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BUSINESS BRIEFS -
March '99 CALVERT CITY
- Calvert City is considering annexing property stretching from I-24 to Kentucky Dam
Village State Resort Park on U.S. 62. If approved, the annexation would allow for
development in the area, which has been burdened by the lack of a sewer system.
CAMPBELLSVILLE
- Dr. Anthony K. Grafton, Campbellsville University assistant professor of chemistry, has
been awarded a grant from the National Center for Supercomputer Applications at the
University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, for research involving computer modeling of
an enzyme known to be involved with the formation of prostate cancer and drugs that
inhibit its function.
COVINGTON
- Ashland, Inc. has authorized an increase in the number of shares that can be repurchased
under its stock buy-back program. Last August, the company authorized the repurchase of up
to four million shares of its stock in the open market. The company has since repurchased
a total of approximately 2.4 million, leaving 1.6 million available. The latest action by
Ashland's board increases the available amount to four million shares. The Covington-based
company has 74.6 million shares outstanding.
ELIZABETHTOWN
- Cooper Industries-Bussman Division, a supplier of fuses and fusible protection systems,
has announced that it will close its Elizabethtown plant at the end of the year. The
company has said it is no longer "economically practical" to operate the plant,
which employs 200 people.
GEORGETOWN
- Georgetown College has received two grants from the James Graham Brown Foundation in
Louisville totaling $400,000. The funds will be applied toward the renovation of the
former Cooke Memorial Library into faculty offices, classrooms and lab, and to broaden the
school's Brown Scholars Program.
HARRODSBURG
- The board of directors of Fort Harrod Drama Productions has made the decision to
discontinue production of Harrodsburg's long-running outdoor drama, The Legend of Daniel
Boone, for the 1999 season in order to raise funds and make much-needed repairs to the
Fort Harrod Amphitheater. The drama, which has been running for 34 years, draws thousands
of visitors to the area each summer. The board plans to revive the production next year.
HEBRON
- Frequent business travelers ranked the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
Airport as the best airport in North America and No. 2 in the world in a survey sponsored
by OAG Worldwide, a leading provider of travel information, products and services. The
survey was based on the responses of 50,000 international travelers, with criteria
including efficiency, ease of connections with other flights and ground transportation,
and airport staff.
- COMAIR Inc. is now using its 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets for upgraded service from
its hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to Akron/Canton, Ohio;
Huntsville/Decatur, Alabama; and Richmond/Williamsburg, Virginia.
- Vanguard Airlines will initiate non-stop service between Chicago's Midway Airport and
the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport beginning April 15.
Utilizing Boeing 737-200 aircraft, Vanguard will offer the four round-trip flights daily,
enabling passengers to make direct flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Kansas City, as
well as connecting service to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver and Pittsburgh. Fares will start at
$19 one-way, based on a round-trip purchase.
- DHL Airways, Inc. has expanded weekend operations at its Cincinnati hub, resulting in
the creation of approximately 100 new jobs. Combined with weekday operations, DHL now
employs a workforce of some 1,200 at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
Airport, which is the main North American hub for the air express network. The company
plans to break ground on a new hub facility this spring.
HENDERSON
- Accuride Corporation, North America's largest manufacturer and supplier of wheels for
heavy/medium trucks and trailers, has announced its intent to purchase Kaiser Aluminum
& Chemical Corporation's 50-percent share of AKW L.P. AKW is a 50-50 joint venture
between Kaiser and Accuride that was formed in 1997 to design, manufacture and sell
heavy-duty aluminum wheels. The proposed sale price has not been disclosed.
- The board of directors of the Green River Electric Corp. and Henderson-Union Electric
Cooperative have voted in favor of seeking a member-owner vote next month regarding the
consolidation of the two electric distributors. The issue, which must be agreed upon by
customers of both entities in separate votes, came up for vote two years ago but was
narrowly defeated at the Henderson-Union vote. Electric company officials say the
consolidation is needed to face the increasing competition resulting from deregulation of
the electric utility industry.
LEXINGTON
- Inacom Kentucky has been ranked in the top 10 percent of information technology
companies in the nation by Sm@rt Resellers magazine. The ranking was based on ratio of
engineers to sales representatives, Windows NT certifications, ratio of total revenue to
total employees, and the proactive introduction of multiple products and services. The
company recently completed a new 40,000-square-foot technology center in Lexington that
houses 50 employees.
