The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 24

BUSINESS Sunday, June 9, 1991 Business Notes The Galveston Daily News welcomes items of business interest for this section. Current information about remodeling, expansion or relocation of an existing business; changes in top management personnel with photos; mergers, sales and annual meetings; retirement of top level employees; charitable donations in excess of $700; training and education of employees; recognitions earned by employees or the business; and announcements of new businesses, including commercial housing developments, are welcome. Please type or legibly print the information and send it to The News, P.O. Box 628, Galveston, 77553, by Thursday for publication in the following Sunday edition. Photos are welcome when accompanied by at least one page of text.

EZ Pawn Shop opens in Galveston GALVESTON EZ Pawn Shop, owned by Transamerica Pawn is now open at 6107 Stewart Road in Galveston. It is a full-service collateralized loan and retail merchandise store. You must be 18 years old or older and have a valid picture identification to make a pawn loan. EZ Pawn is open Monday through Saturday. IBM cleans up, donates to center HOUSTON When IBM employees cleaned their areas of surplus paper last month they had a neighbor in mind.

About 27 tons of paper were recycled during the IBM clean-up event, yielding a $1.448 donation to the Armand Bayou Nature Center. IBM added $1,000 to that amount. Area estate broker awarded honor CLEAR LAKE Real estate broker Colin Fox of Clear Lake recently was presented the certified international property specialist designation. The honor is conferred by the American chapter of the International Real Estate Federation. Mitchell unveils fitness program THE WOODLANDS Mitchell Energy Development Corp.

unveiled its comprehensive new employee-designed health and fitness program recently with a day-long health fair at The Woodlands Executive Conference Center and Resort. Also, Chairman and President George P. Mitchell announced the construction of an employee fitness center on the first floor of the company's headquarters. GEDC wins award for print ad NASHVILLE, Tenn. At the annual conference of the American Economic Development Council held in Nashville, June 2, the Galveston Economic Development Corp.

was recognized for its excellence in the production of a full-page color advertisement that currently appears in the trade press in the United States. The Best of Class award was presented to the GEDC. More than 900 cities in the United States and Canada participate annually in the sales literature and promotional materials awards competition. The GEDC ad was recognized for superior quality in its category. At a glance.

Convention Watch Conventions or groups coming to Galveston through June 30 as reported by the Galveston Convention and Visitor's Bureau. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Economic impact is calculatedas $135 per delegate, multiplied by the number of days the group is in town.) Chemical Council: Sunday-Wednesday, San Luis Hotel, $162,000 estimated economic impact. Texas Water Pollution Control Association: Wednesday-Friday, Moody Center, Hotel Galvez, $101,250 estimated economic impact. Actuaries Club of the Southwest: Wednesday-Saturday, San Luis, $81,000 estimated economic impact. Mechanical Contractors Association of Texas: Saturday-June 19, San Luis, $47,250 estimated economic impact.

Pediatric Review and Update: June 19-23, San Luis, $85,050 estimated economic impact. Mayors, Council members and Commissioners: June 20-24, Hope Arena, $729,000 estimated economic impact. Texas Association on Mental Retardation: June 23-29, Galvez, $135,000 estimated economic impact. Texas Corrections Association: June 30-July 3, Moody Center, Galvez, $330,750 estimated economic impact. Indicators Most recent national data for the week ending June 7 Unemployment 6.6% Trade deficit $4.05 billion Gross national product down 2.8% Producer prices up 0.2% Consumer price index down 0.02% Leading indicators up 1.1% Housing starts up New home sales up 1.0% Existing home sales up 0.6% Construction spending down 1.5% Factory orders up 1.8% Business inventories down 0.8% Industrial production up 0.1% Capacity utilization 78.3% Wholesale prices down 0.3% Ourabie goods up 2.9% Personal Income up 0.2% Personal spending up 0.6% Retail sales down 0.1% Productivity down 1.0% Money Rates Prime rate 5.53% Discount rate 5.5% Fed funds 5.75% T-bill3 (3-month) 5.59% Precious Metals (per ounce) Gold $367,00 Silver $4,51 courtfty of A.Q.

i Sent Inc. For mon Information, call 78S-9fg1. Pump check The average cash price per gallon for self service regular unleaded In Galveston. Prices are averaged from a survey of local gasoline retailers. I I I I As of May 31 $110.7 As of June 7 $111.6 Tellers on wheels Amarillo bank opens mobile branch in a double-decker bus Associated Press AMARILLO Amarillo residents look twice when they see the red double-decker bus roll by.

