Omaha World-Herald from Omaha, Nebraska • 37

Business Markets shipping and Kiewit Inc ver acres The Omaha 1 10000 Street '275V Harrison St CM SQ St BY JASON GERTZEN world herald staff writer cnC 35 BYJIMMINGE WORLD HERALD STA WRITER Lincoln Lincoln Telecommunica tions Co said Thursday that second quarter net income was $1 16 million up 165 percent compared with $10 million '95 Earnings per share for the second million in 1995 Driving the growth is the wireless and cellular operations Second quarter revenue from the managed cellular markets grew from $49 million last year to $177 million In addition to Lincoln Telephone Cellular and Nebraska Cellular the company manages cellular properties in Omaha ness rooms featuring a computer workstation a cordless two line speak er phone with a data port in room voice mail an oversized desk and other business oriented details The business rooms start at $89 a night with regular rooms starting at $69 Leisure travelers also are clients of the hotel Bennett said especially on weekends The hotel also added a business center with computer printer and fac simile machines and other equipment Bennett who works for Hostmark Management Group of Chicago said the research indicated it world herald news sERvicE The per share increase was smaller than tne dollar increase because of the is suance of about 43 million additional common shares of stock associated with the acquisition of Nebraska Cellular in July 1995 Second quarter revenue was $655 million up 274 percent from $514 HUS GOING ON AT who deal with customers More recently the company reor ganized some of its most important departments eliminating several layers of management And at the most recent leadership conference Bums said he intends to make it easier for more employees to own company stock The newi cafeteria will be built on the former site of historical museum which recently reli cated into the Western Heritage Muse um The new facility should be serving hot meals by the time harsh weather hits this winter said Hildreth the senior spokesman The 12th floor dining room which is just down the hall from comer office will be maintained for special occasions and entertaining visitors tion agreement which would resolve pricing service and technical issues 1 If an agreement cannot be reached within a period of 135 160 days after the start of negotiations the federal law permits the companies to request arbi tration from the states it will serve began negotiating with JJ West on March 1 Among those issues include establish ing high wholesale prices that would pay West for using its lines banning from using its own directory assistance operators and pre venting from linking up with West computers so can assign telephone numbers to customers West has defended its stance in the negotiations saying it want to hand over its 14 state network to com petitors by adopting wholesale prices that are too low of communications department The executive dining room opened in 1972 when UP finished construction on the east side of its current facility Executives can eat in any of several rooms of the dining area including one lined with dozens of pictures of Abra ham Lincoln who signed legislation creating UP in 1862 Hildreth said the switch to more equal opportunity dining at UP is bring pushed by Ron Bums who was hired about one year ago to be the chief executive officer Bums who had no railroad experience before arriving at UP has spoken often about changing the hierarchical culture at UP Last year for example Bums made the UP dress code less formal declaring neckties and business suits optional except for those Central High School will attempt to get more students interested in pursuing careers in the growing computer industry by creating a new program as part of its curriculum The school and the Applied Informa tion Management Institute received a $588934 grant from the State of Nebras ka Innovation in Education Council to fund the three year pilot program The money was announced Thursday during a ceremony at Central High School that attracted about 50 people from Omaha businesses and educational institutions" Central began developing the program in response to business concerns that employers cannot find enough qualified applicants to fill computer or technolo related jobs said Central Principal ary Thompson The program will begin with an intro ductory course for freshmen that will probe the different job and career oppor tunities in the information technology field That course will be followed with the choice of six elective courses: computer programming computer systems inte gration computer aided design busi World Broadcasting Inc a new sub sidiary of the Omaha World Herald said Thursday it is seeking a commercial television license to build and operate UH Channel 5 1 in Lincoln World Broadcasting has an option bn property in Seward County on which to build a broadcast tower and related facilities said Bill Donaldson president of World Broadcasting Donaldson estimated it would diately On the way out he was directed on the air Television is a natural extension for ma W1X1 lit OdlU' major newspaper companies have interests in Operation df the new station is expect ed to involve Pappas Telecasting of the Midlands said Chuck Wood public affairs manager at The World Herald Pappas operates KPTM Channel 42 a ox network affiliate and KXVO Chan nel 15 a Warner Bros network affiliate Wood did not say whether Channel 5 would be affiliated with a network He did not say when approval of World application with the ed eral Communications Commission is ex pected The World Herald Co previously owned two broadcasting outlets in Omaha: KOWH radio which it sold in 1949 and KETV Channel 7 whichat soldin 1963 if boosted by an encouraging profit renort A t0P EPPleY Airfield official is leav frnm HIM 1 rePOn inn Omaha In tab I VI A UAUVlll juim wooa me umana Atrpon Au director of operations will suc ceed Wayne Andersen who is retiring Andersen 63 has served as airport director since 1983 The Lincoln Airport Authority is ex pected to give final approval to selection next month Wood will begin his new $93400 a year job in