- Software Information Systems, Inc. (SIS) has opened a new branch in Charleston, West
Virginia. The new office will function as a satellite branch for the Lexington-based firm,
which also has offices in London and Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati.
- The law firm of Brock, Brock & Bagby has become part of Woodward, Hobson &
Fulton, L.L.P. Woodward, Hobson & Fulton now has 45 attorneys in its Lexington and
Louisville offices.
- Gall's Inc., the Lexington-based supplier of public safety products, has acquired
DynaMed, a California manufacturer and distributor of patient transport and emergency
medical supplies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
- The University of Kentucky Research Foundation has received a patent for a "genetic
promoter" that triggers the operation of genes introduced tobacco plants. The patent
names professors R.J. Shepherd and Indu Maiti as the inventors of the genetic engineering
technology that researchers hope will increase the potential of tobacco to meet the needs
of biotechnology companies.
- L. M. Communications, Inc. has launched a new FM radio station that will primarily
feature pop, pop rock and alternative music. WCDA, located at 106.3, was formerly WJMM and
was purchased from Mortenson Broadcasting. L. M. Communications also operates WGKS FM
(96.6) and WLXG AM (1300) in Lexington.
- Atlanta-based Bull Run Corp., which owns one-third of Lexington's Host Communications
Inc.(HCI), has announced an agreement to acquire the remaining stock of HCI and its sister
company, Universal Sports America, Inc. (USA) for approximately $93 million. A previous
agreement to sell HCI to Texas venture capitalist Thomas O. Hicks recently fell through.
- The Lexington Home Builders Association records report 3,218 housing permits issued in
1998 in Fayette County, 1,067 more than were issued last year. The large increase was
primarily due a surge in multi-family construction, with 1130 multi-family permits issued
in '98 compared with 467 in '97.
- Mikrotec Internet Services Inc. has merged with East Kentucky Internet, resulting in a
combined network that serves 57 counties throughout Eastern and Central Kentucky. Though
each company is retaining its brand name and areas of operation, resources in areas such
as research and development will be combined.
LONDON
- The Bailey Company, which specializes in material handling equipment, has announced
plans to build a new forklift truck facility in the Vaughn Ridge Industrial Park to
accommodate its growth in the area. Specific details regarding the expansion were not
available.
LOUISVILLE
- Implementation of a $8.3 million computerized traffic system that controls nearly 600
intersections Louisville is nearly complete, some three and a half years after first being
put into operation. Traffic consultants predict that overall, the synchronization will
save 1.8 million gallons of gas per year and could decrease driving times by 1.7 million
hours annually.
- The john conti Coffee Company has acquired Best Coffee Service of Evansville, Indiana,
the largest coffee service company in the Evansville/Owensboro area.
- Caretenders Health Corp., which provides home and community-based healthcare services,
has announced a stockholder protection rights agreement designed to protect stockholder
interests by encouraging anyone seeking control of the company to negotiate with the board
of directors. The rights will be exercisable only if a person or group acquires beneficial
ownership of 20 percent or more of the company's common stock.
- Greater Louisville, Inc., the city's principal economic development agency, has
announced ambitious plans for job growth and business attraction. President Doug Cobb
reports that the group is aiming to double 1998 figures by creating 5,000 new jobs with an
annual payroll of $216 million. Cobb also labeled 1999 as "a pivotal year" for
plans to merge Louisville and Jefferson County.
- Enro Shirt Co., a division of The Apparel Group Inc., will close its Louisville factory
in May, idling 175 workers. The plant once employed 550. The Apparel Group will continue
to operate a distribution center in Jefferson County and its outlet stores in
Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Indiana.
- AAF International Inc. is selling its 22-acre site adjacent to the new Papa John's
Cardinal Stadium, valued at approximately $4.5 million, and is searching for property in
eastern Jefferson County for its headquarter operations. Formerly known as American Air
Filter, the company employs some 200 people at its Louisville headquarters but has moved
all manufacturing operations to other states.
