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FAST LANE - July 2001
Among the proposals in the city of Henderson’s 2001-2002 budget is a 15-percent rise in the cost of a business license. According to The Gleaner, the cost of the licenses hasn’t been changed in more than a dozen years. The measure is being taken in part to make up for shortfalls caused by last year’s abolition of the wheel tax. A hike in business fees is also being considered in Prospect, where the price would quadruple. In addition, the city wants to impose a $25 fee on any company that does business in the city – even if it doesn’t have a building or office there. And in Wilder, the fastest-growing municipality in Northern Kentucky, the recent downsizing of NS Group’s Newport Steel is the latest motivation behind city officials’ exploration of new business-related tax bases that extend beyond payroll taxes, which currently make up 54 percent of the city’s budget. Among measures being considered is a gross receipts tax. SOMERSET
“Without the help of EKPC, we would not have been able to establish PRIDE as a leader in environmental issues,” said Rogers. “Plus, East Kentucky Power works hard to be an environmentally friendly utility.” LOUISVILLE
Norton
and advertising partner Creative Alliance raked in honors
for their marketing efforts, garnering two gold awards
and one silver award from the Healthcare Marketing Report
for their magazine ad branding campaign, radio
advertising and imprinted materials. PIPPA
PASSES In a 5-4 ruling delivered on May 29, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Kentucky River Community Care and against the National Labor Relations Board in declaring that registered nurses in nursing homes are supervisors. According to the National Labor Relations Act, that precludes RNs from participating in collective bargaining. Federation of Nursing and Health Professionals president Sandra Feldman issued a statement saying the court “profoundly misunderstands” the working environment that nurses and others face. The case arose from union organizing efforts at the company’s residential psychiatric hospital in Pippa Passes. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati declared the RNs supervisors in 1999. The Supreme Court’s upholding of that decision means nurses with even a small measure of “supervisory discretion” or “independent judgment” outside of their direct professional obligation to patients may be ineligible to join nurses’ unions. In a survey of 700 RNs commissioned by the FNHP in March, 84 percent of respondents believe there is a shortage of nurses, with 45 percent calling that shortage “severe” in their area. At the same time, because of unsatisfactory working conditions among other factors, the study concludes that 21 percent of current nurses are at significant risk of leaving the profession within the next five years. A parallel survey of 207 former nurses revealed that nearly two-thirds currently work in some other profession, with 52 percent in professional or managerial positions. HAZARD DJ Inc./NYPRO Joint Ventures has opened a plastic injection molding plant that will eventually employ 75 people. DJ had already located a 77-employee facility in Hazard in 1997, as well as operating a plant in Louisville that employs 400. The firm merged with Nypro in 1997. The initial Hazard operation has enjoyed 42 percent growth in sales and 21 percent growth in employment over the past three years, and continues to maintain a steady pace in the market despite recently cutting its work week from seven to five days a week. “Once again, DJ/NYPRO has decided to locate one of its production operations in our Commonwealth, because they know from experience that Kentuckians are an exceptional workforce,” said Gov. Paul Patton at the grand opening ceremony. “This is also an excellent example of the diverse types of business and industry that Eastern Kentucky and the rest of our state must continue to attract if we are to remain competitive in the global economy.” PADUCAH
STATE R.R. Donnelley & Sons recently received state funds of $65,833 for upgrading the skills of 46 trainees, as well as final approval for adding 99,000-s.f. to its 550,000-s.f. facility, a move that will add around 100 employees and cost $10.5 million. The global commercial printing concern, with plants in Glasgow and Danville, has cut 250 more jobs overall, bringing the total to 1,700 so far this year. Three plants – in Houston, St. Petersburg and South Daytona – have already shut down. A fourth, in Des Moines, will close in 2002. The company, which says the job cuts will save it around $10 million, reported 2000 revenue of $5.76 billion, but projects a weak profit margin for the upcoming year. STATE
The Children’s Review Program was honored for multiple services to the Cabinet, KCTCS for its Ready to Work program, Louisville adolescent treatment facility Maryhurst for a quality care initiative and the UK Institute for its statewide targeted assessment project. Funded by $2 million from CFC and $150,000 from KCTCS, Ready to Work helps welfare recipients at community and technical colleges master the skills needed to succeed in school and on the job. Now in its third year, the program serves students at 26 of the 28 KCTCS colleges. From fall 1999 to fall 2000, those schools increased their enrollment of welfare recipients by 37 percent. Ready to Work recently won a Model Program Award from the American Association of Women in Community Colleges. “We know that we cannot do this work by ourselves,” Miller said. STATE Among the latest worker training grants from the Bluegrass State Skills Corporation were $104,658.75 for training 172 people at Cintas Corporation in Grayson, $100,000 to upgrade skills of five employees at Logan Aluminum, more than $73,000 for skills upgrade and train-the-trainer travel at Autoliv North America in Madisonville; more than $50,000 for 216 trainees at Clopay Plastic Products in Augusta and more than $44,000 to train 77 people at Illuminations.com in Shepherdsville. Five companies in Henderson – Alcan Ingot, Atlantis Plastics Injection Molding, Gamco Products, Scott Foam Technologies and Scott Lumber – received training funds totaling more than $81,000. A full 25 of the over 1,000 companies to expand in the state in 2000 were located in and around Henderson, including Pittsburg Tank & Tower Co., Tyson Foods and a significant number of firms in the plastics field. ASHLAND The Kentucky Labor Cabinet has continued its safety inspection of AK Steel’s coke plant despite the company’s lawsuit claiming that the issues the Cabinet is exploring have already been addressed. The investigation focuses on the byproducts and exhauster areas of the facility, where employee complaints have mentioned shoddy repairs, leaks and lack of proper fire alarms and protection. A similar inspection five years ago found several serious violations, many of which were characterized by the Cabinet as “willful-serious,” but the eventual fines were reduced from $316,000 to $62,250.