September Andersen earns 1 36800 a year The Lincoln airport served nearly 533000 passengers in 1995 a 10 percent increase over the previous year It has two jet airlines and two turboprop com mutercarriers Maintaining steady passenger traffic growth will be one of main challenges Andersen said Many tra velers are driving to Eppley to take advantage of low ticket prices will be a constant effort to retain existing air service and hopefully enhance air Andersen said Andersen said carriers like Southwest Airlines have brought competition to Eppley that keeps fares low in Omaha and attracts passengers from nearby cities would like to keep our passengers here but it has been hard to do he said inmln oimrvrt CHA in 1995 VLHVJOW 71CU1 a million renovation project it will include Please turn to Page 40 Col 4 quarter increased by 1 cent to 32 cents Says Talks With US West Are at Impasse Eppley Official Leaving World Herald: Unit Seeks tij TV License Lucent Alters Shipments To Build New Warehouse across the country to be forward ed to customers With the new center all the equip ment will be shipped directly to customers saving time and money he said The Omaha plant produces a vari ety of telecommunications equip ment including cables and switches Suder said the new center will create additional jobs at the plant However the company know at this time how many jobs or whether they will be filled internally HDR Inc of Omaha designed the center which is beina built hv Petw At A 11 1 me viuiuia nones plant Became part of Lucent in a restructuring that split into three publicly traded companies late last year The split had little impact on the Omaha operation kind of solidifies in minds that we are going to be Suder said referring to the future under Lucent Techno logies BY MELINDA NORRIS WORLD HERALD STA WRITER Inc will file a request with the Nebraska and Iowa public service com missions and authorities in six other states to intervene in its negotiations with West Inc said Thursday that it has reached an impasse in developing an i agreement that would allow to use network to deliver local telephone service Tne other states are Colorado Ari zona Oregon and Utah The arbitration requests will be filed on riday or the beginning of next week said Rick Bailey vice president of law and government with Under the federal Telecommunica tions Act passed in ebruary companies must negotiate terms of an interconnec was missing business because its meet ing space was too small and not flexible enough to handle various sizes of groups BY MELINDA NORRIS WORLD HERALD STA WRITER The Omaha plant of Lucent Tech nologies Inc is building a $20 million warehouse and distribution center on the eastern section of its property near 120th and I Streets Lucent Technologies formerly a part of is building the new center because it will be changing the way parts are shipped from its Omaha plant said spokesman Lany The building known as the Global Provisioning Center will be 400000 MJumc iecL contain a receiving docks and cover fa flCTPC Suder said The center is expected to be com plete in March The plant will consolidate its dis tribution operations at the new cen ter Suder said Currently the plant produces between 600000 and 1 mil lion pounds of equipment per day that is either shipped directly to customers or to distribution centers WrOeraM Thursday July 25 1996 37 Mrs Shutdown Cited for Campbell Cuts after reports from a former employee and an employee who lost his job Wednesday The dismissed employee who asked that his name not be used said he was called in by his supenisor and was told hispob had been eliminated 'He said they were just trying to cut the dismissed employee said The man who had been with Camp bell for more than 10 years said the action came as a surprise since his job related to the Mrs shutdown Or to pot pies He said he was asked to leave imme more than $5 million to put the statibn usv waj uui uv nao uuvvtvu Uli UlCdlr iu a ivprcscniauvc 01 an vmana comoa ny that provides help for displaced communications company WArvMe Lowery said the salaried employees who lost their jobs included administra tors managers and supervisors They will receive pack which include severance pay and continuing benefits tied to their seniori ty he said The employees also will be provided help in getting other jobs Lowery described the transfer of a portion of the frozen pot pie production to ayetteville as more economical way for us to operate the frozen food manufacturing is still other pot pie production there (in he said Moving a part of the production Campbell made no public announce have an effect on hourly employees at the ment oL its latest action but responded Omaha plaqj he said Lincoln Telecommunications Says Income Rose I and parts of western Iowa or the first six months of 1996 income was $214 million million in 1995 Earnings per share weje 58 cents down from 59 cents last year! Six month revenues were $1287 mil lion in 1996 compared with $1018 million in 1995 BY MATT KELLEY WORLDIERALD STA WRITER or 24 years Union Pacific senior executives have been able to grab lunch in a posh dining room on the top floor of the downtown Omaha headquarters Most of the 1800 other headquarters workers meanwhile have toted brown bags or eaten in restaurants near mam facility on the northeast comer of 1 5 th and Dodge Streets That all will end this year company officials said when UP opens a street level cafeteria for all of its employees including the top managers Daily lunches in the executive dining room will end a huge departure from said Jim Hudreth senior vice president BY JOHN TAYLOR WORLD HERALD STA WRITER Campbell Soup Co dismissed 32 sala ried employees Wednesday at its Omaha plant four days before it will shut down its Mrs frozen seafood line The employees lost their jobs because of the Mrs shutdown and because the company is moving some of its frozen pot pie production from Omaha to a plant in ayetteville Ark a Campbell spokesman said On May 6 Campbell completed the sale of the Mrs seafood line to Van De Inc of St Louis Under an agreement the product was to contin ue to be made until Sunday at Camp downtown Omaha plant