Press of Atlantic City from Atlantic City, New Jersey • 50

2 The Press Atlantic City NJ Sunday December 14 1997 MARKETPLACE ways to curb yule spending become a this holiday season warns the National Center for inancial Education That means charge more than you can really afford Many consumers end up spending the next two years pay ing off debt from one out of con trol holiday season the center says The most important thing con sumers can do to avoid huge debt is to pay for gifts with cash not credit cards it says Here are some other spending tips from the center: Create a written plan for holi day spending and gift giving in advance Include possible gifts dollar amounts and alternative choices Establish spending limits for gifts for each person on your list and start looking for bargains early If having a tough year fi nancially shorten your gift list Talk with those with whom you exchange gifts perhaps suggest ing not exchanging gifts or mutu CONSUMER ACTION ally observing much lower dollar amounts Separate shopping trips in which you compare prices qual ity and value from spending trips That helps avoid impulse buying Wait for sales to buy and watch the advertising and sale flyers for items you intend to purchase Ask retailers when the items you are interested in may come on sale Most will tell you be cause they want you shop ping their competition Shop later in the season to take advantage of clearance sales At office parties and other functions where you might be asked to bring a gift suggest that instead people bring canned food or other items for the disadvantaged Instead of giving money es pecially to younger children consider US Savings Bonds They cost one half of the face val ue will not be immediately spent encourage savings and are interest bearing and tax free un til redemption spend a lot on fancy gift wrap or more information from the center on spending tips and how to reduce debts send $1 plus a double stamped self addressed envelope to NCE Spending Tips PO Box 34070 San Diego CA 92163 4070 It also has a personal finance course in a home study format available called and Savings Techniques for the The study course is $18 plus postage and handling ($3 for book rate $5 for priority mail) The center is a nonprofit con sumer education agency If you do get in over your head this season it suggests taking the first step by contacting all credi tors if you know have trou ble meeting your payment obliga tions Tell the creditors hap pening and negotiate a tempo rary reduction of payments Tak ing positive action with all credi tors usually stops negative reports from being sent to credit reporting agencies Consumers can also contact one of the nonprofit credit coun seling centers in our region They are: Consumer Credit Counseling of Southern New Jer sey with offices in Atlantic Cape May Cumberland and Glouces ter counties at (800) 473 2227 and Consumer Credit and Debt Coun seling of Vineland at 563 1976 (Consumer Action will respond to each letter about a problem or question either in this column or by letter or phone Send letters to: Consumer Action The Press Devins Lane Pleasantville NJ 08232 Be sure to include your name address and telephone number Send copies not origi nals of documents related to your problem Consumer Action appears Tues day through riday in the Busi ness pages and Sunday in Mar ketplace) Expansionrenovation gives Desert Inn a grand look By ELLIOTS KRANE or The Press The Desert Inn showed off its $200 million renovation and ex pansion including the 8300 square foot Casa Grande pent house with three luxurious bedrooms a dining room and a roof top pool and Jacuzzi Opened in 1950 the Desert Inn reported its first profits as $750000 Purchased by Howard Hughes in 1996 then the Kerkorian Corporation in 1988 the Desert Inn was acquired by ITT Corporation in 1994 Included in the expansion are the nine story Palm Tower Grand Lobby atrium new golf shop 11 suite Villas Del Lago Starlight Lounge lagoon style pool area and lavishly redeco rated 32000 square foot casino Mirage wins in land feud District Judge Sally Loehrer ruled in favor of Mirage Resorts Inc and barred construction of a hotel on an of privately owned land in the middle of Mi rage property VEGAS WIRE Landowner Michael lores said means the County Commission no longer runs the Building Department and Steve Wynn Mirage filed a lawsuit in Sep tember against lores his par ents the architects who drew up the plans and the County Com mission ive years ago Mirage officials tried to buy the parcel for $2 mil lion and lores held out for a higher price Lake Tahoe exec quits The executive director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority Ron Spellecy has resigned He has accepted a position with the Seattle Mariners as director of team travel Circus weighs sales According to the Review Jour nal executives of Circus Circus Enterprises Inc have had pre liminary talks with three real es tate investment trusts to discuss the possible sale of their Luxor Excalibur and Circus Circus Strip properties Circus Circus plans to lease back the properties and operate them for a management