Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 19

Birmingham Post-Herald Tuesday September 26 1995 ml lO 1 Stocks D2-3 Business agenda D7 Terms of merger Update Merger adds juice percent Both companies intend to cut many of the 1250 jobs possible by attrition but layoffs remain possible once the merger ii complete The utility business is venturing into a new era of competition federal and state regulators try to bring down electric rates by allowing independent providers and possibly other utilities to compete for big power customers The combined company would be large enough to compete successfully and big enough to dissuade any unwanted takeover attempts said Christian Poindexter chairman and chief executive of BGE Poindexter would be chief executive of the new company and would take over is chairman a year after completion of the the deal Information on the acquisition of Potomac Electric Power Co by Baltimore Gas and Electric Co: Combined assets: $151 billion Consolidated reveuoes: $4 billion Combiaed castanets: 18 million for electricity 536397 for natural gas Service area: most of Maryland and all of the -District of Columbia Estimated work force reduction: 1250 out of 12500 combined employment Approvals required: Stockholders of both companies as well as federal Maryland and -District of Columbia regulators must sign off an the deal Stock: BGE stockholders would get one share in the new company for each share of BGE PEPCO stockholders would get a 997 share for each PEPCO share By Tom Stuckey AmciMPna ANNAPOLIS Md Baltimore Gu Electric Go agreed to acquire Potomac Electric Power Cbi in a $3 billion buyout that the companies say will help them survive in an increasingly competitive power industry The combined company serving most of Maryland and Washington would be the ninth-largest electric utility in the nation with assets exceeding $15 billion and nearly $5 billion in annual revenue company officials said Monday Executives of the two utilities lauded the deal a way to cut their combined expenses by $13 billion over 10 years The bulk of the uvings would come from cutting the current combined work force of employees by 10 Please tun to MERGE page D5 -M ottom Dine is health i good business Mercedes plant lays off 1150 SAO PAULO Brazil The Brazilian unit of Mercedes-Benz laid yesterday that it has laid off 10 percent of its work force as part of a restructuring effort The company laid it laid off 1150 of its 12400 workers at Ui plant in Sao Paulo's industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo and 450 of its 1900 workers at its plant In Campinas A new Mercedes plant is under construction at Vance in Tuscaloosa County Sales of homes increase 3 WASHINGTON Sales of previously owned hones surged percent in August to the highest level since May 1004 as bomebuyers rushed to lock in low mortgage rates The surprise increase drove a nail into the coffin of a possible rate cut at tomorrow's Federal Open Market Committee meeting analysts said Home resales rose for the fourth straight month to 411 million at an annual rate the National Association id Realtors reported Magazine hearing postponed CINCINNATI A federal Judge has postponed i until tomorrow a hearing at which Business Week magazine plans to seek clearance to print an article bawd on secret information from a corporate lawsuit UJL District Judge John Feikens issued the Sept 13 order that hu kept the article out of Business Week's pages for two weeks McGraw-Hill Cos is fighting the order that bars Business Week from publishing a story based on sealed documents in Procter Gamble $195 million lawsuit against Bankers Trust Cbi Penske to buy service units TROY Mich Racing great-tumed-tycoon Roger Penske is going full-speed into the auto services business agreeing to buy S60 service centers from asset-ihedding Kmart Corp for $112 million Kmart said selling the unprofitable centers which account for about 1 percent of total revenue will allow it to continue to focus on reviving its moneylosing chain of 2234 discount stores The retailer has shed more than $2 billion in assets over the last yea Motorola to expand in China SCHAUMBURG HI Motorola Inc will spend $720 million to expand operations in China including the construction of a new computer-chip plant a spokesman said yesterday The project will make Motorola one of the largest foreign 'investors in Chins By Patrick RupiasH Post-Henld Reporter Health equals wealth in today's business world But it no longer is an equation of just steering employees to leu costly health insurance plans Today it's a matter of steering workers to healthier lifestyles' as well you go to wellness you make people feel better and Improve the quality or their lives" uid Dr JamesJ Eddy of the University of Alabama "You probably measure the cost effectiveness of wellness programs in the short term but if people feel better they perform better If their streu level is down they also feel better about their work and coming to uid Eddy a member of the year-old Well Workplace Alabama a nonprofit group helping employers build wellness programs with a goal of ating a healthier wok force But too often businesses still measure the success of programs by the bottom line he said Healthier lifestyles cm prevent expensive medical treatments but the uvings are difficult to see he uid' If a healthier lifestyle prevents a heart attack thebe' are uvings but they tot show up on the bottom lineat On the long term companies tracking employee health costs sick days and health insurance premiums based on insurance claims might notice cost uvings he said But even without bottom-line figures more compa nies are embracing wellness he said Among them is Southern Ready Mix a Birmingham-based concrete and ready-mix manufacturer with' about 400 employees at plants across the state The company started its wellness program in 1986h after executives noticed many of employees' lifestyles were not conducive to good health said John Hilyer of Well Workplace Alabama "They had a lot id negative habits They smoked They had poor eating habits They did not exercise" he uid Southern Ready Mix began free annual at-work health screenings which gave workers information on their health risk factors They also were provided in-1 formation on how to reduce their risks The company also changed tome