Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 49

INDEX RULING FAVORS SURVIVORS The state Supreme Court ruled that the widow of a suicide victim might have a workers' compensation claim. Turn to Bl Manufacturing 3M buys out Joint venture D3 Executive! only .02 Stocks 04,06 Business Briefing 03 Mutual funds 07 www.startribune.combuslness Friday, October IS, 1999 Section EROADCASTING THE WORKPLACE IMKETS DcwfaMiak 1 CLOSE: 10.28661 r- up 5446 NefRadlo gets Minnesota regains 'hard-working' title NASDAQ CLOSE: 2306.84 up 557 VOLUME: 1J02 billion poos' reception Stock ends first day down $1 NYSE CLOSE: 59133 down 0.76 VOLUME: 8923 mi CLOSE 1,283.42 down 213 NetRadio Corp. Business: Broadcasts music and news over the Internet Sells banner advertising on its Web site, httpwww. netradio.com, and audio advertising on its 120 broadcast channels. Also sells music CDs and related items.

Headquarters: Minneapolis CEO: Edward Tomechko 1998 revenue: $255,000 1998 loss: $3.9 million Stock: NETR (Nasdaq), came public Wednesday at $1L In first day of trading Thursday, fell $1 to close at $10. tall 2800 CLOSE 41931 down 001 of research in the statistics branch of the Minnesota Department of Economic Security. "Historically, we have been in the lead, especially with the women's work force participation rate," he said. The forces behind the numbers areclear, Mousa said: "More and more people are entering and re-entering the job market, attracted by plenty of opportunities and good wages that employers are willing to pay in this environment." In 1997, Minnesota had slipped to number two in worker participation, behind Wisconsin. Last year, however, Minnesota pulled into the lead among the 50 states both in the overall share of residents in the work force and the share of women in a job or in search of one.

Staff report Minnesota again can claim bragging rights to the title, "Hardest Working State in the Nation." Three of every four Minneso-tans over the age of 16 were on the job or actively looking for work last year, compared with a national labor force participation rate of about 67 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women entering the labor force in Minnesota propelled the overall trend. Seventy percent of all adult females in the state had joined the labor force as of last year, sharply higher than the national work force average of 60 percent. "It's a continuation of good news," said Jay Mousa, director Bloomberg-Star Tribune 100 CLOSE 10023 up 026 week high of $27.

Navarre owns 48 percent of NetRadio's stock after the offering and supplies the company with CDs for its music sales. Navarre's CEO, Eric Paulson, is chairman of NetRadio.com's board. Investors had expected Navarre's stock to soar in tandem with NetRadio's IPO. On Monday, the stock soared to $15.50 as 5 million shares nine times the average daily volume traded hands in anticipation of the NetRadio.com offering. Investor frustration was evident on the Navarre message board on Yahoo, where 522 messages were posted between 8 a.m.

and 5 p.m. Thursday. NETRADIO continues on 02: Merely a case of bad timing? By Eric Wieffering Star Tribune Staff Writer Shares of NetRadio Corp. encountered static on their first day of trading, as investors expressed lukewarm interest in the Minneapolis-based broadcaster of Internet music programming. NetRadio shares faded to $10 from the initial offering price of $11, despite the fact that the company and its investment bankers reduced the size of the initial public offering to 3.2 million shares from an anticipated 4 million.

It was a bad day, too, for investors in NetRadio's largest shareholder, Navarre Corp. Shares in the New Hope-based music distributor fell $2. 12te, or 20.6 percent, to close at well off its 52- Gold CLOSE 32100 down 0.75 Handy iHarman oa CLOSE 22.48 down 060 West Texas nude fey rates 310. TBI 500 5.44 632 Prknerate MERGERS AIID ACQUISITIONS fm'0, jmm. fTitk on a if DCsQcmLJ iyjLAJUClJlj rs VV 1 "''''7 v.u iii UttW Again speculating that the bank and the life insurer are discussing the possibility of merging, financial analysts say that such a deal would be a logical move for both companies.

mWW1 (BSftiS' 'MHtf' llll I 'till iiiitt 111 minimi i i i i i 1 1 fffffffffiiiiiiiitii iinimmi At left Pedestrians wait in front of the Norwest Center In downtown Minneapolis. Wells Fargo formerly Norwest could benefit from a rumored merger with Minneapolis-based RellaStar Financial Corp, by selling banking services to ReliaStar's Insurance customers. FYI Lobster market is boiling The market for New England lobsters is boiling. Wholesalers are expecting huge demand for the delicacy at millennium celebration dinners in December, and fishermen got con-sistendy higher prices at the docks this summer despite a large catch. The market for live lobster "is like the stock market," with buyers speculatively bidding up prices in anticipation of huge demand for year-end parties, said Ed Hook, one of the owners of lames Hook a longtime lobster wholesaler and retailer in Boston.