fee According to sources Crescent Real Estate Equities Inc Equity Office Properties and Vornado Realty are the trusts interested in the deal Circus Circus Presi dent Glenn Schaeffer said he has had limited discussions with rep resentatives of the trusts 2000 convention bid Las Vegas is one of 26 cities asked to bid for the year 2000 De mocratic convention The city was considered in 1988 for the Republican convention but since the Convention Center was al ready booked only the Thomas Mack center was available According to Rossi Ralenkot ter vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention Center the city has four million square feet of convention space and is host to about 3800 conven tions a year fun casino ready The Riviera Hotel and Casino will open its fun casino around the first of the year The 10000 square foot facility located on the corner of the Strip will house approximately 330 slot machines 70 percent of which will be the latest styles of nickel slots and video machines ood and drink will be offered in a 1950s style diner A new chapter Arizona Inc having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in January The company filed to reduce its responsibility for $20 million in bond debt for a riverboat pro ject in Missouri By filing the company a whol ly owned subsidiary of Becker Gaming Inc reduced its liability to $1 million cash (Elliot Krane is a free lane writer living in Las Vegas) BUSINESS INTERESTS Alliance seeks to boost Atlantic County economy GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP An Atlantic County chapter of the New Jersey Alliance for Action has been formed bringing to gether business labor and gov ernment to work for economic progress and job creation in the county About 100 business labor and government leaders held the in augural meeting of the Atlantic County Alliance for Action last week at Richard Stockton Col lege Atlantic County is the ninth county in the state to organize an Alliance for Action affiliate The alliance is a nonprofit nonpartisan statewide coalition of 600 business labor profes sional academic and govern ment organizations headquar tered in Edison ounded in 1974 the alliance is committed to stimulating in frastructure investment as a key to job creation environmental protection and improved quality of ife The three co chairmen of the local alliance are Atlantic Coun ty reeholder Kirk Conover Henry Levari senior vice presi dent of Atlantic Energy and Robert Boyce presi dent and business manager of Carpenters Local 623 Workshop to explore human resources ATLANTIC CITY A free hu man resources workshop will b( held from 6 to 8 pm oi Wednesday Dec 17 at the At lantic City ree Public Library Tennessee and Atlantic avenues The workshop sponsored by the Greater Atlantic City Cham ber of Commerce Small Business Development Center will dis cuss the relevant aspects of hu man resources that exist in to business environment It will be presented by Richard Healey former director of train ing and education at Resorts Casino Hotel Topics include employment function compensation strate gies benefits employee rela tions training and employment law or more information or regis tration call Bill McGinley at 345 5600 or 345 4524 Life underwriters set annual holiday luncheon The Atlantic County Associa tion of Life Underwriters will hold its annual holiday luncheon meeting at noon on Tuesday Dec 16 at Cousins Country House Restaurant on ire Road in Bargain Guests will be representatives of the US Marine Corps who will collect for the Toys for Tots program All members are encouraged to attend and bring as many toys as possible The association will present the toys to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission Lunch is $5 for members and $15 for non members or more information call Balodis or Steve Sanborne at 653 1335 CASINO NOTES Continued from Page Just how many commissioners will walk the Boardwalk on what could be a bitter January day is questionable also questionable how many commissioners will be around for the Taj tour some are usually scrambling to catch flights as the meeting winds down not really seeing the impact of gaming on Atlantic City The mayor (James Whelan) has written them us just two hours show you Atlantic the source said likely will be more pressure to broaden the Did you know? Atlantic City casinos gave 694046 customers free or discounted ho tel rooms between July 1 and Sept 30 an average of 7544 per night in a city where there are 11257 casino hotel rooms Revenue revised Atlantic City casino revenue grew by 16 percent last month ac cording to the official figures released by the Casino Control Com mission down one tenth of a percent from the unofficial fig Pep Boys technician wins service award Kenneth VanDyk a certified master automobile technician at the Pep Boys in Northfield has been named 1997 Service Tech nician of the Year by the Auto motive Parts Accessories Asso ciation Since 1994 APAA in coopera tion with ASE has awarded the honor upon an individual who has the highest combined scores on the suspension and steering brakes electrical and electron