Arizona Republic du lieu suivant : Phoenix, Arizona • Page 85

E2 The Arizona Republic Friday, December 18, 1998 BUSINESS BROWSER Cm kLs Technology Safeway has unveiled a device designed to help British customers do the weekly grocery shopping without having to traipse around supermarket aisles. The food retailer, aided by IBM, is testing palm-top computers that will hold lists of customers' past purchases, from which they can choose their weekly groceries. Experience opens venture capital doors Earnings Nike Inc. on Thursday blamed a $72.2 million second-quarter loss on sagging domestic sales, saying the NBA lockout had removed one of its biggest promotional tools. Earnings fell 51 percent to $68.9 million, or 24 cents per diluted share, compared with $141.1 million and 48 cents per diluted share last year.

U.S. revenue fell 15 percent to $665.9 million from $787.6 million. The corporate parent of Federal Express Corp. reported higher than expected second-quarter earnings Thursday. FDX Corp.

earned $1.23 per diluted share for the quarter that ended Nov. 30. In last year's second quarter, the company earned $1 per share. FDX reported total quarterly revenues of $4.2 billion, up 7 percent from $3.9 billion last year, and total earnings of $183 million, up 22 percent from $150 million. International Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

This year, Arizona companies have raised $121 million. "Arizona trails behind what may be reasonably expected especially given that the gross state product is increasing at a robust 9 percent per year and that the state's capital has become the nation's sixth largest city," the study said. Colorado pulled in three times as much venture capital as Arizona even though the two have about equal state products, the study said. To improve, Arizona needs a big local success story, an entrepreneur who makes millions overnight and becomes a role model for others. Stronger engineering, science and entrepreneurial programs at Arizona universities also are important, experts say.

And Arizona needs more locally based venture capital firms, bankers and lawyers who are familiar with the unique needs of emerging companies. That shouldn't take long to happen, Wallis said. "We're seeing that occur literally as we speak." Rebecca Rolwing can be reached at 444-8305 or rebecca.rolwingpni.com via e-mail. EXPERIENCE, fivm Page El company and a neat deal. It will happen, I'm very confident of that," he said.

Chandler-based FMS, an offshoot of Leading Edge, uses global positioning satellites to track the location and status of vehicles. The information is sent to a company's computer system so companies can maximize use of their fleet. For young technology companies like FMS and others, venture capital and other risk capital is the life-blood of an organization without it nothing can happen. An article in the Nov. 9 edition of Newsweek magazine looked at cities striving to be the next Silicon Valley.

The article ranked access to venture capital as the fourth most important factor in making a successful tech-based city, just after having high-tech talent. Phoenix, where business owners regularly gripe about the difficulty of getting venture capital, didn't even make the list. Those that did were Seattle, Austin, Salt Lake City, D.C., Boise, Idaho, and Boston. Investors typically evaluate four aspects of a business when looking where to place their cash: the product, its market, the management and financial attributes of the deal. "It's a universal truism that among those four factors the single most important is management experience," said Steve Wallis of Phoenix-based Imperial Bank.

Still, being a second-generation entrepreneur isn't essential. "It's a great experience to have but you can't by any means say it's a requirement," said Steve Jurvet-son, a venture capitalist based in Redwood City, Calif. Chad Little of Phoenix asked for cash at this year's Arizona Venture Capital Conference for his emerging company Mygeek.com. The business will offer a comparative shopping service for online consumers in the spring. He also went through conference in 1995 when he sought money for Sandbox Entertainment Corp.

That company, which Little headed until he left three weeks ago, offers games like Fantasy Football on the Internet and has 900,000 users. It's easier the second time. "You're no longer a newbie at it. Going in there with a little experience under our belts certainly helps," Little said. Chris Augur recently left the helm of a major public company to become an entrepreneur.