Kids demand rides. Some adults ask for hot dogs or snow cones. Those who ask for money, though, get served. The First National Bank of Amarillo has opened Texas' only fully staffed mobile branch, believed to be the world's only bank in a dou- ble-decker bus. "It's a functional bank as well as a moving landmark," said Don Powell, the bank's chief executive USA Today chief takes on another big role Associated Press WASHINGTON The new spokeswoman for the newspaper industry believes the biggest threat to the recession-battered business comes from papers that "continue to do things the way they have always done them." For Cathleen P.

Black, that's a sure prescription for failure. Black, the publisher of USA Today since 1984, is used to shaking things up. In her eight years with parent Gannett she helped move the mold-breaking USA Today out of the laboratory to become the largest general-interest newspaper in the country with a circulation of 1.8 million. She takes the helm of the American Newspaper Publishers Association at a time when the slow economy has brought two lingering industry problems to a head: Ad revenues are down and so is readership. Black promises to address these ills by breaking more molds.

"It has been a very successful industry and if you're running something very successful, there's not a real impetus for change," she said in describing why old habits die hard in the business. But change is less frightening to newspaper leaders these days. For one thing, papers like USA Today have proved it can be done. And officer. "Some people look at it and don't know what to make of it." "We had a guy come up and order a cheeseburger and fries the other day," said Margaret Ward, the branch's head teller.

"They will catch on eventually." The 13-foot-tall bus, nicknamed Bob the Bankwagon, takes three tellers and an armed guard on a daily tour of company parking lots, retirement homes, parks and other public gathering spots in Amarillo. Customers walk or drive up to conduct business with the tellers or the automatic teller machine. "We can cash checks, conduct deposits, withdrawals, everything that we do at a branch bank," said Millie Bingham, vice president in charge of marketing for First National. Joseph Burbridge, a national bank examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Dallas, helped approve First National's application for a mobile branch bank. "You wouldn't expect to find a double-decker bus in the bank business.

We handle all types of applications, but I have never seen anything like this," Burbridge said. First National and a bank in Tennessee are the only two banks in the country with staffed mobile branches, he said. First National bought the bus in 1965 for $30,000 from an import dealership in Virginia to use for promotions or chauffeuring important visitors to the Panhandle city. But in 1987, the engine went kaput, just as the Texas economy was doing the same. Unable to justify the cost of a new engine, bank officials put the bus in storage.

With business better, First Na- S4M BANKWAQON, 12-8 Cathleen P. Black and her son, Duffy, work in her office in Arlington, in May. She is leaving her job as publisher of USA Today to head the American Newspaper Publishers Association. circumstances have made it imperative. The recession has depressed retail and classified ad revenue, and circulation has encountered increasing competition for readers' time from radio, television, cable and magazines.

The ad slump has been labeled the worst in 20 years in a recent survey of publishers, general managers and ad executives by Alex Brown Sons, the Baltimore securities firm. A study last summer by the management consultants, Booz, Allen Hamilton concluded that newspapers should consolidate their marketing efforts and pick a strong chief executive to speak for the whole industry. Toward that end, the ANPA, a trade group representing 1,400 papers in the United States and Canada, tapped Black at its annual convention in Vancouver, British Columbia, last month. The theme of the meeting was how to "reinvent" the newspaper. She makes her debut in the job at the industry trade show in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The group also has launched a $500,000 advertising campaign to raise the profile of newspapers with potential advertisers and readers. "I think that newspapers have not marketed themselves very aggressively or very cohesively to national advertisers," she said in a recent interview sandwiched between goodbye parties, business calls and packing up her office at Gannett's Arlington, headquarters. Beyond circulation and reader- SM BLACK, 12-6 Oldest Dr Pepper plant turns 100 Associated Press DUBLIN The world's oldest Dr Pepper bottling company celebrated its 100th anniversary Friday with the fizz and pop expected of a one-of-a kind facility. The Dublin plant is the only one still using pure cane sugar to bottle Dr Pepper, general manager Bill Kloster said. Kloster has been singing the soft drink's praises for 58 years and has been drinking bottles of Dr Pepper even longer.