After the sale Campbell said that about 100 of the nearly 250 hourly employees who worked on the line would be moved into other positions in Omaha The remaining 150 employees on the Mrs line would be laid off subject to recall later this fall when demand for products increases Tne primary products are fro zen dinners entrees ana soups for super markets and the food service market The 32 salaried employees lost their jobs outright and be recalled Kevin Lowery a spokesman at the Camden NJ headquarters said that after all the actions are com pleted the Omaha plant will continue to employ 1250 people Cornhusker Rd KILEYCHRIST1ANCRUSETHEWORLD HERALD NEW LOOK: Renovations at the 138 room Clarion Hotel Carlisle included this new restaurant fitted with tum of the century decor Clarion Marks Renovation Business travelers and group meet ings are an expanded focus of the Clarion Hotel Carlisle after a $1 mil lion renovation Reed Bennett manager of the hotel said the six month project doubled the meeting room allowing up to ovuineaier siyK AUTOMOBILES Probe Begins On Seat Beks Washington (AP) The government is investigating consumer complaints and thousands of warranty claims that indicate passengers have trouble buck ling or unbuckling the seat belts on Chrysler minivans Some owners have claimed the belt unlatches while they are driving accord ing to a monthly report releasedWednes day by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration About 12 million of the 1991 93 Chrysler minivans with the belts are on the road Chrysler spokesman Jason Vines said the claim rate was small believe a he said from the headquarters in Auburn Hills Mich There have been more than 1 10 com plaints about the belts and one lawsuit involving a death the report says Agency officials are investigating whether part of the casing around the belt buckle is slipping and pinching the red release button causing the belt to unlatch get stuck or fail to latch WALL SHEET IBM Report Aids Confidence Lifts Markets New York (AP) Stocks were hold ing strong gains at midday Thursday hnncfMhv'in from IBM that helped restore some t0 lak investor confidence about the computer Airport John WaaH th At noon EDT bn Wall Street the Dow Jones II industrial Jones average was up 5413J3 5844 at 541313 Up 5844 having retreated I slightly from a 1 1 gain of 76 points The technology laden Nasdaq com posite index mired in a steep four ses sion slump also drew a lift from report rising 1830 to 106068 by midday Other broad market measures were positive too Advancing issues outnum bered declining ones by a 5 to 2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange where volume came to 1 8759 million shares up from pace NYSE composite index was up 279 at 33886 the Standard 500 list was up 544 at 63209 and the American Stock market value index was up 437 at 53337 ECONOMY actory Orders Drop in June Washington (AP) Orders to US factories lor big ticket durable goods slipped 08 percent in June unable to continue the torrid pace of May that was fueled by a burst in volatile demand for aircraft The Commerce Department said Thursday orders totaled a seasonally adjusted $1691 billion down from record $1704 billion The 42 percent increase in May had been the steepest since last August Still orders have fallen in four of the first six months of 1996 and were just 54 percent above those of the January June period of 1995 Durable goods such as airplanes and appliances are expected to last more than three years Most analysts had expected the June decline in orders which are considered a key gauge of the manufacturing sector But they said that the dip was temporary and that manufacturing is staging a comeback from recent slug gishness In a separate report the Labor De partment said that first time claims for jobless benefits plunged last week by 45000 to 322000 the lowest level in six months Officials attributed part of the drop to production halts as automakers switched from 1996 to 1997 models The National Association of Realtors also reported that sales of previously owned homes fell 23 percent in June the first decline since January as rising mortgage rates began to pinch buyers CURRENCY Dollar Declines Early in Europe London (AP) Ihe dollar fell against 600 theater style seats and 375 seats for most other major currencies in early diningThe 138 room hotel converted European trading Thursday Gold prices some rooms into Clarion Class Busi wereup Dollar rates compared with late weanesaay in cluded 14877 German marks down from 14903 and 10802 Japanese yen down from 10830 The British pound was quoted at $15545 up from $15522 late Wednes day London dealers fixed a recommended gold price of $38505 per ounce up from the closing price of $38440 bid Wednes day School Computer Program Set BY MELINDA NORRIS ness and marketing electronic imaging world herald staff writer and publishing and multimedia devel upiliUllL The curriculum will be developed with assistance from area high tech business es colleges and universities In addition to the courses Central will work with local businesses to create high tech internship programs for its students The bulk of the grant about $300000 will be used to purchase computers and other technology for students to use in the upcoming classes Thompson said The classes will be offered starting in the 1997 98 school year Central has a computer programming course and a computer aided design class which will be expanded this fall under this new program he said Norbert Schuermann superintendent of the Omaha School District said Central program will be a gate way for students to enter advanced (CTERIA SITE Union acific Railroad is installing a cafeteria in this area of its downtown OmataZmSingRne Schuermann said area formcry housed museum which has moved to the Western Heritage Museum Robert Sweeney executive director of New Union Pacific Dining Dav Dawns mcreasing but colleges and umversi ties are seeing a decline in students Please turn to Page 40 Col 2 iWii I r7 ilaHaalrr rM Ah a i 14 tj i i I i a Sk A Lr 1 TV Taj is 'fit 1x3 1 VII 1 liaMW '1 wNXuim' ixi rv wHH III Jfel VziS VVV st IMw St GO West Dodge Rd West Center Rd.