- Collectively, Louisville's three largest television stations have been declared the best
in the country in a 20-city survey of 6 p.m. newscasts conducted by the Project for
Excellence in Journalism sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. WLKY-32 ranked first,
WHAS-11 ranked third and WAVE-3 was 10th of the 61 stations surveyed. The study was
announced in a recent issue of the Columbia Journalism Review.
- Fenley Real Estate Group has announced plans to construct a $22 million luxury hotel in
the Hurstbourne Green Office and Business Park in eastern Jefferson County. Fenley is also
building five office buildings in the park, totaling some 500,000 square feet of space.
Three have been completed and are 95 percent occupied; the remaining two are expected to
be ready for occupancy by the middle of this year.
OWENSBORO
- Owensboro/Daviess County is the largest of the four Kentucky communities to join a
partnership with Indiana to market the region as a whole to new industry. The MidAmerica
Alliance will represent Union, Henderson, Daviess and Hancock counties in Kentucky and
five counties in Indiana. Economic development officials point out that businesses in the
region are already intertwined, as in the case of the new Dana Corp. plant in Owensboro
that supplies frames for the Toyota plant in nearby Princeton, Indiana.
- Owensboro is hoping that a $3 million grant from the Kentucky General Assembly will be
the ticket to finally getting the Bluegrass Music Museum completed. Community tourism
officials are hoping that once the project is completed, Owensboro will be able to entice
the International Bluegrass Music Association back to the city. Saying that its events had
outgrown Owensboro's hotel capacity, IBMA moved its trade show, awards show and Fan Fest
to Louisville in 1997 after being in Owensboro for 10 years. Owensboro officials are
hoping IBMA will eventually split the Fan Fest - which attracts some 8,000 people - from
the rest of the events and bring it back to Owensboro.
OWENSBORO
- Owensboro has been selected to be the home of DBM Technologies, a new automotive
industry supplier that will manufacture plastic automotive parts for companies such as
Toyota and General Motors. The company was recently formed by Larry Crawford, a Michigan
entrepreneur, and LDM Technologies, a Michigan-based designer/manufacturer of automotive
trim that currently employs approximately 220 people in Owensboro. The formation of DBM
will add another 100 jobs to the local market.
- The Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center at the Owensboro Area Museum of Science
& History is expected to be complete by the end of this summer, say museum officials.
The center will include memorabilia from Ford's political career, a replica of his Senate
office, a rotunda and a 70-seat simulated Senate chamber that can be used for community
meetings and lectures. The center will also feature computers and television hook-ups to
Washington and Frankfort, as well as a voting booth where visitors can register opinions
on a variety of issues.
PADUCAH
- USEC Inc. is initiating the second phase of a workforce reduction at its Paducah uranium
enrichment plant. The voluntary reduction program will involve approximately 250 employees
between USEC's Paducah and Portsmouth, Ohio plants.
RICHMOND
- Hastings Entertainment, Inc., a Texas-based multimedia superstore retailer, will build a
22,468-square-foot store next to Richmond Mall. The store will be the second Kentucky
operation for Hastings, which currently operates a superstore in Louisville.
- A $1 million gift commitment from alumni Vernon Wilson will enable Eastern Kentucky
University to establish endowed chairs in human environmental science and natural and
mathematical sciences.
ROSINE
- Ohio County is considering using an $800,000 state grant from coal severance tax monies
to build a memorial park in tribute to Bill Monroe, the late bluegrass musician who was a
native of the county. Though no plans are definite, a committee is looking into the
feasibility of purchasing Monroe's boyhood home, securing memorabilia for a small museum,
and building an amphitheater in hopes of creating a tourism point for bluegrass music
fans.
SILVER GROVE
- Lafarge Corporation has announced plans to build a $90 million gypsum wallboard
manufacturing facility on 200 acres of vacant railyards in the Northern Kentucky community
of Silver Grove. The plant, which will be capable of producing 900 million square feet of
drywall per year, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year, employing
100 people.
WILDER
- The Cincinnati Riverhawks, a minor-league professional soccer team, has announced that
it plans to move its home field to Wilder's Town & Country soccer complex. The team
has been playing its games in Mason, Ohio, near Paramount's Kings Island. The Riverhawks
are a minor-league squad for the Columbus Crew of MLS (Major League Soccer).
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