Month Change |
Close |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Argent Index |
|
-0.43% |
-2.40% |
1.70% |
890.73 |
| AG Edwards Inc. |
AGE |
7.02% |
-4.00% |
-1.60% |
$34.78 |
| Angelica Corp. |
AGL |
-2.99% |
6.14% |
22.20% |
$23.35 |
| Argosy Gaming |
AGY |
2.45% |
28.63% |
38.40% |
$33.43 |
| AMR Corp. |
AMR |
6.05% |
-30.97% |
-18.70% |
$8.94 |
| Boeing Inc. |
BA |
2.90% |
23.92% |
41.60% |
$52.22 |
| Bank of America Corp. |
BAC |
5.82% |
11.85% |
17.60% |
$44.98 |
| Bunzi PLC |
BNL |
-4.05% |
1.21% |
7.20% |
$39.34 |
| Peabody Energy |
BTU |
-5.09% |
27.84% |
70.00% |
$53.32 |
| Anheuser-Busch Cos. |
BUD |
1.73% |
0.23% |
4.20% |
$52.80 |
| Belden CDT Inc. |
BWC |
2.98% |
-5.03% |
33.50% |
$20.03 |
| Brown Shoe Co. |
BWS |
-17.72% |
-30.08% |
-13.20% |
$26.52 |
| Commerce Bancshares |
CBSH |
3.69% |
-1.41% |
19.10% |
$48.33 |
| Charter Comm. |
CHTR |
3.24% |
-20.65% |
-29.10% |
$3.19 |
| Centene Corp. |
CNC |
1.38% |
41.16% |
41.20% |
$39.54 |
| CPI Corp. |
CPY |
-1.19% |
-34.39% |
-16.50% |
$13.26 |
| D&K Healthcare |
DKHR |
6.29% |
-21.46% |
-30.50% |
$10.65 |
| Amdocs Ltd. |
DOX |
-7.37% |
-10.59% |
-10.20% |
$20.10 |
| Engineered Support |
EASI |
-22.94% |
-21.52% |
10.60% |
$43.21 |
| Emerson Electric Co. |
EMR |
2.55% |
-3.86% |
14.50% |
$62.25 |
| Energizer |
ENR |
8.50% |
10.06% |
12.40% |
$41.34 |
| ESCO Technologies |
ESE |
22.22% |
47.42% |
36.80% |
$64.35 |
| Express Scripts Inc. |
ESRX |
-3.66% |
-4.86% |
-2.50% |
$63.20 |
| Furniture Brands Intl. |
FBN |
0.09% |
-21.58% |
-18.40% |
$23.00 |
| Insituform Technologies |
INSU |
-1.00% |
7.82% |
0.60% |
$17.79 |
| Jacobs Engineering |
JEC |
-2.18% |
-18.54% |
-16.50% |
$39.11 |
| KV Pharmaceutical |
KV/B |
-10.26% |
-35.89% |
-24.60% |
$16.61 |
| Kellwood Co. |
KWD |
-9.09% |
-10.98% |
1.70% |
$36.50 |
| Laclede Gas Co. |
LG |
7.25% |
1.09% |
10.30% |
$28.86 |
| May Department Co. |
MAY |
-7.61% |
-15.69% |
-7.60% |
$24.51 |
| Monsanto Corp. |
MON |
0.94% |
27.17% |
44.40% |
$36.60 |
| Maverick Tube Corp. |
MVK |
2.70% |
53.87% |
74.30% |
$29.62 |
| Panera Bread Co. |
PNRA |
-5.72% |
-11.99% |
-21.20% |
$34.78 |
| Pulitzer Publishing Co. |
PTZ |
5.30% |
-9.81% |
-3.70% |
$48.70 |
| Ralcorp Holdings Inc. |
RAH |
-0.11% |
16.17% |
28.20% |
$36.43 |
| Reinsurance Group |
RGA |
0.00% |
3.10% |
6.00% |
$39.85 |
| RehabCare Corp. |
RHB |
-4.01% |
8.14% |
45.50% |
$22.99 |
| SBC Communications |
SBC |
1.78% |
-1.07% |
21.00% |
$25.79 |
| Spartech Corp. |
SEH |
1.38% |
-1.66% |
15.80% |
$24.23 |
| Stifel Financial Corp. |
SF |
12.67% |
40.05% |
118.50% |
$27.31 |
| Sigma-Aldrich Corp. |
SIAL |
-0.26% |
0.19% |
5.90% |
$57.29 |
| Source Interlink Cos. |
SORC |
-5.48% |
-17.23% |
9.70% |
$8.79 |
| Smurfit-Stone Corp. |
SSCC |
-4.67% |
-4.47% |
12.40% |
$17.74 |
| TALX Corp. |
TALXE |
-3.89% |
-7.69% |
1.40% |
$21.26 |
| US Bancorp |
USB |
4.24% |
-0.94% |
27.30% |
$29.50 |
| MEMC Electronics |
WFR |
-11.99% |
-16.84% |
-38.40% |
$8.00 |
| Young Innovation Inc. |
YDNT |
11.16% |
-15.92% |
6.70% |
$30.27 |
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