ics systems heating and engine performance tests The techni cian must be a master (certified in all of the above auto tests) Transit exec Goldberg wins leadership award Roy Goldberg president and owner of Gold Transportation Group has received the amily Service third annu al Corporate Leadership Award for strengthening the communi ty The award is presented annu ally to an individual a couple or a family in the corporate sector for making significant contribu tions to strengthen the communi ty in southern New Jersey In 1981 the Atlantic County na tive recognized the need for air transportation to the Atlantic City area and developed a gam ing related travel business Gold Transportation Group It has since become the premier sup plier of air transportation ser vices to the casino industry on a national level PEOPLEIN He also produces an in flight magazine un Games de signed to promote Atlantic City tourism and as a guide to enter tainment and local attractions Each issue is seen by more than 35000 tourists In 1988 Goldberg began host ing the Gold Invitational Golf Tournament to benefit local charities Over the past 10 years more than $525000 has been do nated to local charities as a re sult of the tournament and the Nickelodeon Wild and Crazy Kids Live benefit performances that Goldberg brought to Atlantic City in 1994 and 1995 3 physicians join Shore Memorial staff Three physicians Robert A Sabo Scott Callaghan and Maureen Gottfried have joined Shore Memorial Hospi medical staff All are affili ated with Coastal Physicians and Surgeons PC in Somers Point Meanwhile Nancy ontana already at the helm of the Center for Health at the hospi tal has taken over the reins of the Wellness program as well With her new responsibilities she will manage all Wellness ser vices including corporate and employee health maintenance programs for area employers as well as spearheading efforts to ward preventive health pro grams for the community All this will be in addition to her duties in the Center Dr Sabo who was granted privileges in neurosurgery re BUSINESS ceived his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge Mass and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia He served a surgery internship at Albert Einstein Medical Cen ter in Philadelphia and his neu rosurgery residency at Universi ty of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria where he was also a clinical instructor in neurologi cal surgery Most recently he was in private practice in Hunt ington WVa where he was a clinical instructor in neurologi cal surgery at Marshall Universi ty Dr Callaghan who has been granted privileges in neurology earned a BS degree in zoology cum laude from Marshall Univer sity in Huntington WVa He completed graduate work in bio medical sciences at School of Medicine before earn ing his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Den tistry of New JerseySchool of Os teopathic Medicine in Stratford He also attended the University of New England College of Osteo pathic Medicine in Biddeford Maine After completing an internship in internal medicine at Atlantic City Medical Center he served a neurology residency and a neu romuscular fellowship at the Medical College ofVirginia Most recently he was in private prac tice in Billings Mont Dr Gottfried also with privi leges in neurology received her undergraduate degree with high est honors from Richard Stock ton College of New Jersey and her medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteo pathic Medicine where she was class valedictorian After completing an internship in internal medicine at Atlantic City Medical Center she served a neurology residency and clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC ontana a Somers Point resi dent has worked in varied posi tions at Shore Memorial begin ning her career in 1988 as a secretary in the Educational De velopment Department She holds a BS degree in health ser vices management from La Salle University in Philadelphia CoreStates Bank names senior relationship officer PENNINGTON CoreStates ures reported earlier this month Nine casinos revised their revenue figures slightly downward re sulting in $365505 less total revenue viewpoint As Atlantic City tries to change from a day trip gambling market to an extended stay vacation resort its dependence on casino revenue will decrease says Jason Ader of Bear Stearns Co would appear as though significant upside potential exists for nongaming attractions such as restaurants retail areas and enter tainment as well as additional hotel Ader noted in special reports on Mirage Resorts Inc and MGM Grand Inc this changing economic model is likely to result in a declin ing gaming budget of the average visitor to Atlantic City (by provid ing entertainment in addition to gambling and attracting a greater overall number of visitors) it is also likely to lead to an increase in overall Ader said Quote of the week what I know about Dick Knight a good operator but still going up against the confines of the property tough to overcome without capital I care if Steve Gleacher NatWest gaming analyst Jacques Cornet on the