STATE In a move that rivals neighboring states’ forays into gambling, West Virginia’s legislature and governor have signed into law a bill to regulate and tax video poker machines. While they will now be legal for gambling, the machines will not be allowed in convenience or grocery stores. Meanwhile, on the Commonwealth’s western front, Indiana lawmakers and lobbyists reapplied the pressure this spring to pass legislation that, like laws in neighboring Illinois, will allow gaming boats to conduct gambling activity while dockside as well as while “cruising” unmoored in the Ohio River. Such a move would increase the flow of tax money from the state’s nine casinos, which would help Indiana meet an expected revenue shortage of $934 million by 2003. One of those casinos, the Argosy boat just south of Cincinnati in Lawrenceburg, has helped its parent company become a stock market darling of late. The company reported 25-percent growth in earnings-per-share for 2000, and the Ohio River boat – which Argosy controls since buying out another investor for $105 million in January – has delivered better profits than the company’s other four casinos combined. While not exclusive to Kentucky, a new media agreement will affect many Kentucky bettors as well. Internet wagering firm Youbet.com and horse racing channel TVG have formed a partnership that gives TVG access to Youbet’s technology and gives Youbet access to 26 new tracks. TVG will receive a share of wagering revenues and will have the right to buy up to 51 percent of Youbet’s stock, valued at just over $41 million. MARION B&G Poultry and Tyson Foods Inc. continue to be sued for public nuisance violations, but Crittenden District Judge RenČ Williams has ruled that the daily fine for violations shall be $500 per violation, not the millions of dollars per day that a city amendment the judge found unconstitutional would have required, based on a “per-bird, per day” tally. At issue in the continuing lawsuit is the notion that odor constitutes a public nuisance, and whether its occurrence is a repeating offense or one offense of long duration. B&G operates 16 broiler houses in Henderson County that serve the Tyson facility exclusively. Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson, the nation’s largest poultry producer, tried to back out of a deal to purchase meatpacking concern IBP. But a Delaware judge has ruled against the company in this instance, ordering Tyson to complete the $3.2-billion acquisition. Tyson had attempted to back out in March based on what it called lack of disclosure of questionable accounting practices at IBP subsidiary DFG. IBP said it was nothing more than buyer’s remorse. Judge Leo Strine Jr. ruled in favor of IBP June 15. While some say the merger is only the biggest of many to come in the meat processing industry, some federal elected officials are crying foul, and calling for new legislation to more closely monitor such consolidations. Meanwhile, the lawsuits aren’t over yet. A group of Tyson shareholders has sued Tyson for its attempted pull-out, citing that action’s deleterious effect on IBP stock prices between March and June. HENDERSON
Other corporate divisions include Hydro Aluminum Wells, Inc., a Baltimore-based operation that reorganized its six-plant network in April into two regional extrusion groups and a components and assemblies group. Company locations include Kalamazoo, Mich., Belton, S.C., Monett, Mo. and North Liberty, Ind. Many of those will be supplied with ingots from the Henderson site. Hydro Aluminum Extrusion is the world’s second largest extrusion manufacturer. LOUISVILLE The following four members of the Louisville Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners were nominated for national NAWBO Leadership Awards: Katherine Autin, president of The Jewelry Search; Judy Martin, president of Judy Martin’s Training by Design; Polly Moter, president of ProMoter Inc.; and Sharon Scheer, president of Sharon M. Scheer, CPA. According to a new release from the U.S. Census Bureau based on 1997 data, there are 5.4 million women-owned businesses in the nation, with annual sales of $819 billion. But the National Foundation of Women Business Owners said last year there were 9.1 million such businesses, so their officials dispute the official U.S. figure. The difference? The Census requires 51-percent ownership by women, while the NFWBO not only counts 50-50 partnerships, but also companies managed by women that have gone public or sold equity to investors. “The dispute is far from academic,” noted Business Week in May. “The federal government, for example, uses the stricter 51 percent standard when handing out affirmative-action status – one reason, advocacy groups say, that women’s businesses received just 2.5 percent of federal contracts in 1999.” In Kentucky, 65,965 businesses were owned by women in 1997, 23.4 percent of the 281,551 total firms in the state. LOUISVILLE