of its policies such as banning smoking at the work site Sometimes the company also encouraged family members to get involved Hilyer uid it wu not enough to just give an employee information on nutrition and diet if the employee went home and ate whatever wu served Please tan to HEALTH page D5 nl Alabama afternoon they made use of an exercise in Hi Park Drive in Hoover 900 coming call Soviets f't n' I s' I I speak of people from all parts of the former Soviet Unku but Russia is just one state or country in the Commonwealth of Independent she said The commonwealth is the group of independent countries that once formed the Soviet Union Only the independent countries of Lithuania Estonia and Latvia have chosen not to join The visitors are proud of their ethnic heritage and new countries which is why some might be offended at being called a Russian more are expected today and tomorrow uid Allen Montgomery a Birmingham businessman who hu helped set up the recognition But if you meet the visitors be careful about calling them Russians and never call them Soviets warns Margaret Molinari Dr Molinari a Michigan psychologist who specializes in organizational changes in businesses said die hu caught herself using the term Russian this week only to be corrected by the guests "We are accustomed to using Russian generically to By Patrick RupInsH Pmt-HtnM Reporter They are not Soviets and they are not all Russians important to remember if you should happen to meet a member of the biggest group of foreign visitors ever to be feted in Birmingham Mare than 900 people from countries that once made up the Soviet Union will be in Birmingham this week to be recognized for their entreprenuerial spirit which is transforming the former Soviet states About 223 of the visitors had arrived by yesterday and Amtrak going down-home TUSCALOOSA Barbecued ribs and black bottom pie could appear on the menu aboard Amtrars Crescent train Cuisine with down-home flavor is part of a plan to bolster revenue Other ideas include football trips promoting Amtrak as a way for college students to get home and showcasing cities along the route on certain days Amtrak officials enlisted the mayors of Birmingham Tuscaloosa Anniston and other cities and towns along the Southern Crescent route to organize local coalitions of citizens and civic business and education leaders The groups will advise Amtrak of wrs to make the service more appealing Amtrak officials unveiled their new strategy at Meridian City Hall at a meeting of the Crescent Corridor Coalition Acquisition attempt dropped Montgomery-based Colonial BancGroup hu ended its attempt to acquire Southland Bancorporation of Dothan The two bank-holding companies announced plan to merge in August but both agreed Friday to end the merger talks No reason wu given Southland owns Southland Bank which hu two banking offices in Dothan and single offices in Abbeville Clayton Eufaula and Headland Southland hu $1001 million in assets Banking set at Wal-Mart Colonial Bank will open in-stare branch offices in Wal-Mart Supercenter stores in six Alabama cities The first will open in mid-December at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Huntsville The rest will open throughout 1996 and will be at Wal-Marti in Alexander City Athens Oxford Prattville and Sylacauga A seventh Colonial branch will open next year in Fayetteville Tenn Consolidation planned Centreville-based Medical Support Services will consolidate under a single management corporate logo with ResCare Management Services of Louisville Ky to be called Housecall Medical Resources Inc Medical Support Services manages home health care companies and hu 65 employees It manages health care firms in all 50 states a spokeswoman uid ResCare is a home health care company that serves 74 locations in Florida Kentucky Indiana and Tennessee Also FirstFed Bancorp Inc owner of First Federal Savings Bank of Bessemer hu declared a quarterly cash dividend of 16 cents payable Oct 11 to shareholders of record on Oct 5 Nidek Medical Products Inc Birmingham hu received the Commerce Department's Award for exporting health care products Please tun to RUSSIANS page D6 Opening of shoe store fulfills dream LVJf 1 MR 1 reservations risk or no risk" Mims wu free to pursue his dream after leaving his account executive job at Pitney Bowes Two weeks after starting a job search he decided to open the shoe store Mims who grew up in the Loveman's Village public housing community and his wife have strong tin to their new business district His mother Christine lives in the neighborhood and the family attends New Pilgrim Baptist Church of which Mims hu been a member for 27 a family he said in this community knows And Mims said he plans to make use of his contacts in the black community The store's marketing plan calls for the use of black pediatricians barbers churches and child-care centers in reaching his target customers On Saturday TV actreu Raven Symone formerly of "The Cosby will help celebrate the stare's opening Mims said he hopes to share the succeu by building a community center in Village The youngest of three brothers Mims credits his mother with the succeu all have achieved a strong strong lady been a By Jed Graham Pnt-Hcnld Reporter Keith Mims hu been dreaming for years about owning a children's shoe store in the southwest Birmingham community where he wu raised When he and his wife Viola finally decided in June to pursue that dream they found out it would not cone cheap But they were not deterred put their Shelby County home up collateral on a loan they've drained their 401K retirement plans that have been building up for more than a decade and Mrs Mims hu resigned than her job a network manager at South Central Bell Yesterday after months of working 15-hour days an financing constructing and publicizing Vic's Children's Shoes Heritage Towne Centre the couple opened for business And with three young boys to support they have everything riding on its success lot of hard work and a lot of prayer pays off That's what I live by" said Mims 38 "We are totally committed" said Mrs Mims something thought about for a long time I have no Staff photo At her new shoe store VMa Mims center helps! Kenneth Ctay try a new pair of shoes as his mother Latanya Roper holds If grandmother Ada Clay looks on i i nr 'i -ffij A.