Until June, Augur was president of SpeedFam International a Chandler company that makes polishing equipment for the semiconductor industry with annual sales of $185 million in fiscal 1998. Now, he's heading Tucson-based Netshape, a company that will commercialize a technology that Stanford University spent the past six years developing. Using a patented process, the company plugs a 3D computer-aided design in to a machine that can crank out a solid part in a single day. Although Augur wasn't even around when SpeedFam was founded in 1959, he did take the company public in 1995, giving him an impressive track record that investors seek. The surge in seasoned leadership shows that Arizona is slowly building a critical mass of start-up businesses.

However, it's not unique. "You see that all the time in Boulder and Austin," warns Bob Calcaterra, who headed Arizona Technology Incubator and is leaving for a similar position in St. Louis. And the state pulls in far less than its share of venture capital, according to a study by the Zermatt Group and its advisory partner, Dr. Ian MacMillan, director of the Snider Entrepreneurial Center at the The first Buick produced by General Motors $1.52 billion joint venture, with China''s most profitable automaker rolled off the assembly line Thursday.

GM expects the new assembly plant to provide: it a niche in a market that has been long on potential but short on profits for foreign automakers. Japanese companies slashed winter bonuses for the first time in five years. The average bonus was cut 1.6 percent from last winter, the Japan Federation of Employer's Associations said in a 1 i to Michael ZielenzigerKnight Ridder Newspapers The first Buick rolled off the assembly line of General Motors' plant in Shanghai, China, on Thursday. MOVE survey this week. The surveyed showed that the average bonus was nearly $7,200, down from just over $7,300 last year.

Young entrepreneurs succeed without college Marketplace A coalition of consumer groups today released a survey indicating that US West consumers receive generally poor local phone service. The 41-page report says that hundreds if not thousands of new customers are forced to wait more than 30 days before US West is able to provide them with basic telephone service, and customers sometimes go days without a dial tone while waiting for repair service. The Nasdaq Stock Market and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong agreed Thursday on the first steps of what could be a broader alliance between them. Nasdaq and the Hong Kong exchange will conduct a pilot project in which as many as 30 companies that now list on one of the markets will list on both. The pilot program is due to begin around mid-1999.

Workplace privately owned Computerprofis for about $6 million in cash and about $2.4 million in Insight stock with a bonus based on future profitability. Insight sells computers and accessories over the phone and the Internet. Founded in 1993, Computerprofis is considered among Germany's five largest direct marketers of computer products. Its sales over the past year were about $50 million. Insight President Tim Crown called the acquisition an "important addition" to the company's European growth plan for the Insight brand.

Chandler firm bought AlliedSignal Specialty Chemicals business is buying Southwest Microelectronic Materials Inc. of Chandler, which makes chemicals for the semiconductor industry. Terms of the not disclosed. The 17 people who work for. Southwest Microelectronic Materials will become part of Specialty Chemicals' Electronic Chemicals Group.

The acquisition is part of a larger strategy to quickly grow Allied-Signal's electronic chemicals business, said Norbert Dieterich, vice president and general manager, chemical specialties. Rebecca Rolwing can be reached at 444-8305 or rebecca.rolwingpni.com via e-mail. Toyota Motor Corp. will build an $80 million parts distribution center in Kentucky, not far from offices that oversee its North American manufacturing operations. It's expected to employ between 350 and 400 people when it opens in three years.

MergersAcquisitions DaimlerChrysler is considering taking a stake in Japan's debt-laden Nissan Motor Co. and not in its truck-making subsidiary as originally contemplated, a German news magazine reported Thursday. Hershey Foods Corp. said it will sell its U.S. pasta business to New World Pasta LLC for $450 million in cash.

Hershey's pasta business includes eight brands, including Ronzoni and San Giorgio, and six manufacturing plants. The chocolate maker had said last month that it would sell the division as part of its plan to focus on its main businesses. Health-care products giant Johnson Johnson has agreed to acquire the skin care business of S.C. Johnson Son Inc. Terms were not disclosed.