“For about $240 per employee, per year, we’re creating a tech-savvy workforce,” says Dr. Terry Stawar, LifeSpring’s CEO. “Our portal is part bulletin board and part online communication center. From this portal our employees can electronically view company news, calendars, HR information and even take online training classes.” “Computers and Internet access are no longer a luxury. They are required to effectively navigate through life,” adds eRoute CEO Greg Evans. “Dr. Stawar recognized that we’re at the forefront of the knowledge revolution, and that employees and their families deserve every advantage the digital age has to offer.” Other eRoute clients include Oxmoor Country Club and Centre College in Danville. Business Briefs ADAIRVILLE
BOWLING GREEN
CARROLLTON
COVINGTON
CYNTHIANA
HENDERSON
JOHNSON COUNTY
LEXINGTON
LONDON
LOUISVILLE
MAYFIELD
MOUNT STERLING
OLDHAM COUNTY
OWINGSVILLE
PADUCAH
PIKEVILLE
SHELBYVILLE
VERSAILLES
WINCHESTER
STATE
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U.S.
Congressman Hal Rogers, Kentucky Natural Resources
Environmental Protection Secretary James Bickford, and
EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman were all present
at this year’s Envi awards, sponsored by PRIDE
– Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment
– now a four-year-old cleanup program serving 40
counties in southern and eastern Kentucky. Besides the
awards given to various schools for their awareness and
activity programs, Carolyn Ingram, the solid waste
coordinator for Menifee County, was named Volunteer of
the Year, and the Winchester-based East Kentucky Power
Cooperative received the Rogers-Bickford Environmental
Leadership Award for its work in establishing PRIDE and
its own environmental protection and education programs.
Norton
Healthcare’s president and CEO Stephen A. Williams,
a native of Livingston County in western Kentucky, was
named chairman of the Region 3 policy board for the
American Hospital Association and is slated to serve a
three-year term. In that position he will represent
members from seven states on the group’s board of
trustees.
Computer Services
Inc. (CSI) reported record revenues and net income for
its fourth quarter and for the fiscal year ended in late
February. The company’s fourth quarter revenues rose
29.5 percent to $19 million, and fiscal year consolidated
revenues were up 20.7 percent to $64 million. Company
president and CEO Stephen A. Powless credited strong
sales of EFT and check imaging services, and the
contribution of newly acquired CSI West, formerly First
Commerce Technologies. “We plan to add check imaging
capabilities in Louisiana and Kansas City in the coming
year and to expand our Kansas City service center to
support the growth in new business in the Missouri and
Kansas markets,” he said.
The Kentucky
Cabinet for Families and Children gave Quality of Life
Awards to four organizations that Secretary Viola Miller
called key partners in its efforts to fully identify and
serve families’ needs. The Cabinet’s first
Secretary’s Quality of Life Awards went to the
Children’s Review Program, the Kentucky Community
and Technical College System (KCTCS), Maryhurst and the
University of Kentucky Institute on Women and Substance
Abuse. 
In March,
AK Steel reached an agreement extending through October
2004 with the Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and
Energy Workers International Union Local 5-0523,
representing around 300 plant workers. Elsewhere however
– notably in the company’s hometown of
Middletown, Ohio – AK Steel has run into accusations
of blackmail, as it has threatened to shut down the
Middletown operation entirely if environmental lawsuits
against the company are not resolved in its favor. In
April, the company posted its first quarterly net loss in
seven years, a distinct turnaround from first-quarter net
income of $26.5 million one year ago.
Hydro Aluminum
Metal Products North America, a division of Norsk Hydro
of Norway, opened its innovative new $33-million remelt
plant here in early May. Company leaders said the
location was optimum because of both rail and river
transport options for the facility’s product, which
they characterize as primary-quality aluminum made using
95 percent less power than an ordinary smelting
operation. The plant employs 49 people.
Through a payroll
deduction system similar to benefits like a 401k or
health insurance, Louisville-based eRoute Inc. is
offering its “Technology Benefit” product to
the more than 275 employees of LifeSpring Mental Health
Services at 20 locations throughout southern Indiana.
More than 60 percent of employees have already signed up
for the service, which provides each participant with a
home computer, Internet access, help desk support, online
training and a branded company portal for around $22 per
month.