Many in the lobster industry, with its history of booms and busts, are nervous the bubble may burst because of overfishing or because market prices may collapse after the New Year parties are over. "The millennium is definitely affecting the market," one lobster trader said. "But as a broker friend of mine said, it's still only one meal." Wholesalers, who buy direct from lob-stermen or fishermen's co-ops, report the rate of catch is similar to last year's near-record of 36,000 metric tons. Dow Jones Grow Biz to sell games chain Profits drained by It's About Games By Janet Moore Star Tribune Staff Writer In an effort to stem mounting losses, Golden Valley-based Grow Biz International Inc. said Thursday it will close or sell the It's About Games chain and take a $11.6 million charge in the third quarter.

"This is a big move for us, a tough decision," said Grow Biz Chairman and CEO K. Jeffrey Dahlberg. "But it really allows us to turn around the prospects for the rest of the company. We had to bite the bullet and get this behind us." In addition to It's About Games, which sells used and new computer games, Golden Valley-based Grow Biz is the parent of six other concepts with 1,216 stores, including Play It Again Sports, Once Upon a Child, Computer Renaissance, Music Go Round, Retool and Plato's Closet Excluding It's About Games, which has four stores in the Twin Cities, the company would be profitable, Dahlberg said. Sixty of the 64 It's About Games stores are company-owned.

On Thursday, the company reported a net loss of $7.4 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 25, compared with a profit of $1.5 million the same period last year. Sales in the quarter dipped to $16.7 million from $22.5 million last year. GROW BIZ continues on 08: $1.8 million in additional costs expected in fourth quarter. For sale in entirety or in pieces.

li 1 SlfrcunetSe pnoto At right a RellaStar Financial Corp. bunding, just a few blocks from Norwest Center in downtown Minneapolis. Star Tribune file photo by Stormi Greener Wells Fargo-ReliaStar rumors persist on the possibility. Officials at Wells declined to comment. ReliaStar spokeswoman Ruth Weber Kelly called it "the same speculation covered by the media through the course of 1999." Kelly, added, though, that there is another reason for the talk.

A conference committee compromise on a financial-modernization bill in Congress is due out this week. RELIASTAR continues on 08: Legislation has rumors flying. surance companies and banks as coming together in some fashion or another in the long term." The appeal of such a union would lie in the opportunity to access the two businesses' customer bases and increase their marketing abilities, he said. "That is an opportunity. The peril is whether the execution of that bears out the optimism of the vision." What sparked the latest talk about a Wells-ReliaStar union was an article in this week's Barron's magazine that speculated is they Wells are embracing this supermarket approach and maximizing their share of wallet for each customer," said Tom Theurkauf, a bank analyst at Keefe Bruyette Woods.

"That means selling them more and more products, and that goes beyond their usual bank bag of tricks. It means selling annuities and brokerage products. "Directionally, it makes sense." Prudential Securities analyst John Hall agreed. "My sense in talking to the management of ReliaStar is that they view in By Dee DePass Sfar Tribune Staff Writer If it ever happens, the merger of Wells Fargo and ReliaStar could be the most anti-climactic deal in Twin Cities history. Continuing an on-again, off-again theme that began early this year, analysts are once again speculating on the possibility of a deal between the nation's seventh-largest bank and the eighth-largest publicly held life insurer.

"The reason I would not rule out some kind of combination COSMHTS Minnesota firms feeling better after 'Asian flu' For comments about this section, call Assistant Managing EditorBusiness Scott Gillespie at 612-673-4516 or e-mail scottg startribune.com. For questions about stock listings, call 612-673-7926 or e-mail pkennedystartribune For inquiries or complaints about individual stories, call our reader's representative at 612-673-4450 or e-mail readerrep gw.startribune.com. tion equipment. "Absolutely we'll be there as the economy comes back. Asia is not a strong market for us yet.

We expect about the same performance in 1999." Minnesota exports to Japan, the state's No. 2 foreign importer of goods behind Canada, dropped 28 percent last year to $742.9 million, according to the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development ST. ANTHONY continues on 02: State firms slighted by list. Hong Kong and southern China recover slowly, Minnesota exporters have licked their wounds. Most Minnesota companies, outside of giants such as 3M Co.

and Medtronic, have little exposure to Asia. Still, many of them believe they need more Asian business because of its huge population and potential. "Last year, we did about one-half of the business we expected to do in Asia in 1998," said a spokeswoman for Bloomington-based Toro, maker of lawn mowers and turf-care and irriga The "Asian flu" of 1997-98 caused fevers at Minnesota firms such as Graco, Toro, Land O'Lakes and others over canceled orders, delayed payments, currency crashes and other business disturbances. "We were inundated with calls from concerned clients," said Dave Knack, vice president of international banking at U.S. Bank.

"They were not only looking for risk assessments by country, but alternative payment methods and risk-mitigation tools so they could continue doing business. Oil BUSINESS Neal St. Anthony "A few of the smaller businesses pulled out of Asia. Most companies we work with have developed some credit-risk strategies and despite some setbacks, envision Asian markets and developing markets in general as an opportunity." As Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, David Knack, vice president of International banking at U.S. Bank..