T1IE Sequencia Corp. has hired Gregory Turner as vice president of sales. Turner has more than 25 years of sales and process manufacturing experience. Heideman Associates Inc. has hired Mark Jones as an electrical designer.

He had been with Dale E. Walker an engineering Imperial Litho Dryography has named Kevin Bannon vice president of sales. Bannon has been with Imperial for 14 years. Lock Collins has been hired as vice president, human resources, at the Winona Group. He had been with Emerson Electric in Austin and in London.

The Arizona Science Center has hired Arnita "Chevy" Humphrey as development director. She had been director of development for the Phoenix Symphony since 1995. Corporate Apparel has named Ryan S. Flook vice president of sales. Flook had been national sales manager, golf division, at Antigua Sportswear.

Paper Warehouse Inc. has hired Steven R. Anderson as vice president and chief information officer. He had been senior vice president and chief information officer for County Seat. The Better Business Bureau has hired Julie Watson as public relations director.

Watson had been vice president of membership at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and di- community," she said. "We want to provide that." Bigg had been director of the department's International Trade and Investment Division since 1992, an era in which Arizona exports boomed to $13 billion from $3 billion a year. She announced her resignation plans two weeks ago, saying it was time for a change. On Thursday, she said the new job will offer fresh challenges and the opportunity to work with departments that have strong leaders. "I have spent the last two weeks questioning my decision, and I realized I was giving up a nice situation," she said.

By the numbers The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 6.69 percent this week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said. That keeps the rate its lowest level since the week Department shuffles YOUNG, fivm Page El companies are expected to get funded, creating a total investment around $8 million for the first year, Augur said. Gathering the angels was "surprisingly straightforward," Augur said. Phoenix has many affluent semi-retired executives with money to invest, but until now there was no place for them to find companies to invest in. Information: Legacy Capital Partners, 951-0214.

Young entrepreneurs Maybe all those kids hitting the books out at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale don't need to be studying after all. Forbes magazine took a look at young entrepreneurs who got ahead without going to college. The cover story in the Dec. 28 edition mentions Chris Morrison, who bailed out of Chaparral. -After leaving school, Morrison went on to co-found PLP Digital Systems.

The Scottsdale-based company makes printing systems and management software for architects and engineers. Morrison makes more than $500,000 a year, the magazine says. Insight acquisition Insight Enterprises Inc. is buying Computerprofis Computersystems of Germany. The deal calls for Insight to buy Commerce By Jane Larson The Arizona Republic The Arizona Commerce Department shuffled its lineup Thursday, with Dorothy Bigg dropping plans to resign and instead being promoted to deputy director of the department.

Carol Sanger, who had held the No. 2 post since March, will become director of finance and administration. She replaces Diane McKemy, who is leaving the department. Sanger also will do strategic planning for the department, department director Jackie Vieh said, Jack Haenichen, who had planned Credit union Associated Press WASHINGTON New federal rules allowing more people to join credit unions drew praise from the credit union industry and a consumer group and condemnation from banks. The rules adopted Thursday by the National Credit Union Administration, a federal agency, codify a bill enacted last summer.

The legislation overrode a Supreme Court ruling by allowing federally chartered credit unions to continue to include more than one occupational group in their memberships as long as each group doesn't exceed 3,000 people. The new rules.take effect Jan. 4. Dan Mica, president and chief executive officer of the trade group Gregory Turner Mark Jones rector of special events for the Reno-Sparks (Nev.) Chamber of Commerce. Larry Spencer has joined the bureau as director of membership.

He owned an advertising business for 10 years. John F. Scott has been named vice president and general manager of the Arizona California Railroad. Scott joins ARZC from Wisconsin Central, where he had been superintendent of the railroad's Chicago terminal at Schiller Park, 111., since 1995. Rental Service Corp.

has hired Wallace Buchholt as director of strategic accounts and Edward Spence as director of corporate fleet sales. Buchholt has 15 years of experience with Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. and Hertz Car Leasing. Spence has 20 years of experience in equipment rental operations and project management. International Flora Technologies has named Larry L.