He says the sugar-sweetened drink, once advertised as "good for life," hasn't done him any harm. He turned 73 Friday. When other bottlers opted to cut costs by switching to corn syrup 20 years ago, Kloster didn't budge. "I think the sugar tastes much better," he told the Abilene Reporter-News. "If you notice with a canned drink, the heat from your hand heats the drink.

Two-thirds of the way down, a corn syrup drink you notice it's not a bitter taste, I don't know how to describe it it's a Hat taste." There was also nothing bland about the activities planned Friday at the plant located about 100 miles southwest of Dallas. Tours and a look at Kloster's huge collection of Dr Pepper memorabilia were planned for Dr Pepper drinkers. "Dublin Dr Pepper is an extraordinary operation because it works about the same way it did a century ago," John R. Albers, Dr Pepper chairman and chief executive officer, said. S.H.

Prim founded the Dubiin plant in 1891. The bottling company is now owned by Prim's daughter, Grace Lyon. Workers at the faculty also bottle Big Red, Sun Crest Orange, Nu Grape and Diet Dr Pepper. Kloster began his career as a bottle sorter. "I've worked here since I was 14 in 1933, except for 22 months Uncle Sam had me borrowed in World War II," Kloster said.

His wife, lona, worked at the plant until eight months ago. His grandson, Mark Kloster, now manages the facility. Mark Kloster's wife, Diane, also works in the office. That family touch distinguishes the Dublin faculty from the giant bottling plants now common, Albers said. "It's refreshing and comforting to see that an operation like Dublin carries on the same traditions laid down by its founder," Albers said.

Dr Pepper was concocted in 1885 by Wade Morrison. He named it after a Virginia drug store owner, Dr. Charles T. Pepper, whose daughter Morrison had fallen in love with 14 years earlier. But Dr.

Pepper discouraged the romance, and Morrison moved on to Waco where he opened a store of his own. Kloster started his career with Dr Pepper as bottle sorter. "I've worked here since I was 14 in 1933, except for 22 months Uncle Sam had me borrowed in World War II," Kloster said. "I would like to stick around for the next centennial. And maybe still see the folks enjoying Dr Pepper made in this place," he said.

TAX MATTERS Young workers, employers eligible for tax breaks If you have children who are considering summer employment, or you are a business owner who is contemplating hiring a teen-ager for a summer position, there are a few special tax rules and breaks that apply to both the employer and the student seeking that summer job. Disadvantage job credit: If you employ teen-agers from economically deprived backgrounds, you could be eligible tor a credit of up to 40 percent of the first $3,000 in wages paid to each individual. This credit covers teen-agers between the ages of 16-18, who are hired between May 1 and Sept. 15. The Texas Employment Commission must certify that the teen is from a disadvantaged background before you hire him for you to receive the tax credit.

This credit also is available for some co-op and vocational education students and for welfare recipients. Income tax withholding exemptions: If you are a student who has a summer job, you may be able to avoid having income tax with- Ed Walsh held on your paycheck. To qualify for this special break, you must meet certain tests. If you had no income tax liability for the 1990 tax year and expect to owe no taxes for the current year, you probably qualify for an exemption to the withholding requirements. To apply for this exemption, file a current W-4 form with your employer and write "exempt" in box 6 of the 1991 W-4 form.

Social Security tax exemption: If you own a business as a sole proprietorship, you are allowed to employ your children and not be required to pay Social Security tax on them. This exemption applies to all children under the age of 18 who work in the family business. Taxable loan guarantees: The Internal Revenue Service, through a recent letter ruling, has stated that a parent's guarantee of a child's business loan created a taxable gift when the guarantee was made. The IRS states that since a loan guarantee has a definite economic value the child could not have received the loan the guarantee it qualifies as a transfer of economic property. For most individuals, the value of this guarantee will fall under the $10,000 per year gift exclusion, but anyone who acts as a guarantor for his children's loans should be aware of its effects.

One way around this new ruling would be for the parent to borrow the money and then lend it to the child. Ed Walsh is a certified public accountant in Galveston..