ap pointment of Richard Knight as president of the Sands Hotel Casino which has struggled while failing to attract investors for proposed renovation and expansion (Casino Notes appears Sundays Contact Joe Weinert with casino news tips or comments atjoe weinertworldnetattnet or at 272 7221) Bank has named Alan Herman of Winslow Township senior rela tionship officer responsible for managing large customer rela tionships in eight southern New Jersey counties He previously was the middle market team leader in Haddon A vice president Herman has been with $125 mil lion participation in the Atlantic City tunnel project with the South Jersey Transportation Au thority and the state Department of Transportation Herman is a member of the Rutgers Camden School of Busi ness Advisory Board the Winslow Township Planning Board and the Robert Morris As sociates Board He has a degree in accounting from Bob Jones University and an MBA from Temple University Kimble names VP of sales for health care unit VINELAND The appointment of Richard Calabro as vice president of sales and marketing for the Health Care Business Unit of Kimble Glass Inc has been announced by Donald A Vigh executive vice president and chief operating officer of Kimble Glass Inc Calabro will direct the field sales force and the Vineland based marketing operation Most recently Calabro was vice president of sales and marketing for the Carr Lowrey Glass Com pany in Baltimore Prior to that he was vice president of sales and marketing for the Crowell Corporation in Newport Del He also served as the president of the Scientific Group SP Indus tries in Buena and as a regional Conti nued on Page 3 Web (Continued from Page l) said Steve ine spokesman for WebWatchdog Sites approved by WebWatch dog display a special logo which links directly to the WebWatch dog home page for double verifi cation was the Good Housekeep ing Seal of Approval that gave us the said ine ine said businesses must sub mit information including the number years the business has existed number of employees whether they have a local yellow page listing address phone numbers and three business ref erences Those that are ap proved pay a annual fee of $12 to display the WebWatchdog logo and be listed on the home page ine said the WebWatchdog page appeals primarily to small businesses without big name recognition and credibility End need ine said Internet is an amazing medium because it has the abili ty for a small business in nowheresville to reach the whole ine said problem on the Internet is you have really no way of knowing if that site is really a store in Topeka ine said WebWatchdog does not guarantee against scams but it can help eliminate some ahead of time and catch others quickly People who are dissatisfied with a web product or serv ices can complain to the Web Watchdog and as a result the business could be removed from the list not going to be able to cheat more than a couple of peo said ine can take them right Boss said she likes the idea of evaluating businesses that are looking to sell products on the In ternet a group give seals of approval is something we need to Boss said ine said goal is to add more Internet com merce businesses and develop a virtual of certified mer Without widespread use of such seals of approval there are some tips for Internet consumers before making purchases: Read the fine print on web pages Some sites list their terms on a separate page that must be accessed by clicking on a link often (consumers) skip over here for said Boss the fine print is too fine you may not want to do business with the ind out about delivery times particularly around the holidays expect items to arrive as fast as ordered real Kaufman Scarborough said is a new medium hard for the businesses to fore cast what the demand is going to Research the company as much as possible Write down all phone numbers and mailing ad dresses available on the web site and record the purchase amount agreed to at the time of the order including tax and shipping Check to see how current infor mation on a web site is particularly for small businesses that have less staff to update home pages Prices and avail ability frequently can change a look at how often they re fresh their web Kaufman Scarborough said need to constantly update their informa Look for a section on an Inter net web page that ex plains the security precautions against credit card theft if you enter your numbers to make a purchase Though federal law limits the maximum respon sibility for consumers to $50 if a card number is stolen it can be a huge hassle careful about sending your credit card num Boss said though you may not be liable the time and energy to straighten it out can be When in doubt ask questions of the business before making a purchase ine noted that while some Internet retailers may be small businesses without a staff capable of manning 24 hour phones every company that has a web site should be able to re spond to mail in a reasonable amount of time lot of these sites are perfectly legitimate and are completely virtual and have no ine said they should all have mail and an swer your.