Lybarger Sr. warehouse manager. Lybarger has been with Floratech since 1996 as shippingreceiving coordinator. top aides Bigg said decisions have yet to be made on what divisions will report to her and on who will fill her international trade position. Commerce is one of the state's midsize agencies, with 150 employees and a $13 million annual budget.

Besides the national marketing and international trade and investment divisions, it has a Small Business Assistance Center, the state Film Commission and offices for community assistance, energy development, housing and workforce development. Jane Larson can be reached at 444-8280 or jane.larsonpni.com via e-mail. the commission. The others: Creating an area code overlay that would assign 480 to all new phones and require 10-digit dialing throughout the Valley. Allowing Phoenix to retain the 602 area code and assigning 480 to all outlying communities.

Allowing Phoenix to Thun-derbird Road to retain 602 and assigning 480 to north Phoenix and the rest of the Valley. The session on the new area codes begins at 9 a.m. at the commission office at 1200 W. Washington St. in Phoenix.

Max arm an can be reached at 444-7351, or at max.jarmanpni.com via that ended Oct. 9, when it was 6.49 percent The average rate on an adjustable mortgage rose to 5.55 percent this week from 5.53 percent the previous, week; and the 15-year mortgage rate rose to 6.35 percent from 6.34 percent. A big jump in sales of soybeans, wheat and other farm products helped offset a rise in U.S. purchases of foreign cars and oil. The Commerce Department said Thursday that the October deficit fell 1.2 percent to $14.2 billion, but the overall deficit is still running at a record annual rate of $167 billion.

U.S. TRADE DEFICIT U.S. exports minus imports, seasonally adjusted. (billions) $10 $15 $14.2 billion $20 ONDJ FMAMJ JASO "97 '98 Source: Commerce Department The Arizona Republic Trials errors Panel votes today on area codes Texas Attorney General Dan Morales has sued six HMOs, accusing them of illegally offering financial incentives that encourage physicians to limit medical care to patients. Morales asked the court to fine the HMOs and prevent them from continuing the practice.

Officials at the six health plans denied the charges. fl The Learning the world's second-largest educational and entertainment software company after Microsoft, was sued by shareholders who say a $3.8 billion stock-swap acquisition by Mattel Inc. would not give them enough for their shares. Mattel said Monday that it would buy Learning for $33 a share in stock. to retire, also will remain as assistant deputy director of national marketing.

The moves are not radical changes, and because Bigg and Haenichen are so experienced, the change should create more cer Dorothy Bigg tainty for Arizona businesses, Vieh said. "It sends the message out that stability and consistency are important here and to the business rules OK'd Credit Union National Association, said their adoption will allow millions of people including employees of small businesses to join lower-cost credit unions. "This is a great Christmas present for consumers," Mica said. The American Bankers Association, the industry's biggest lobbying group, maintained that the rules went beyond the bill's intent. If the federal credit-union agency "persists in its creative interpretation of the law, it could find itself right back where all this started in court," said Beth Climo, director of financial industry affairs for the banking group.

Credit unions compete with banks by offering loans and other services at more favorable rates. The last word PANEL, fivm Page El number. "This plan of all of them makes the most sense, based on what's been offered and the comments we've had," Irvin said. "It preserves seven-digit dialing, introduces 10-digit dialing and extends the life of the 602 area code." If approved by the commission, the three-area code plan would be initiated in February, but strict enforcement would be delayed until June 1. There would be no charge for calling between the three codes, but calls to the 520 area code would be toll calls.

The three-way split will be among four options considered by This is going to be fought tooth and nail. John Tysse senior vice president for lpa, a large-employer group, on draft plans by the occupational safety and health administration to require companies to create safety and health programs, partly run by employees, identifying and eliminating workplace hazards. Compiled from Republic news services..